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Photographic 

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1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

■^r 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  MIHMSOTA: 


FROM  THE 


EARLIEST  FRENCH  EXPLORATIONS 


TO  THB 


PRESENT   TIME, 


BY   THB 


REV.  EDWARD  DUFPIELD  NECLL, 

PRA'IDKNT  of   MA0ALE8TEK  COLLKOE  ; 

CoiiREBpoNDiNG  Member    of  Massachusistts    Historical  Socibty;  Authod    o» 

"ViRoiNiA  Company  of  Lonuob,"  "The  Knoi.ish  Colonizatiom  of 

Ambuica,"  Fo'tndeiw  of  Makvlano,"  Etc.,  Etc.,  Etc. 


"  Nescirequid  antea  quam  nalus  sis  acciilerit,  id  semper  essepuernm." 


FIFTH  EDITION,  BEVISED  AND  EMLAKOED. 


MINNEAPOMS: 

BriNNESOTA  HISTORICAL  COMPANY. 
18S8. 


■^^■■■■^■Wii 


«■■■■ 


PREFATORY  JSTOTE. 


In  the  preparation  of  an  enlarged  edition  of  the  History  of 
Minnesota,  great  assistance  has  been  received  from  material 
which  was  not  accessible  when  the  earlier  editions  were 
published. 

Two  years  ago  tracings  were  obtained,  from  some  unpub- 
lished maps,  which  more  fully  exhibit  the  movements  of  the 
first  explorers  of  Minnesota  than  the  published  charts  of 
DsTIsle  and  others,  and  have  led  tp.a  modification  of  some 
statements,  in  the  former  editions.  TKese  tracings  were  loaned 
to  the  State  Geologist,  Prof.  Winchell,  who  considered  them 
of  Hufiicient  importance  to  be  engraved  for  his  final  report  on 
the  geology  of  Minnesota,  and  by  his  courtesy  two  of  the 
maps  appear  in  this  work. 

Appended  to  this  edition  wil'  be  found  a  chapter  on  the 
published  and  unpublished  maps  of  the  region  west  of  Lake 
Superior;  additional  notices  of  Groselliers  and  Radisson,  the 
first  white  men  to  visit  the  Sioux;  a  memoir  of  Du  Luth;  a 
careful  examination  of  the  writings  of  Hennepin;  additional 
notices  of  Perrot,  and  Pierre  Le  Sueur  the  explorer  of  the 
St.  Pierre,  now  Minnesota  River;  an  abstract  of  La  Hontan's 
fabulous  voyage  in  midwinter,  upon  a  so-called  Long  River; 
an  extended  account  of  Fort  Beauharnois  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Pepin;  the  explorations  of  the  Verandries;  a  sketch  of 
David  Thompson,  the  geographer  and  astronomer  of  the 
North- West  Company;  large  extracts  from  the  manuscripts 
■of  Alexander  Henry,  one  of  the  first  English  traders  in  the 
valley  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North;  and  a  history  of  Fort 
Snelliug. 


PREFATORY  KOTB. 

An  acknowledgment  in  due  to  Alpheus  P.  Tod,  the  nccom- 
plished  librarian  of  the  Parliament  Library  of  the  Dominion 
of  Canada,  at  Ottawa,  for  the  use  of  manuscripts;  to  hisconri- 
eous  asHiatant,  L.  P.  Sylvain,  for  repeated  favors;  and  to  the 
Hon.  A.  S.  Hardy,  Secretary  of  the  Province  of  Ontario,  for 
valuable  documents,  nad  access  to  the  unpublished  journals  of 
David  Thompson. 

Lyman  C.  Draper,  the  Secretary,  and  D.  S.  Durrie,  the 
Librarian  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society,  haTe  also  aided 
me  by  sending  vnluable  works  of  that  Society  which  I  desired 
to  examine. 

As  the  last  pages  were  going  through  the  press,  my  friend, 
A.  F.  SpotFord,  LL.  D.,  Librarian  of  Congress,  forwarded  for 
my  inspection,  the  first  sheets  of  the  fifth  volume  of  the 
Margry  Docuuients  now  being  printed  in  Paris.  Therein  is 
a  letter  of  the  Jesuit  Engalran,  written  at  Mackinaw  on  the 
26th  of  August,  1683,  to  Letevre  de  La  Barre,  the  new  Governor 
of  Canada.  It  mentions  that  Du  Luth,  who  had  returned  to 
Mackinaw  from  Prance,  went  with  thirty-one  men,  about  the 
eighth  day  of  August,  by  way  of  Green  Bay,  to  visit  the  Pot- 
towattomies,  and  express  the  displeasure  of  the  Governor  at 
their  manifestation  of  ill  will  toward  the  French,and  theirsym- 
pathy  with  the  Iroquois.  He  was  not  long  absent  from  Mack- 
inaw, and  upon  his  return,  again  began  to  make  preparations 
for  trading  with  the  Sioux  and  the  tribes  north  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior, as  is  noted  in  Appendix  C. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  this  history  is  free  from  errors,  bat 
an  attempt  has  been  made  to  be  fair  minded,  "nee  falsa  dicere, 
nee  vera  reticere",  neither  to  promulgate  falsehood,  nor  to 
conceal  the  truth.  If,  hereafter,  it  shall  he  of  any  service  to 
one  competent  to  write  a  better  history,  a  great  object  of  its 
preparation  will  have  been  attained. 

E.  D.  N. 


.      t;',',5.'.r-         •'». 


. .  J      •  ^ 


u,. . 


>r  . 


A\ 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


kt-      'i-'i 


i..    •   •.    >,•'■ 


Physical  characteristics,   Page  xxxi 

Minnesota  well  watered,    . 

zxxiz 

Boundaries  of  the  rtate, 

xxxi 

Cascaues  of  Pigeon  river,  . 

zl 

Climate  of  Minnesota, 

xxxii 

Falls  of  Kettle  river, . 

si 

Eulogy  on  climate  by  Maury, 

xxxii 

Vermillion  Falls, 

zl 

Report    of   Minnesota    and 

Minne-ha-ha, 

xli 

Pacific  Railroad,     . 

xxxiii 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony, . 

zlU 

Temperature  of  Minnesota, 

xxxiii 

Early  French  maps,   . 

zW 

Table  illustrative  of  tempe- 

De 1' Isle's  maps, 

xlvi 

rature,     .... 

xxxiv 

Jeffery's  map,  1762,    . 

xlvii 

Annual    temperature   equal 

Pronunciation    of    certain 

to  Central  New  York,       . 

XXXV 

Indian  names, 

xlviii 

Table  showing  mean  fall  of 

Census  of  Minnesota,  1857, 

xlix 

rain  and  melted  snow  at 

Rev.    Albert    Barnes'    de- 

various places, 

xxxvi 

scription    of    Minnesota 

Less  snow  than  on  the  At- 

scenery, .... 

1 

lantic  border, 

xxxvii 

Meaning  of  the  word  Min- 

Table showing  mean  force 

nesota 

U 

of  wind  in  winter  for  sev- 

Dahkotah used  in  place  of 

eral  years, 

xxxviii 

Sioux 

u 

CHAPTER   L 

Dahkotahs,  a  distinct  group. 

.      49 

Yankton  B, 

.      62 

Language  difficult, . 

.      49 

Teetwawns,     .        .        .        . 

52 

Mille  Lac  region,    . 

.      50 

Assinoboines, 

52 

Dahkotah,  its  signification, 

.      50 

Revolt  of  the  Assineboines, 

53 

Origin  of  term  Sioux, 

.      51 

Religious  characteristics. 

.      54 

Divisions  of  the  Dahkotahs, 

.      51 

No  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being, 

54 

M'dewakantonwans.        .jm'4»?i     52 

Oanktajhee,    . 

(7) 

S« 

tUi 

CONTENTS. 

Hayokbh 

56 

Poem  on  Thunder  Bird, . 

59' 

Takushkankan, 

57 

Sun  worship 

60 

Wahkeenyan, 

58 

Offerizi^^u  to  stones, 

60 

Thbader  Nest, 

58 

CHAPTER  II. 

Dahkotahs  priestridden, . 

61 

Maternal  affection, . 

70 

Saored  men 

61 

Lament  over  an  infant,  . 

71 

Saored  or  medicine  danoe, 

62 

Mode  of  obtaining  wives, 

72 

Initiation  as  a  saored  man, 

62 

Custom  of  son-in-law,     . 

72 

Ceremonies 

63 

Penalty  for  adultery, 

73 

Sacred  song,   .... 

64 

The  "voodpecker  charm, . 

73 

Medicine  sack, 

64 

Love  of  dress. 

73 

Dahkotah  doctors,  . 

65 

Games,  plum  stones, 

74 

Vapour  bath,  . 

65 

Ball  play. 

74 

Hennepin  steamed. 

65 

Ball  play  at  Oak  Qrove, 

75 

Medicine  man,  signification,    . 

66 

Dog  dance. 

76 

Cause  of  disease,    . 

66 

Fish  dance,     . 

.      76 

Manner  of  calling  a  doctor, 

67 

Cormorant  dance,    . 

77 

Mode  of  medical  practice, 

67 

Secret  clubs,  . 

77 

Fondness  for  war,   . 

68 

Crow  Feather  in  Cap  Club, 

78 

Vows  of  a  young  warrior. 

68 

Strong  Heart  Club, 

78 

The  return  of  a  war  party,     . 

69 

Uncleanness,  . 

79 

Scalp,  its  preparation,     . 

69 

Dog  meat,  a  delicacy. 

.      80 

Scalp  dance,    . 

69 

I-regular  mode  of  life,    . 

.      81 

Feathers,  signs  of  prowess. 

69 

OF 

[AFTER  III. 

Dafakrtab  women,  . 

.      82 

Schiller's  poem. 

.      89 

Hardships  of  women, 

.      82 

Translations  of  Bulwar   an( 

I 

Husbands  cruel, 

.      83 

Hersohell,    . 

.      8» 

Disposition  to  be  suicides. 

.      84 

Legends, 

.      90 

Disguised  girl, 

.      84 

Eagle-Eye  and  Scarlet  Dove, 

.      90 

Chiefs,  no  authority. 

.      85 

Anpetusapa,  . 

.      91 

Absence  of  law,     . 

.      85 

Weenonah, 

.      93 

Names  of  months,  . 

.      86 

Hogan-wanke-kin,    St.    Croii 

Moon  eaten  by  mice. 

.      87 

River,          ... 

94 

Looking-glass, 

.      87 

Language  of  Dahkotahs, 

.      9& 

Peculiar  views. 

.      87 

Hennepin  collecting  a  vocabu 

Belief  in  relation  to  future, 

.      87 

lary 

.      95 

Burial  ceremonies,  . 

88 

Riggs's  Lexicon, 

.      96 

Death  song,     . 

.      89 

Dahkotah  Alphabet, 

.      »T 

CONTKNTr-". 


CHAPTER   IV. 


Source  of  St.  Lawrence  iu  Min- 
nesota, ....  99 
Cartier  discovers  the  mouth,  .  99 
Champlun  in  Huron  country,  99 
Nioolet,  in  Wisconsin,  .  .  100 
Le  Jeune's  mention  of  Dahko- 

tah 101 

Jogues  and  Rajmbault  at  Sault 

St.  Marie 101 

Traders  west  of  Lake  Superior,  102 

Qarreau  and  Dreuilletes,        .  102 
Puritan  Eliot,         .        .        .102 

Two  traders  visit  Dahkotahs,  .  103 

Their  description,   .        .        .  103 

Orosellier 103 

Murder  of  Oarreau,        .        .  104 

Ren6  Menard,                .       .  104 

His  farewell  letter,         .       .  104 

Arrival  in  Lake  Superior,  106 


Hurons  at  La  Pointe, 

.    106 

Querin,  Menard's  companion. 

106 

Menard  lost,  ... 

107 

Allouez  succeeds  Menard, 

107 

Arrives  at  La  Pointo,     . 

108 

Grand  Council, 

108 

Allouez  meets  Dahkotahs, 

109 

First  mention  of  the  "Mes- 

sipi,"       .... 

110 

Description  of  Dahkotahs, 

110 

Marquette  succeeds  Allouez, 

111 

His  opinion  of  the  Dahkotahs 

111 

Number  of  Dahkotah  villages 

112 

La  Pointe  Mission  abandoned 

113 

Dahkotahs  killed  at  Sault  St 

Marie, 

113 

Ojibways  intermarry  with  Dah 

kotahs,        ,        .        . 

118 

CHAPTER   V. 


Fur  trade,       .       .       . 
Fascination  of  the  business 
Licenses  granted  to  old  officers, 
Clerks,    .... 
Voyageuis, 

Careless  and  hardy  class. 
Fondness  for  the  firontier, 
Oomplaiuts    against    coureurs 

dee  hois, 
Meaning  of  the  expression. 
Number  of  annual  licenses, 
Profits  of  the  trade, 
Nicholas  Perrot,     .       . 


115  Perrot  a  Canadian,         .        .  119 

115  Visits  tribes  of  Lake  Michigan,  120 

115  Council  at  Sault  St.  Marie,     .  120 
ri5  French    take    possession     of 

116  North-west,  .       .        .121 

116  Trading  post  at  head  of  Lake 

117  Superior,     .  .        .121 
Du  Luth  visits  Minnesota,  122 

117  Intendant    of    Canada    dis- 

117  pleased 122 

118  Mille  L0O  called  Lake  Buade,  122 

119  Perrot's  account  attracts  La 

119       SaUe m 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


i  I 


: 


La  Salle  at  Kingston, 

Louis  Hennepin.     .       . 

His  early  life, 

Not  a  Jesuit,  . 

Embarks  for  Canada, 

At  the  Falls  of  Niagara, 

Visits  Albany, 

La  Salle  launches  the  GrifBn, 

He  builds  Fort  Crevecoeur, 

Sends  Hennepin  to  Upper  Mis 

sissippi, 
Hennepin  seized  by  the  Dahko- 

tahs,    .... 
Indians  astonished  at  prayer- 
book,  .... 
First  mention  of  a  Dahkotah 

word 

Hennepin  at  Lake  Pepin, 
Old  mode  of  kindling  fire, 
Indians  land  near  St.  Paul, 
Journey  to  Mille  Lac,     . 
Hennepin's  robe,     . 
Sweating  cabin, 
Astonishment     at     mariner's 

compass, 
The  mystery  of  an  iron  pot, 
Amazement  at  writing,  . 


124    Ridicule  of  the  Indians,  .        .  133 
124    First  infant  baptism  in  Minne- 

124  nesota 134 

125  Arrival  of  distant  Indians,     .  134 

125  Hope  of  a  Northern  Pacific  route,  135 

126  Hennepin's  falsehoods,   .        .  135 

126  List  of  editions  of  his  travels,  136 

127  Calliere's  opinion  of  Hennepin,  137 
127    Louis  XIV.  orders  his  arrest, .  137 

Hennepin  in  Italy,  .        .  137 

127  DuLuth,disoovererof  Mille  Lao,  138 
Du  Luth  in  Franco,        .        .  138 

128  Du  Luth  at  Mackinaw,   .        .  138 
Perrot  near  the  mouth  of  Wis- 

129  consin 138 

Droll  strategy  of  Dahkotahs,  .  139 

129  Miamies  bring  lead,        .        .  139 

130  Du   Luth  and   Perrot  obtain 

130  allies  for  Iroquois  war,        .  139 

131  Louis  XIV.  censures  Du  Luth  140 
131    Du  Lutii  at  a  post  above  De- 

131  troit 140 

132  Du  Luth  and  Tonty  at  Detroit,  141 
Du  Luth  captures  Englishmen,  141 

132    Du  Luth  in  New  York,    .        .  141 

132  Afflicted  with  gout,         .        .  148 

133  Notice  of  his  death,        .        .  1^ 


CHAPTER  VIL 


Formal  occupation  of  Minne- 
sota,   .... 

First  official  document,   . 

Boisguillot  at  the  Wisconsin 

Mantantons,    ... 

FirRt  French  post  in  Minnesota, 

Frontenao's  opposition  to  Je- 
suits  

Perrot  visits  Montreal,    . 

Qrand  feast  of  Frontenao, 


Frontenac  sings  the  war  song. 

147 

143 

Long-expected  furs. 

147 

143 

Le  Sueur  at  La  Pointe,   . 

148 

144 

Second  post  in  Minnesota, 

148 

144 

First  Dahkotah  in  Montreal,   . 

148 

145 

Ojibway  chief  from  La  Pointe, 

148 

His  speech,     .... 

149 

145 

Dahkotab's  speech, 

149 

146 

Dahkotah  woman  in  Montreal, 

150 

146 

Dahkotah  chief  dies, 

151 

CONTENTS. 


Le  Sueur  goes  to  France, 
Perrot  about  to  be  buraed, 
Le  Sueur's  mining  project, 


151    Louis  Xiy.  revokes  his  license,     153 

151  Le    Sueur's   second    visit   to 

152  France,        .        .        .        .153 


CHAPTER  VIIL 


D'Iberville  Governor  of  Loui 


siana, 

154 

Relative  of  Le  Sueur,     . 

154 

Le  Sueur  arrives  with  miners, 

154 

Ascends  the  Mississippi, 
Marest's  letter  to  Le  Sueur,    . 

154 
154 

Le  Sueur  meets  Dahkotah  war- 

riors,   

155 

At  the  mines  near  Galena, 

155 

Canadians  attacked  by  Wis- 

consin Indians,    . 

156 

Le  Sueur  at  mouth  of  Wiscon- 

sin,       

156 

War    party    returning    from 
Minnesota,  .... 

157 

Le  Sueur  at  Chippeway  river, 

Lake  Pepin 

Cannon  river, 

158 
159 
159 

La  Place,  a  deserter,  killed  by 

Dahkotahs, 

160 

Denis,  Canidian  voyageur, 
St.  Cruix  river  named  after  a 

160 

Frenchman, 

161 

River  St.  Pierre  entered. 

161 

Blue  Earth  river,    . 

162 

Post  established. 

162 

Dahkotahs  desire  a  post  near 

Mendota,     .... 
Dahkotahs  described, 

162 
163 

Fort  L'Huillier  finished. 

164 

Dahkotahs  sue  for  favour. 

Canoes  filled  with  blue  earth, 

Mantantons  visit  the  post, 

M'dewakantons  at  Mille  Lac, 

Assineboines, 

loways    and    Ottoes    moving 

west 

Dahkotahs  mourn  the  death  of 

Tioscat6, 
Le  Sueur  make:;  presents. 
Cultivation   of  the  earth  pro- 
posed, 
Mant&iitons  give  a  feast, 
M'dewakantons  at  the  post, 
Catalogue    of   Dahkotah    vil 

lages, 
Le  Sueur  returns  to  Gulf  of 

Mexico, 
Acccorapanies    D'Iberville   to 

France, 
D'Iberville's  manuscript. 
State  of  the  tribes. 
Census  of  Indians,  Mississip' 

pi  valley, 
Frenchmen  should  not  follow 

Indians,       ... 
Canada  and  Louisiana  govern 

mente, 
Workmen  leave  Mahkahto, 
Le  Sueur's  death,    . 


164 
165 
165 
165 
166 

166 

167 
168 

If* 
168 
169 

170 

171 

171 
171 
172 

173 

173 

174 
176 
175 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Westward  tendency  of  Dahko-  Sauks  and  Foxes  defeated  by 

talis, 176        Dahkotahs  and  loways,       .     176 

Sauk    and    Fox    hostility    to  Language  of  the  Foxes,  not 

French,        .'»*/,      S'       .  176        Algonquin,          .                 .     Iti 


I 


Foxes  attack  Detroit, 
Their  repulse, 

Defeat  near  Lake  St.  Clair,     . 
Louvigny    invades    liie    Fox 

country 

Foxes  break  their  treaty, 
Licenses  to  traders  renewed,  . 
Prediction  of  English  mastery. 
Captain  St.  Pierre  sent  to  La 

Pointe,  .... 
De  Lignery  concludes   peace 

with  Foxes, 
Peace  between  Ojibways  and 

Dahkotahs 

La  Pointe  Ojibways  at  Mon- 
treal,    

Foxes  again  faithless, 

Lake    Pepin    re-occupied    by 

French,  .... 
Importance  of  the  post  urged, 
De  Lignery'e  expedition  against 

Foxes,  .... 

Foxes  leave  their  country, 


CONTENTS. 

177 

Father  Quignas  captured. 

.    186 

177 

Returns  to  Lake  Pepin,  . 

.    186 

178 

Bitablishment  at  Lake  Ouini- 

pigon, 

.     186 

178 

Veranderie     discovers     Lake 

179 

Winnipeg,  . 

187 

179 

Alleged  pillars  of  etone. 

187 

179 

Aiton's  letter  on  stone  heaps, 

187 

Stone  heaps  near  Red  Wing, 

188 

180 

Dahkotahs  attack  Veranderie, 
Extermination  of  Foxes  deter 

139 

180 

mined, 
Moran,  captain  of  the  expedi- 

189 

181 

tion,    .        .        .        ; 

189 

Moran's  strategy,    . 

196 

181 

Final  defeat  of  the  Foxes, 

190 

182 

De  Lusignan  visits  Dahkotahs 
Coureurs  des  bois  refuse  to  re 

191 

183 

turn,     .... 

191 

184 

Trading-post  burned, 

ir/1 

St.  Pierre  at  Mackinaw. 

191 

185 

His  character, 

191 

186 

Escape  of  Indian  prisoners, 

192 

CHAPTER   X. 


11 


11' 


Canada  and  English  colonies 

at  war,         ....     193 
French  enlist  savages,     .        .     193 
Le  Due  robbed  at  Lake  Supe- 
rior  194 

La  Ronde,  officer  at  La  Pointe,  194 
Veranderie  ai  Fond  du  Lao,  .  194 
Marin  at  Green  Bay,       .  194 

List  of  Upper  Indian  allies,    .     194 
St.  Pierre  in  the  state  of  Penn- 
sylvania,     .        .         .        .195 
Beaujeu  and  De   Lignery  at 

Fort  Duquesue,    .  195 
Beaujeu  killed  while  attack- 
ing Braddock,      .        .        .     195 
St.  Pierre  killed  at  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  195 


Langlade  of  Wisconsin,  at  Ti- 

conderoga,  . 
loways  and  Ojibways  at  Ticon 

deroga. 
List  of  Upper  Indians,    . 
Rogers  and  Jonathan  Carver 

at  Fort  George,    . 
Rogers's  amusing  note,  . 
Ojibways    returning,    die    of 

small-pox,    . 
French  delivt. .'  up  their  posts, 
English  troops  at  Green  Bay, 
Dahkotahs    visit,    and    make 

peace, .... 
Penneshaw  a  French  trader, 
His  influence  with  Dahkotahs, 
Friendly  tc  the  English, 


196 

197 
197 

198 
198 

199 
199 
199 

199 
199 
20a 
20O 


CONTENTS. 


zili 


CHAPTER   XI. 


Indians  partial  to  French  tra- 
ders  

Jonathan  Carver's  early  life,  . 

At  Fort  William  Henry,  . 

Visits  Maokinaw,    . 

Arrives  at  Oreen  Bay,     . 

Carver's  description  of  Prairie 
du  Chien,    .        .        .        . 

Artificial  earth  works,    . 

Lake  Pepin,    .... 

Nehogata\ronahs,  Mawtaw- 
bauntowahs,  Shashweento- 
vrahs,  ..... 

Carver's  Cave  in  suburb  of  St. 
Paul, 

Indian  burial  place, 

Minnesota  river, 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony  in  1766, 

Mound  near  St.  Paul  opened,  . 

Exploration  of  Carver's  Cave, 

Dahkotahs  at  Carver's  Cave,   . 

Speech  over  dead  chief,  . 

Yersification,  by  Schiller, 

Sir  Wm.  Johnson  in  relation 
to  Ojibways, 

Rogers  makes  a  treaty  vrith 
Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways,    . 


Prediction  of  speedy  route  to 

201 

New  York 

213 

202 

Carver's  Pacific  route,     . 

214 

202 

Supposed  origin  of  Dahkotahs, 

214 

202 

Analogies  of  language,  . 

215 

202 

Carver's  death, 

215 

Claim  of  his  heirs,  .        .         i 

215 

203 

Marriage  of  Carver's  daughter. 

216 

203 

Alleged  deed  given  at  Cave 

206 

near  St.  Paul, 
Agent  of  Carver's  heirs  mur- 

216 

dered,  ... 

216 

206 

Rev.  Samuel  Peters  purchases 

Carver  claim. 

217 

207 

Testimony  uefore  Senate  com- 

207 

mittee,         .... 

217 

208 

Qeneral  Leavenworth's  letter. 

218 

208 

Indians  do  not  recognise  the 

208 

grant 

218 

208 

Frenchmen  cut  timber  on  Chip- 

210 

peway,        .... 

219 

211 

Report  of  Senate  committee  in 

212 

1823 

British  government  prohibited 

219 

212 

grants 

Lord  Palmerston  finds  no  pa- 

220 

213 

pers  about  the  grant,  . 

221 

CHAPTER  XIL 


Dahkotahs  formerly  at  Leech 

Lake 222 

Driven  from  Sandy  Lake,  222 
Fight  at  mouth  of  Crow  Wing,  222 
Pillagers,  origin  of  name,  .  223 
Battle  of  Falls  of  St.  Croix,  .  223 
Foxes  and  Dahkotahs  defeated,  224 
English  trader  killed  by  Dah- 
kotahs   -225 

Murder  near  Mendota,    .        .  225 

British  withdraw  their  trade,  226 


Wapashaw,  ....  226 
Determines  to  visit  Quebec,  .  227 
Delivers  himself,  .  .  .  227 
Winters  in  Canada,  .  .  227 
Wapashaw  dies  an  exile,  228 
Depeyster  commands  Mack- 
inaw,    228 

Wapashaw  visits  him,     .  228 

Song  for  Wapashaw,  .  228 

Troop  leaves  Mackinaw,  229 

Langlade  at  Prairie  da  Chien,  229 


wm 


II 


!!l 


XlT 

CONTENTS. 

Wapashaw  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 

Winters  at  Pine  river,     . 

234 

1780 

230 

Kay  stabbed  by  an  Indian,     . 

235 

Speech  to  the  Foxes, 

230 

Perrault  and  Harris  at  Leech 

Peltriei  taken   by  British  to 

Lake 

236 

Mackinaw, 

230 

Dubuque  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 

236 

The  lead  mines  of  Dubuque,  . 

236 

band, 

231 

Renville,  Orignon,  and  Dick- 

Penneshaw's village. 

231 

son 

236 

History  of   North-west  Com- 

Perlier falls  in  love  on  the  St. 

pany 

231 

Croix,          .... 

237 

Clerks 

232 

North-west  Company  build  at 

Pork  Eaters 

232 

Sandy  Lake, 

238 

Winterers 

232 

British  do  not  surrender  posts, 

238 

Kny  in  Minnesota, 

233 

Jay's  treaty,   .... 

239 

Kay  intoxicated,     . 

233 

CHAPTER  XIIL 


nf 


Indiana  organized,  .        . 

Louisiana  transferred,    . 

Territory  of  Upper  Louisiana, 

Territory  of  Michigan,  . 

First  United  States  officer  in 
Minnesota,  .... 

PikeV  expedition,  . 

Pike  at  Kaposia,     . 

J.  B.  Faribault,  sketch  of 

Sketch  of  Fisher,  the  trader. 

Pike's  council  on  island. 

Articles  of  treaty,  . 

Pike's  speech  to  Dahkotahs,    . 

Flag  lost,         .        .        .        . 

Portage  at  Falls  of  St.  An- 
thony, .... 

Sergeant  breaks  a  blood-vessel, 

Pike's  block  house, 

Complaints  against  Dickson,  . 

Dickson  visits  Pike, 

Ascent  of  the  Mississippi, 

Sled  falls  into  the  river. 

Baggage  wet, 

Ignorance  and  inattention  of 
voyageurs 

Ojibway  encampment 


240 

Pike's  indignation  at  British 

240 

flag 

255 

241 

Tent  on  fire 

256 

241 

Sandy  Tiake 

North-west  Company's  post  at 

256 

241 

Sandy  Lake  described. 

257 

241 

Arrival  from  Fond  du  Lac,     . 

258 

242 

Leech  Lake 

259 

242 

North-west  Company's  post,    . 

25t. 

242 

American  flag  hoisted,    . 

259 

243 

English  flag  lowered. 

260 

243 

Council  with  Ojibways,  . 

260 

244 

Pike  at  Red  Cedar  Lake, 

261 

248 

Shabby  actions  of  Pike's  ser- 

geant,         .... 

262 

248 

Peculiar  hospitality. 

265 

249 

Arrival  at  mouth  of  Minnesota, 

266 

249 

Carver's  Cave  not  found. 

267 

250 

Conference  with  Little  Crow, 

268 

251 

Pike  at  Red  Wing, 

269 

252 

The  murderer,  Roman  Nose,  . 

270 

253 

Pike  ascends  the  Bam  bluff,   . 

271 

253 

Pike  visits  Wapashaw,    . 

272 

Pike  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 

273 

254 

Ball  play 

274 

254 

Red  Thunder,  Yankton  chief. 

275 

CONTENTS. 


sf 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


'x'radere  disregards  Pike's  in- 
structions, ....  276 
Cameron,  principal  trader,  .  276 
His  grave,  ....  276 
Milor,  old  vojageur,  •  276 
His  perilous  journey,  .  277 
Indians  combine  against  Uni- 
ted States,  .  .  .278 
Nicholas  Jarrot,  .  .  *78 
Messengers  from  Teoumseh,  .  279 
DicliMn,  his  character  and  in- 
fluence, ....  279 
Dickson  a  British  partisan,  .  280 
Mackinaw  surprised,  .  .  280 
Rolette  and  Langlade  present,  280 
Kaposia  andWapashaw  bands 

at  Fort  Meigs,     .        .         .281 

Refuse  to  eat  an  American,     .  282 
Americans  fortify  Prairie  du 

Chien 283 

Site  of  Fort  Shelby,        .        .  283 

British  attack  the  fort,    .        .  284 

Joseph  Rolette,  British  guide,  284 

Americans  capitulate,     .         .  285 
Americans  attacked  near  Rock 

Island 285 

Fort  Shelby  called  McKay,     .  285 


Zachary  Taylor  retreats  from 

Rock  Island,       .        .        .286 

Daring  of  Paul  Harpole,         .  286 

One-eyed  Sioux,      .        .        .  286 

Dickson  imprisons  him,  .        .  287 
British    evacuate    Prairie  du 

Chien 287 

Sketch  of  one-eyed  Sionz,  .  288 
Dickson  at  Lake  Traverse,  .  287 
Prejudice  against  Selkirk,  .  290 
O'Fallon's  letter,  .  .  .290 
Dickson's  character  misrepre- 
sented   291 

Ramsay  Crooks  on  Dickson,    .  291 
Wapaehavr  and   Little  Crow 

visit  British,        .        .        .292 
Treaty  of  Portage  des  Sioux,  293 
Astor   organizes    a  fur  com- 
pany,    293 

History  of  Aster's  company,  .  293 

Lookwood  trader  in  Minnesota,  294 

Indian  trade  in  1816,      .        .  294 
First  grist-mill  above  Prairie 

du  Chien 298 

Saw-mill  on  Black  river,         .  298 

Spartan  conflict  of  Ojibways,  298 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Red  River  difficulties,     .        .  300 
Early  posts  on  the  northern 

border 300 

Formation  of  North-west  Com- 
pany   301 

Earl  of  Selkirk's  project,  .  301 
Selkirk's  grant  described,  .  302 
Pioneers  of  Selkirk  colony,  .  303 
Winter  at  Pembina,  .  .  303 
Colony  augmented,  .  304 
The  North-west  Company  op- 
pose,   .        .        .        -         .  305 


Duncan  Cameron,  .        .       .  305 
Selkirk     storehouse      broken 

open, 306 

First  Selkirk  emigrants  Pres- 
byterians   306 

Colonists  driven  away,    .        .  307 

Return  to  Red  river,       .        .  308 
Earl    of    Selkirk    comes    to 

America 308 

Messenger  to  Red  river  robbed,  309 

Governor  Semple  attacked,      .  310 

Massacre  of  his  party,    .        .  311 


lil^ 


!i'; 


Selkirk  settlers  agaia  exiled,  . 
Owen  Keveny  seised, 
His  murder,   .        .        .        . 
His  trunks  opened  and  papers 

read,   

Earl   of  Selkirk  seises   Fort 

William,      .        .        .        . 
John  Tanner  diicovered, 
Sketoh  of  Tanner,  . 
Selkirk's  interest  in  Tanner,  . 


312 

Sufferings  at  Pembina,  1817, 

312 

1818 

315 

313 

Grasshopper  invasion,    . 

316 

Complete  devastation,     . 

316 

313 

Mackinaw  boats  from  Prairie 

du  Chien  to  Pembina, 

317 

314 

Selkirk's  agent  visits  Switser- 

314 

land 

318 

314 

Compromise  of  Hudson  Bay 

315 

and  North-west  Company,  . 

318 

Hi 
(1 


n 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


United  States  fortify  the  North- 
west  

Orders  to  proceed  to  Mendota, 

Crawford  county,  Wisconsin, 
organized 

Colonel  Leavenworth  ascends 
Mississippi, 

Primitive  mode  of  living. 

Troops   move  to  Camp  Cold- 
water,  .... 

Lumber  cut  on  Rum  river, 

Cass  expedition, 

Negro  and  Indian  offspring,   . 

Arrival  of  Cass  at  Sandy  Lake, 

At  Upper  Red  Cedar  Lake,    . 

This  lake  the  supposed  aouroe 
of  Mississippi,     . 

Emaciated  and  suffering  voy- 
ageur,  .... 

Buffalo  hunt  above  Elk  river, 

Cass  at  Fort  Snelling,     . 

Description  of  Little  Crow,     . 

Red  Wing  and  Wapashaw  in 
1820 

Colonel  Snelling  met  by  Cass, 

First  infant  of  European  pa- 
rents, .... 

Wanata  hostile, 


Chief  offers  himself  as  a  substi- 

319 

tute  for  son. 

328 

319 

Sol.imnity  of  surrender. 

329 

Saw-mill  in  Chippeway  valley. 

330 

320 

Columbia  Fur  Company  form- 

ed,        

330 

320 

Names  of  partners. 

330 

320 

Mill  at  Minneapolis, 

T.    R.    Brown    visits    Minne 

331 

321 

Tonka,        .        .        . 

331 

322 

Family  of  Hess  murdered. 

332 

322 

Rescue  of  a  daughter,    . 

332 

322 

Swiss  come  to  United  States, 

323 

from  Red  river,   . 

333 

323 

First  steamboat  above    Rook 

Island,         .... 

334 

323 

Passengers  on  board. 

334 

Grand  illumination, 

335 

324 

Arrival  of  steamboat  at  Men- 

324 

dota,    

336 

325 

Astonishment  of  natives. 

336 

326 

Reminiscences  of  Taliaferro,  . 
Origin  of  name  Lake  Calhoun 

337 

327 

and  Harriet, 

338 

327 

Flat  Mouth  at  Fort  Snelling,  . 
Penneshaw's  mother  kills  Ojib- 

339 

327 

waygirl,     .        .        .        . 

340 

328 

I  i 


Ml 


CONTENTS. 


stU 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Major   Long's    expedition    to 

Red  river,    ....  341 

Arrival  at  Fort  Snelling,         .  341 

Renville,  interpreter,      .        .  342 

J.  Snelling,  assistant,  .  342 

Beltrami,  Italian  refugee,       .  342 

Arrival  at  Big  Stone  Lake,     .  342 
Wanata's  appearance  and  cha- 

raoter,         ....  343 

Wanata's  vow  to  the  Sun,       .  344 

Cuttings  of  the  flesh,      .        .  344 

Wanata  feasts  Long  and  party,  346 

Dog  meat  presented,       .        .  347 

Origin  of  word  Pembina,        .  348 
Boundary  line  at  that  point 

fixed 348 

Tanner  wounded  by  an  Indian,  349 
Beltrami  separates  from  Mi^or 

Long 349 

Returns  by  way  of  Red  Lake,  350 
Beltrami's  characteristics,  .  350 
Beltrami  deserted  by  his  guides,  353 
Awkward  attempt  at  paddling,  354 
The  difficulties  of  travel,  .  355 
Indians'  astonishment  at  um- 
brella   367 

Ludicrous  appearance  of  Bel- 
trami, ....  357 
Fear  of  the  Dahkotahs,  .  .  358 
Beltrami  at  Red  Lake,  .  .  359 
Dogs  tear  his  clothing,  .  .  360 
Ojibways  mourn  the  loss  of  a 

brave,  ....  361 

Half-breed  hut  described,       .  362 

Notice  of  Red  river,       .        .  363 

Topography  of  Red  Lake,       .  364 


Theory  of  old  geographers  in 
relation  to  what  constitutes 

the  sources  of  a  stream,      .  366 

Beltrami  leaves  Red  Lake,  367 

Table  land  of  North  America,  368 
Beltrami  discoverer  of  northern 

source  of  Mississippi,          .  369 

Beautiful  description,             .  370 

Indian  stories  unreliable,        .  371 
Beltrami     suggests     western 

source  of  Mississippi,          .  371 

Leech  Lake  described,     .  372 
Interview  of  the  Italian  with 

Pillagers,     ....  376 
Pike  makes  Leech  Lake  source 

of  Mississippi,  .  .  .  374 
Beltrami's  tribute  to  Pike,  .  375 
William  Morrison's  letter,  .  375 
Morrison  at  Leech  Lake,  1802,  375 
Morrison  at  Lake  Itasca,  1804,  376 
Wintered  there  in  1811-12,  .  376 
Beltrami  at  Sandy  Lake,  .  377 
Gh>vernment  mill,  .  .  378 
Beltrami  returns  to  Fort  Snel- 
ling,      379 

Cordial  reception,    .        .  380 
Accuracy  of  Beltrami's  map,  .  380 
Underrated  by  Long  and  Keat- 
ing   380 

Findlay  and  party  killed  at 

Lake  Pepin,        .        .        .381 
Degraded  state  of  traders  and 

Indians,      .        .        .        .382 
Traders    among    Dahkotahs, 
1825-26,      .        .        .        .382 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 


Prairie   du   Chien    treaty  of  Boundary  fixed  between  Dah- 

1825, 383        koUhs  and  Ojibways,  .        .     iSS 

2 


!B 


(   ■'! 


ITUi 


CONTENTS. 


|i  >' 


:'l 


1!? 


P 

1! 


ii! 


hli 


Fond  du  Lao  treaty,  1826, 

384 

Dahkotah  coward,  . 

SOS 

CommissionerB  Cass  and  Mo- 

Troops  removed  from  Prairie 

Kenney 

384 

du  Chien 

394 

Aged  woman  aoalped  when  a 

Methode  and  family  killed,     . 

394 

girl, 

3H5 

Red  Bird  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 

895 

Woman  in  council. 

385 

Attempts  to  kill  Mrs.  Lock- 

Agreement  to  deliver  up  mur- 

wood,   

39S 

derers 

U86 

Murders  the  Qagnier  family,  . 

396 

Case  orders  a  canoe. 

386 

Dahkotahs  unruly, 

396 

Building  of  birch  bark  canoe. 

387 

Winnebagoes  attack  keel-boats, 

396 

Murderers    surrender    them- 

The father's  wail,    . 

397 

selves 

387 

Fort  Crawford  put  in  a  state 

Severe  snow  storm,  1825, 

388 

of  defence,  .... 

397 

Famine 

388 

Cass  at  Buttes  des  Morts, 

397 

Freshet  in  Red  River  valley,  . 

389 

Soldiers   march    from    Oreen 

Swiss  emigrants  home-sick,     . 

389 

Bay 

398 

Swiss  move  to  vicinity  of  St. 

General  Atkinson  starts  for  the 

Paul, .     .     .     :     . 

390 

scene,           .... 

398 

Swiss,  the  first  farmers  in  Min- 

Red Bird  described,        .        . 

898 

nesota 

390 

His  dress,       .... 

399 

Ojib  ways  at  Fort  Snelling,  1826, 

391 

The  surrender, 

399 

Slaughtered  by  the  Dahkotahs, 

391 

Death  in  prison,      .        .        . 

890 

Ojibway  revenge,    . 

392 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

Prairie  du  Chien  treaty,  1830, 

400 

Grand  scalp  dance. 

406 

Half-breed  tract  of  Lake  Pe- 

Indian buria,^  place. 

406 

pin 

400 

Elk  or  Itasca  Lake, 

407 

Attempt  to  erect  a  mill,  . 

400 

Lieut.  Allen  surveys  and  makes 

Holmes  builds  a  mill  on  Chip- 

a map 

407 

pewa  river, 

401 

Allen's  canoe  upsets, 

408 

Schoolcraft  visits  Ojibways  in 

Flat  Mouth's  lodge  at  Leech 

1831 

401 

Lake 

408 

Snake  river  chief,    . 

402 

Vaccination  of  Indians, 

409 

Schoolcraft's     expedition     of 

Beautiful  country,  . 

409 

1832 

403 

Good  soil 

410 

Associates  of  Schoolcraft, 

403 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony,     . 

410 

Child  of  Rev.  S.  Hall,  first 

Schoolcraft  talks  with  Dahko- 

child of  pure  European  stock 

tahs,    

411 

on  Lake  Superior, 

404 

h>^te  of  Schoolcraft, 

411 

Portage  of  St.  Louis  river,      . 

404 

Hostile   intentions   of    Black 

Strength  of  Indian  women,     . 

404 

Hawk,         .... 

412 

Dahkotah     scalp     at      Cass 

Dahkotahs,    allies   of   United 

Lake,  ..... 

405 

States 

412 

Mil' 


CONTENTS. 

lis 

Black  Hawk  routod  by  Dodgo, 

412 

Nicollet's  early  life, 

417 

Battle  of  Bad  Axo, 

413 

Arrival  in  Minnesota, 

417 

General  Z.  Tayloi-  prcHent, 

413 

Pillagers  molest  Nicollet, 

418 

Preservation  of  Iiidiiiii  biibe,  . 

414 

Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell  assists  him. 

418 

Black  Hawk  surrenders, 

414 

Nicollet  visits  Itasca  Lake, 

418 

Allo);ed  speech  uf  that  chief,   . 

414 

Surveys  the  sources  of  Itasca, 

418 

First  land  mail  to  Fort  Snel- 

Explorations    beyond    School- 

ling  

415 

craft 

419 

Traders  in  Minnesota,  1833-34, 

415 

Devotion  to  science. 

410 

Missouri  Territory  attached  to 

Nicollet's  second  tour,     . 

419 

Michigan 

416 

J,  C.  Fremont,  his  assistant,   . 

419 

Wisconsin  Territory  organized, 

410 

Valuable  map. 

420 

Iowa  organized, 

416 

Leech    Lake  Ojibways   kill  a 

George  Catlin,  the  artist, 

416 

trader 

421 

Featheratonhaugh,  geolop;i8t,  . 

416 

Sibley's  tribute  to  Nicollet,     . 

421 

Nicollet,  the  astronomer,  . 

417 

CHAPTEK    XX.     : '  '  V""}'' 

History  of  missions,        .  422 

Frontispiece   of  La   Hontan's 

travels,         ....     422 
Savages  no  regard  for  law,      .     422 
Youth  trained  to  war,       .  423 
Error  in  the  teachings  of  Mar- 
quette  423 

Rev.  Dr.  Morse  visits  Macki- 
naw,   .....     424 
Rev.  Mr.  Ferry  opens  mission 

school,  ....     424 

On  manual  labour  principle,  .  424 
Warren  trader  at  La  Pointe,  .  425 
Introduction    of   missionaries 

by  him 425 

Rev.  Slierumn  Hall,  .  .  425 
Mr.  Frederic  Ayer,  .        .     425 

Mode  of  travel  through  Lake 

Superior 426 

Rev.  S.  Hall's  arrival  at  La 

Pointe 427 

Aitkin  requests    a    school  at 

Sandy  Lake,        .         .        .428 
Hall's  tour  to  Oakes'  trading 
post 428 


Mode  of  carrying  goods  at  a 

porta>;e 429 

Mr.  Ayer  arrives  at  Yellow 

Lake 431 

Rev.  W.  T.  Boutwell  at  Leech 

Lake 432 

First  niL-isitin  in  Minnesota  west 

of  Mississippi,  ,  .  .  432 
E.  F.  Ely,  teacher  at  Sandy 

Loke 432 

Indian  children  in  missionary's 

lap, 433 

Indians  laugh  at  missionary,  .  434 
Number  and  locality  of  Leech 

Lake  Indians,  .  .  .  435 
Fish  of  the  Lake,  .  .  .436 
Wild  rice,  .        .        .436 

Soil  around  the  lake,  .  .  436 
Danger  of  gifts  to  the  Indians,  437 
Polygamy  common,  .  .  438 
Mr.  Boutwell  married,  .  .  439 
Primitive  mode  of  life,    .  440 

Jesuits  did  not  stay  with  Dt  h- 

kotahs,  .  .  .  ,441 
S.W.  Pond.     .         .    ■'■■-,  :      .    441 


II  f  I 


I  ! 


II 


CONTENTS. 


v: 


0.  II.  Pond 

First  to  labour  for  the  welfare 

of  Dithkotalit, 
Rev.  T.  S.  Williamson,  M.  D., 
Arrivtis  at  Fort  Snelling,  May, 

1W5 ". 

First  church  and  communion 

in  Minnesota, 
Indian  mode  of  gathering  corn, 
Fondness    of    Dahkotahs    for 

meat,  .        •        .        i        . 


441 

Rev.  J.  1).  Stevens  preachei;  at 

Fort  Snoliiiig, 

44« 

441 

Indian  mourning  at  Lake  Har- 

442 

riet,     

445 

Mourners  cut  their  flesh. 

446 

442 

Church  at  Fort  Snelling, 

446 

Indian  school  at  Lake  Harriet, 

447 

443 

Presbyterian  church,  Lac  qui 

443 

Parlp 

Rev.  S.  R.  Riggs  joinb  the  mis- 

447 

444 

sion 

447 

m 


CHAPTKR   XXL 


BuB'iiloes  unknown   in  Lower 

0.  H.  Pond  buries  slaughtered 

Canada 

448 

Dahkotahs, 

455 

Rumour  in   relation  to  lions' 

Ojibways  chase  lumbermen,    . 

456 

skins 

44« 

First    steamboat    in    the    St. 

Marquette's  description  of  the 

Croix,           .... 

456 

buffalo 

448 

Ratification  of  treaty  of  1837, 

456 

First  engraving  of  the  buffalo, 

449 

Marine  mills. 

456 

Hudson  Bay  Co.  buffalo  hunters. 

449 

Dahkotah  killed  at  Lake  Har- 

Carts of  the  lialf-broeds, 

449 

riet 

457 

Hunters'  camp  described, 

450 

Battles    of    Rum    river    and 

Rules  of  the  camp, 

450 

Stillwater 

457 

Qreat  buffalo  hunt  in  Minne- 

Settlers on  Fort  SubUing  re- 

sota,     

450 

'  serve,           .... 

458 

Last  buffalo  east  of  Mississippi, 

451 

Forcible  ejection,    . 

459 

Pemmican 

451 

Death  of  Arctic  explorer  in 

Dickson's  proposed  invasion,  . 

452 

Minnesota, 

460 

McLeod  and  Bottineau's  peri- 

Supposed insanity. 

461 

lous  journey. 

452 

J.  R.  Brown   makes  a  claim 

Swiss    missionaries     at    Red 

near  Stillwater,  . 

462 

Wing,          .         •        .        • 

452 

St.  Croix  county,    . 

463 

Methodist  mission  at  Kaposia, 

452 

Lake  Pokeguma,     . 

463 

Treaty  of  1837  with  Ojibways, 

453 

Mission  at  Pokeguma,     . 

464 

Dahkoteh  treaty  of  1837, 

453 

Pleasing  prospect,  . 

404 

Faribault's     claim     to     Pike 

Little    Crow's    son   killed    at 

Island,         .... 

453 

Falls  of  St.  Croix, 

465 

Baker,  Taylor,  and  Steele  at 

Battle  of  Lake  Pokeguma, 

466 

Falls  of  St.  Croix, 

453 

Daring  feat,    .... 

467 

Visit  of  Captain  Maryatt, 

453 

Scene  after  the  fight,       ,    .     . 

468 

Small-pox  among  Dahkotahs, 

454 

Christian  burial.      . 

468 

CONTENTS. 


Qjibwny  iittiuk  helow  St.  Paul, 
Mr.  Ayer  vif<ita  liod  Lake, 
Governor  Doty  nmkes  treaties 

with  Dull kot III) H,  . 
Stillwater  commenced,    . 
Captain    Allon'o   tour   to   Big 

Sioux,  .... 

Mill  at  Little  Canada,  . 
Drovers  lo«e  their  way,  . 
Captain  Sumner  r.nd  dragoonn 

viwit  Red  River, 
Murderer  of  one  of  the  drovers 

arrested,      .... 
Death  of  Joseph  Renville, 
Sketch  of  Renville, 
One-eyed  whiskey-seller, 
Rosidence  at  St.  Paul,     . 
His  shanty  called  Pig's  Eye,  . 
'Henry  Jackson  settles  at  St. 

Paul, 


469  R<>l)ortf<  and  J.  W.  Simpson,    .  480 

470  Little  Crow  requests  a  misMion- 

iiry 480 

470  Dr.  WiiliiiniNon  comes  to  Ka- 

471  poHiii.           .                 .        .480 
Procures  a  teacher  for  St.  Paul,  481 

472  Miss  U.  E.  Bishop,  .  .  482 
472  First  school-roon  in  St.  Paul,  482 
472     First  court  in  St.  Croix  county, 

Wisconsin 483 

472  Rev,  Mr.  BoutM-ell  moves  near 

Stillwater 483 

473  n.  M,  Rice  selects  a  new  home, 

474  for  Winnobagoes,         .        .  483 

474  Winnelmgo  removal,       .        .  484 

475  Halt  nt  Wopnshuw,         .        .  484 

476  Excitement 485 

478    Battle  array,  .        •        .486 

Winnebagoes  arrive  at  Watab,  487 
479 


CHAPTER   XXII. 


Act  for  Wisconsin  to  form  a 

constitution. 
Bill  for  organization  of  Minne- 
sota, 1846,   .        .        .        . 
Sioux  nnd  Red  River  of  North, 

proposoil  boundary, 
Wisconsin  desires  to  ester,    to 

Rum  river,  . 
Remonstrance  of  citizens  of  St, 

Croix, 
Wisconsin   admitted   into   the 

Union, 
Debate  on  the  name  of  Minnc 

sota  Territory, 
Discussion  on  territorial  organ 

ization, 
First  meeting  in  St.  Paul, 
Public  meeting  at  Stillwater, 
Catlin's  letter  to  llolconibe, 
Oatlin  resides  nt  Stillwater, 


The  delegate  from  Wisconsin 
488        resigns,        .... 

H.  II.  Sibley  elected  successor, 
488     Minnesota  Territory   created, 

March  3,  1849,     . 
488     Boundaries  of  territory. 

Sparse  settlements, 

488  St.  Paul  in  1849,     . 
Steamer  brings  news  of  the  ex- 

489  istence  of  Minnesota  Terri- 
tory  

490  Joyful  demonstrations,    . 
Goodhue  arrives  with  press,    < 

490    Governor  Ramsey  and  family 

arrive 

490     List  of  early  citizens  at   the 
490        capital, 

490  First  newspaper,     . 

491  Sketch  of  Governor  Ramsey,  . 

492  Anra  Earl  Ramsey, 


492 
492 

492 
492 
493 
494 


494 
494 
494 

495 

495 
495 
496 
497 


'• 


lllin 

In 

fiii 

,1 1 .'  '■ 


gi  ;■ 


Miif 


Eili  CONTENTS. 


m 


ill 


Sketch  of  Governor  Sibley,    .  497 

Notice  of  Mrs.  Sibley,     .        .  498 
Sketch  of  II.  M.  Rice,   U.  S. 

Senator 498 

Notice  of  Mrs.  Rice.  .  .  500 
Franklin  Steele,  .  .  .  500 
Notice  of  Mrs.  Steel  j,  .  .  501 
Fish  dance  at  Kiipusia,  .  .  501 
Proclamation  of  Go  vei  nor  Ram- 
sey, organizing  th^  terri- 
tory  ,502 

C.  K.  Smitn,    .        .        .        .502 
A.Goodrich,    ...  502 

D.  Cooper 50^ 

B.  B.  Meeker,         .        .        .  ri)'^ 

J.  L.  Tayloi 502 

H.  L.  Moss 502 

Temporary  judicial  districts,  .  503 
Major  Wood's    expedition    to 

Pembina,     ....  503 
Governor  Ramsey  commences 

housekeeping  at  St.  Paul,    .  504 
H.  M,  Rice  a;- 1  family  renove 

to  St.  Paul,  .         .        .504 

Fourth  of  July  at  St.  Paul,     .  504 

First  census,   ....  504 
Recognition   and  death   of    a 

young  chie*",        .         .        .  505 
Indian  fight  ii.  Cheyenne  val- 
ley   506 

Tipsinnii  or  Dahkotah  turnip,  506 
H.  M.   !-ice  transports  goods 

by  horse- boats,     .        .        .  507 

First  election,          .        .        .  507 

A.  ?I.  Mitchell,  U.  S.  MarMial.  507 

Vote  at  first  election,       .         .  507 

Newspapers,  when  established,  508 

Old  printing  press,          .        .  508 

Court  at  Stillwater.         .        ,  509 


Court  at  Minneapolis,     .        . 

Court  at  Mendota,  . 

Temperance  reform  among 
Dahkotahs, 

Session  of  first  legislature. 

Names,  ago,  and  nativity  of 
members,     .... 

Officers  of  first  legislature. 

Governor  Ramsey's  message,  . 

Funeral  of  child  of  a  member 
of  legislature. 

Counties  formed. 

Resolution  in  relation  to  pipe 
stone  slab,   .... 

Sibley's  letter  on  red  pipe 
stone 

History  of  Pipe  Stone  Onarry, 

Nicollet's  description  >^.  red 
pipe  stone,   .... 

AUusionr  to  pipe  stone  in  Hia- 
watha,        .... 

Territ-    oi  seal  described, 

Captain  and  Mrs.  Eastman,     . 

Pno'T  by  Mrs.  Eastman, 

Ramsey  and  Chambers,  com- 
missioners to  t'-oat  with  In- 
dians, ..... 

The  project  unsuccessful, 

Orgaiiization  of  Democratic 
party 

Death  of  David  Lambert, 

Notice  of  D.  Lamt)ort,     . 

Meeting  in  behalf  of  public 
schools,        .        .        .        . 

Names  of  first  school  teachers. 

County  elections,    . 

St.  Anthony  Library  Associa- 
ciation,         .         .        .         . 


50» 

50& 

510 
511 

511 
511 

512 

512 
513 

513 

514 
614 

515 

515 
516 
516 
517 


518 
518 

518 
519 
519 

520 
520 
520 

521 


ili 


Historical  Society,  . 
First  public  meeting  of  His- 
torical Society,     . 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

.     522 


Carrier  Poys'    Address,  Jan. 
1,  1850,        .        .  .523 

522     Ma.riuge  at  Fort  Snelling,      •    52  t 


Road  by  land   to  PrairiR  du 
Chien  opened, 

First  trial  for  murder,     . 

Apple  river  battle. 

Scalp  danoe  in  Stillwater, 

Cap.,Ive  boy  sent  back  by  Gov. 
Ramsey,      .        .        .        . 

High  water  in  1850, 
'  Hole-in-the-Day"  scalps  near 
St.  Paul,       .        . 

First      Presbyterian     church 
burned,       .        .        .        . 

Indian  council  at  Port  Sn-^lling, 

Description  of  council  grouud. 

Speech  of  Governor  Ramsey,  . 

Dahkotah  rudeness, 

Ojibway  gallantry,  . 

•Ojibways  visit  St.  Paul,  . 

Navigation  on  Minnesota  be- 
gun,      

Trip  of  the  Yankee, 

Steamer  nt  Traverse  des  Sioux, 

Passengers  on  stoamor,  . 

Steamer  at  Blue  Ea.rth,  . 


C0NTENT8. 

xxIiV 

Supposed  buffaloes. 

537 

524 

Mosquitoes,     .        .        .        . 

537 

625 

Ice  fails  on  board  the  boat. 

538 

526 

Uncomfortable  night, 

538 

526 

Return  of  steamer,  . 

538 

Traverse  des  Sioux  in  1850,    . 

539 

526 

Shokpay's  village,  . 

540 

527 

The  ministry  needed  for  the 

West 

541 

527 

Election  in  September,    . 

542 

Sibley  and  Mitchell  candidates. 

543 

528 

Sibley  elected  delegate  to  Con- 

528 

gress,  

543 

529 

Official  vote,    .... 

543 

530 

Miss  Bremer  visits  St.  Paul,   . 

543 

533 

Fredrika   Bremer's   sketch   of 

533 

the  capital, 

543 

534 

The    Dahkotah    Friend    pub- 

lished,         .... 

544 

534 

D.  A.  Robertson,     . 

544 

534 

Minnesota      Democrat     com- 

535 

menced 

544 

536 

C.  J.  Ilenniss,  editor, 

545 

537 

First  Thanksgiving  Day, 

545 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 


Legislatu:  »3  of  1851, 

Age  and  birth-place  cf  mem- 
bers of  the  legislafure. 

Editor  stabbed. 

Bitter  pariy  feeling. 

University  c'  Minnesota, 

Apportionment  bill, 

"*  ■  jnibers  resign  their  seats,    . 

Sufferings  of  Ojibways,  . 

Mortality  at  Sandy  Lake, 

IIole-in-the-Day  addresses  le- 
gislature  

Alleged  cannibalism, 

Doliatc  on  school  lands  at 
Washington, 

Remarks  of  Stevens,  of  Penn- 
sylvania  


546 

Sibley's  reply, 

Chronicle    and  Register  sus- 

555 

546 

pended,        .... 

555 

547 

Murder  of  Andrew  Swartz,     . 

555 

547 

Remarkable    escape    of    mur- 

547 

derers 

556 

548 

First  newspaper    beyond   the 

548 

capital 

656 

549 

Treaties  of  1851,     . 

550 

550 

Lea  and  Ramsey,  commission- 

ers  

556 

551 

Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins  drowned,    . 

557 

552 

Thunder  Bird  dance. 

Treaty  at  Traverse  des  Sioux 

558 

553 

concluded,    .... 

559 

Provisions  of  the  treaty. 

559 

554 

Treaty  at  Mendota  concluded, 

560 

\i  ■ 
ji;  ■,■'■ 

liiiii 


lihi 


zxiv 

Provisions  of  the  treaty, 
Indians  as  horse  purchasers,  . 
Shokpay  as  it  was  in  1851, 
New    paper    started    at    St. 
Paul 


CONTENTS. 

560    J.  P.  Owens,  editor  of  Minne- 

561        sotian,         .... 

502 

562    October  election,     . 

563 

Second  Thanicsgiving  Day, 

563 

6o2    Governor's  Proclamation, 

563. 

K  «n|i 


OHAPTKJl  XXV. 


:;'':» 
il[]\ 


i|i| 


ml 


ii:  H 


i|.'  :1 


Legislature  of  1852, 
Names  of  members. 
Occupation  of  members, 
Liquor  law  enacted,        .        } 
Memorial  to  discontinue  "  St. 
Peter's"  as  a  name  of  Min- 
nesota river, 
Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction report, 
Number  of   school-houses    in 

Minnesota, 
Rae,   Arctic  explorer,    in   St. 

Paul 

Exploration    between    Watab 
and  Long  Prairie, 


564 
564 
564 
565 


565 


565 


569 


570 


570 


Birch  Bark  Port,     . 

Lake  Neill 

Special    election     on    liquor 

law, 

Vote  on  liquor  law, 

Claims   before  ratification    of 

treaties 

Death  of  James  M.  Goodhue, 

Sketch  of  pioneer  editor, 

Editorial  hoax, 

Trial  of  Yuhazee  for  murder,  . 

Escort  of  dragoons, 

Judge      Hayner's       decision 

against  liquor  law,       .   ..    , 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 


571 

572 

572 
572 

573 
574 
574 
576 
577 
578 


M 


Legislature  of  185i>, 

J8l) 

•J.  'L'.  Kd.ssor,  Secretary,  . 

589 

OflScers  chosen, 

580 

W.  II.  Welck,  Chief  Justice,    . 

589 

Governor  Ramsey's  lust  mes- 

Moses Sherburne,  Associate,   . 

589 

sage,    

581 

A.  G.  Chatfleld,  Associate, 

589 

Rapid  growth  of  Minnesota,   . 

581 

Indian  villages  below  St.  Paul, 

Advantages  of  Minnesota, 

582 

1853, 

589 

Hopeful  future, 

583 

Villages  near  Fort  Snelling,    . 

590 

Prospective  railways. 

584 

Alleged  fraud  of  Ramsey  and 

Roman  Catho'ic  petitions. 

5^5 

Sibley,         .... 

590 

Proposed  school  law, 

586 

Presbyterian          missionaries 

Counties  west  of  Mississippi,  . 

587 

among  Dahkotahs, 

590 

Italdwin  School, 

587 

Ilouuurable     exculpation     of 

College  of  St.  Paul, 

:,m 

Hnmsey   by   Un'ted    States 

Ojibway  and    Dahkotah    -lir- 

Senate,        .... 

591 

raish  at  the  capital. 

5H7 

Robertson  retires   from  edito- 

Burial scaffold  at  Kaposia, 

588 

rial  duties,  .... 

591 

Appointments     by    President 

David  Olmsted, 

591 

Pierce 

588 

Octob<jr  election  for  delegate,  . 

591 

Gk)vernor  W.  A.  Gorniiin. 

589 

Official  vote,    .... 

591 

CONTENTS. 


ZZT 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


Nevr  politicnl  coalitions, 

Legislature  of  1854, 

Governor  Qornian's  message,  . 

Members  of  legislature,  ago 
and  birth-place,  . 

Mission-house  at  Lac  ([ui  Parle 
burned,        /        .        .        . 

Minnesota  and  North-western 
Railroad  incorporated, 

E.  S.  Goodrich  becomes  editor 
of  Pioneer, 

Great  railroiid  excursion. 

Names  of  distinguished  visiters. 

Pursuit  of  pleasure  under  diffi- 
culties,        .... 

Guests  at  Fort  Snelling, 

Speeches  of  Fillmore  and  Ban- 
croft  


592 

Railroad  sermon,     . 

697 

592 

Railways  in  a  religious  view, 

599 

593 

Antidotes  to  bigotry. 

601 

Savers  of  time, 

603 

593 

Extend  Christianity, 

605 

Laud  grant  of  Congress, 

606 

594 

Repeal  of  land  grant, 

607 

Debate  on  the  repeal. 

607 

594 

Rice's  letter  about  the  repeal, 
Minnesota  and   North-western 

610 

594 

Railroad  suit. 

610 

595 

Appeal  to    United  States  Su- 

595 

preme  Court, 

611 

Case  dismissed, 

611 

596 

Execution  of  Yuhazee,    . 

611 

597 

Governor's  letter  to  ladies  de- 

clining to  pardon  Yuhazee, 

612. 

597 


CHAPTER  XXVIH. 


Legislature  of  1855, 

First  bridge  over  the  Missis- 
sippi  

Wire  bridge,  .... 

Governor's  message, 

Governor  opposes  Minnesota 
and  North-western  Railroad 
Company 

United  States  Senate  refuse  to 
annul  charter  of  Minnesota 
and  North-western  Railroad, 

General  illumination. 

Governor  Gorman  vetoes  an 
act  amending  charter  of 
Minnesota  and  North-west- 
ern Railroad  Company, 

Act  passed  by  a  two-thirds 
TOte, 

Formation  of  Republican  party, 


613     W.    R.    Marshall    nominated 
delegate  to  Congress,  . 


614 


613 

David   Olmsted   cnndidato  for 

613 

Congress,     .... 

614 

613 

U.  M.  Rice  elected  delegate,   . 

614 

Votes  for  delegate  enumerated. 

614 

Express    arrives   nt   St.    Paul 

613 

with    relies    of    Sir    John 

Franklin,     .... 

615 

Legislature  of  1856, 

615 

613 

Railroad  discussion. 

615 

613 

Governor  Gorman  signs  a  bill 
giving  extension  of  time  to 
Minnesota  and  North-west- 

ern Railway  Company, 

615 

614 

His  message  on  the  subject,    . 
List  of  members  of  Council  of 

615 

614 

1856 

617 

614 

|i:  i: 


m 


nti 


CONTENTS. 


I'r 


1-  a 


h 


I 

III 


Mo,  \hoTs  I  if  House  of  Repro- 
Mtntiuives,  1850,  . 

Stam  organization  agitated  by 
J.  E.  Warren, 

Ojibways  scalp  Dahkotah  child 
at  a  farm-house, 

Legislature  of  1S57, 

Presidingofficersof  legislature. 

Bill  removing  capital  to  St. 
Peter  passes  the  House, 

Council  resolutions  of  Mr.  Bal- 
conibe,         .... 

Rolette,  Chairman  of  Commit- 
tee of  Enrolled  Bills,  absent, 

Call  of  the  Council, 

Sergeant-at-arnis  ordered  to 
report  absent  member  in  his 
seat, 

Council  remains  in  session 
under  the  call  for  several 
days,  .... 

Last  night  of  session  proceed- 
ings under  the  call  dispensed 
■with, 

Committee  on  Enrolled  Bills 
report,         .... 

Report 

Call  of  the  Council  again  moved, 

Under  the  call  the  session  ex- 
pired  

Council  adjourned, 

Massacre  nt  Spirit  Lake  and 
Springfield, 

Inkpadootah, 


Indians  fire  house  of  settlers, 

617  The  inmates  killed, 
Murder  of  the  Gardners, 

G18    White  women  captives,    . 

United  States  troops-  and  vol- 

618  unteers  bury  the  dead, 

018    Captive  women  maltreated,     . 

618  Mrs.  Thatcher  shot, 

Two  Indian  youths  rescue  Mrs. 

018  Marble,        .... 
Paul   and   party  rescue   Miss 

619  Gardner,      .... 
Killing  of  Mrs.  Noble,    . 

619    Inkpadootah's  son  shot,  . 

019  Outlaws'    retreat  beyond   the 

Missouri,      .... 
Enabling  act  pa-ssed  by  Con- 

619        gicss 

Special  sessidu  of  legislature, 
Election  fur  clelegatos  to  form 

619  constitution, 

Meeting  of  constitutional  con- 
vention,       .... 

620  Division  into  two  bodies. 
Compromise,   .... 

620  Constitntiim    adopted    by    the 

020  people,         .... 

021  Meeting  of  first  state  legisla- 

ture  

621  Election  of  United  States  Sen- 
621         ators,  ..... 

Admission  of  Minnesota  into 

621        the  Union 

621 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 


Financial  embarrassments, 

Land  grant  for  railwaye,    . 

Disposition  of  land  grant, . 

Constitutional  amendment  loan- 
inghtate  credit  to  railway  com- 
panies,     

Vite  of  people  on  the  amend- 
ment  


029 
629 
629 


630 


630 


Repeal  of  the  amendment, 
First  state  legislature, 
Gov.  Sibley's  administration,    . 
State  railroad  bonds  issued, 
Normal  school  law,    .        . 
Steamboat  on  Red  river,    . 
Gov.  Ramsey's  administration, , 
Second  legislature,     , 


622 
622 
622 
6S3 

623 
623 
624 

624 

625 
625 
626 

626 

626 
026 

036 

627 
627 

027 

628 
628 
628 
628 


631 
631 
632 
632 
633 
633 
633 
638 


CONTENTS. 


zsnt 


EducHtional  policy  inaugurated,  634 
University  aygtetn,  .  .  633-637 
Memorial  for  University  lands  637-639 
Mrs.  Bilansky  hung,  .  .  .  640 
Third  state  legislature,  .  .  640 
School  land  policy,    .        .        .    640 


Debate  on  public  instruction,      .  641 
Chancellor  of  University  resigtiH,  642 
Resignation  withdrawn    by   re- 
quest,        642 

Legislature  elect  Superintendent 

of  Public  Instruction,     .        .  643 


CHAPTER    XXX. 


Influence  of  attack  upon  Fort 
Sumter, 

Gov.  Ramsey  offers  a  regiment^ 

Proclamation  of  Lt.-Gov.  Don- 
nelly,       

U.  S.  artillery  move  to  the  seat 
of  war, 

Major  Peraberton  joins  the- rebels,  647 

Capt.  Acker  raises  first  company 
of  first  regiment,     . 

First  regiment  raised, 

Adj.-Gen.  Sanborn's  order, 

Regiment  mustered  for  three 
years 

Flag  presentation. 

First  regiment's  departure, 

Chaplain's  address,     . 

Stafi"  officers  first  regiment. 

Departure  from  St.  Paul,    . 

Opinions  of  Cliicago  editors. 

First  regiment  at  Alexandria,    . 

Fourth  of  July  in  Virginia, 

Runaway  slave,  .... 

Religious  service  in  camp, 

Arrest  of  Rev.  Mr.  Leftwich,     . 


645 
646 

645 

647 


647 
647 
648 

64« 
649 
(550 
C.50 
650 
651 
652 
653 
655 
656 
657 
657 


Chaplain  Neill's  letter,  .  '<h8,  659 
Chaplain     Neill's    circular     ;o 

churches,  ....  660 
Hospital  fund  contributed,  .  661 
Hospital  fluid  distribution, .  662-664 
March  from  Alexandria,  .  666-669 
Reconnoissance  of  Capt.  Wilkin  669 
Reconnoissance  of Lt.-Col.  Miller  670 
Lt.  Thomas  brings  in  a  negro,  .  671 
Bull  Run  battle,  .        .    672-681 

Javan  B.  Irvine's  account,  672-675 
Heintzeiraan's  report,  .    673-676 

Chaiilain  Neill's  Journal,  .  675-681 
Gen.  Franklin's  report,  .  676,  677 
Col.  Gorman's  report,  .     678-681 

Col.  N.  J.  T.  Dana,  .  .  .682 
First  regiment  near  Ball's  Blufi; 

682,  683 
Second  regiment  organized,  .  683 
Second  regiment  ofticers,  .  683,  684 
Sharp-shooters'  company,  .  .  684 
Third  regiment  organized,  .    684 

First  battery  organized,  .  ,  684 
Cavalry  companies  organized,    .    684 


Second  regiment  engaged,  . 
Mill  Springs  battle,    . 
Col.  McCook's  report. 
Col.  Van  Cleve's  report,     . 
Letters  of  soldiers, 
First  battery  engaged. 
Battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing, 
Capt.  Munch's  report, 
Lt.  Cooke's  letter, 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

.  685 
.  685 
.  685 
.  686 
.    686,  687 


688,  689 


Soldier's  letter,  . 

Gorman's  brigade, 

Gorman's  brigade  before  York 

town, 

Yorktown  evacuated,  , 

Cornwallis  field, 
Gorman's  brigade  at  West  Point 
Transports  shelled,    . 


689,  690    St.  Peter's  Church, 


690 

690 


692 
692 

693 
693 
694 


m 


life 
liijii 
itiii- 


ill 


il!' 


i'lili 


,Si. 

k 

4''. 


MTili 


CONTENTS. 


696 


Waohington's  marriage,     . 

FirBt  regiment  at  Goodljr  Hole 
Creek 

Battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  . 

Described  in  Cincinnati  paper, 

Position  of  first  regiment, . 

Dana's  brigade,  .... 

8  yen  days'  battle,      .        .     699-701 

Mechanicsville  and  Oaines'  Mills    699 

Peach  Orchard,  and  Savage  Sta- 
tion,          

Malvern  Hilb,  .... 

Harrison's  Landing,  .        .        . 

Antietam  battle,         .         .         . 

Minnesota  troops  in  army  of  the 
Mississippi,     .... 


695 
695 
696 
696 
697 


700 
701 
701 
701 

701 


Fifth  regiment  in  battle,    .  .    701 

Staff  ofiScers  fourth  regiment,  .    702 

Staff  officers  fifth  r^ment,  .    702 

Battle  of  luka 703 

Col.  Sanborn's  report,         .  .    703 

Battle  of  Corinth,       .        .  704-709 

Munch's  battery,                 .  .    704 

Fourth  regiment  at  Corinth,  .    706 

Captain  Mowers  killed,       .  .    706 

Fifth  raiment  at  Corinth,  .    710 

Col.  Hubbard's  report,  .710 

Chaplain  Ireland's  letter,  .  .    711 

Soldier's  letter,  .        .        .  .712 

Second  battery  at  Perryville,  .    714 

First  regiment  in  Virginia,  .    7 14 

Third  regiment  surfrender,  .    715 


v\<\ 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


l!Mli 


m 

lil  ii 

% 

■ill 


Sioux  massacre. 

, 

716 

New    Ulm    defended    by    Col. 

Brainerd's  opinion  of  Indians,  . 

716 

Flandreau 

728 

Peaceful  policy  of  English, 

716 

Capt.  Dodd  killed,      . 

728 

Early  legislation, 

717 

Gov.  Ramsey  appoints  Col.  Sib- 

First Virginia  massacre,    . 

718 

ley  head  of  opposing  force,     . 

728 

Murder  of  Thorpe,     . 

718 

Difficulties  in  the  way, 

729 

Influence  of  Indian  priests. 

719 

Troops  arrive  at  Fort  Ridgley, 

730 

Cause  of  Virginia  ma-ssacre. 

719 

Major  Brown's   camp  at  Birch 

London   company  on    extermi- 

Coolie attacked, 

730 

:.'.► 

nation,    .... 

, 

719 

Battle  of  Wood  Lake, 

731 

Presbyterian     mission     to 

the 

Lt.  Col.  Marshall  leads  a  charge, 

731     , 

" 

Sioux,     .... 

, 

720 

Captives  rescued. 

732 

Books    published    by    mission- 

Camp Release,    .... 

733 

,  V 

aries 

721 

-725 

Military  commission  for  trial  of 

Causes  of  outbreak,     . 

721 

-725 

murderers,       .         .        .        . 

733 

Young  warriors  at  Acton,  . 

, 

725 

Execution  at  Mankahto,     . 

734- 

Young  warriors  kill  four  persons. 

726 

Col.  Sibley  made  Brig.-General, 

734 

Massacre  at  lower  agency, 

, 

726 

Second    campaign   under    Gen. 

Geo.  H.  Spencer's  escape,    . 

, 

726 

Sully  and  Sibley,    . 

73& 

Missionaries  escape,   . 

, 

727 

Little  Crow  killed,     . 

737 

Fort  Ridgley  attacked. 

, 

728 

Notice  of  Philander  Presoott,    . 

737 

New  Ulm  attacked,    . 

• 

728 

■r'      ('.'< 


,! 


CONTENTS. 


Ml» 


Movementfl  of  1863,  . 

Fourth  regiment  at  Rayii.ond, 

Champion  and  Vicksburg,  .  739 
Fifth  at  Vicksburg,  .  .  .739 
First  at  Gettysburg,   .        .        .739 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

.    738 


Capt.  Coatea*  report,    .        .  740-746 

Soldiers'  grapliic  account,  .  740-743 

Second  at  Chickamauga,    .  746 

Second  nt  Mission  Bidge,  .  .    746 

First  at  Bristow  Station,     .  .    747 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


Movements  of  1864,  .        .        . 
Regiments  on  furlough, 
First  banquetted  at  Washington, 
A  letter-writer's  impressions, 
Services  of  First  recounted. 
First  battery  on  furlough,  . 
Third  regiment  in  a  skirmish,    . 
Second  battery  on  furlough, 
First  regiment  mustered  out, 


748 
748 
748 
749 
749 
751 
751 
751 
751 


:d  i  /  Y,  VI 


Battalion  formed,       .        . 

Fifth  in  a  skirmish,    . 

Fifth,  Seventh,  Ninth  and  Tenth 

near  Tupelo,    .... 
Col.  Alexander  Wilkin  killed,    . 
Fourth  at  Atlanta, 
Eighth  near  Murfreesboro', 
Fifth,  Seventh,  Ninth  and  Tenth 

in  battle  at  Nashville,     . 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


Movements  of  1865,  .  .  .  764 
Regiments  at  siege  of  Mobile,  .  754 
Regiments  with  Gen.  Sherman,      764 


Lee's  surrender. 

Table  of  Minnesota  troops, 


751 

762 

752 
762 
753 
753 

753 


764 
755 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


Governors  of  Minnesota,    . 

Extra  session  of  legislature  in 
1862, 

Hon.  H.  M.  Rice,  retiring  Sena- 
tor, ,        .        ,        .        . 

Gov.  Ramsey  elected  U.  S.  Sena- 
tor, .        't^   _  'IW'.'.,.'  ,   » 


756 

St.  Paul  and  Pacific  railway^ 

756 

Gov.  H.  A.  Swift, 

757 

766 

Gov.  Stephen  Miller,  . 
Shakpedan  and  Medicine  Bottle 

757 

756 

hung  at  Fort  Snelling,    . 

757 

Gov.  W.  R.  Marshall, 

758 

756 

Gov.  Horace  Austin,  . 

768 

m 

'  ■    ; 

I! 


I  ill 


xsx* 


Governor  Horace  Austin, 

Veto  of  Railroad  grant,    . 

Impeachment  of  Treas.  SeeKcr, 

Governor  C.  K.  Davis, 

Railway  freight  rates, 

Arf<ument8  of  W.  P.  Ciough,  . 

Women  vote  for  8c)iool  officer§, 

Governor  J.  S.  Pillsbury, 

Validity  of  railroad  bonds,       . 

Rocky  Mountain  locust,    . 

Plentiful  harvest. 

State  funds  lor  sectarian  schools 
prohibited 

Flour  millM  explosion  at  Minne- 
apolis  

Impeachment  of  Judge  Page,  . 

Death  of  Rev.  G.  H.  Pond,      . 

Mission  life  at  Lake  Calhoun,  . 


co^'5'E^'T8,       •  •      '    :         • 

n'ER 

XXXVII. 

759 

Supreme  Court  decision  in  His- 

'■'' 

760 

torical  Society  case. 

772 

760 

Death  of  Rev.T.  S.  Williamson, 

760 

M.  D 

774 

762 

Gov.  Pillsbury  elected  for  the 

762 

third  time 

776 

765 

Fire  at  lunatic  asylum,     . 

776 

764 

P'irst  bi  nnial  session  of  legis- 

7fi& 

lature 

776 

766 

Senator  McMillan  re-elected    . 

777 

767 

Act  for  bond  liquidation,  . 
Supreme  Court  decision  on  rail- 

777 

768 

road  bond  tribunal. 

777 

Special  session  of  legislature    . 

777 

769 

Govi  rnor  L.  F.  Hubbard,  . 

778 

769 

Judire  E.  St.  J.  Cox  impeached. 

778 

770 

U.S. Sen 'tor  Windom  re-elected 

778 

770 

State  Capitol  burned,        .        , 

778 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


Railway  development,     . 

Edmund  Rice,  President  Saint 
Paul  and  Pacific  R.  R,,  . 

First  railway  in  operation,        . 

Editorial  notice, 

Geo.  L.  Becker,  President  R.  R. 

Railroad  completed  to  Red  river 

J.  J  Hill,  President  St.  Paul, 
Minneapolis  and  Manitoba 
R.  R.,    •        •       •        •        . 


782 

782 
782 
783 
783 
783 


784 


E.  P,  Drake,  President  Minne- 
sota Valley,  R.  R., 

W.  L.  Banning,  President  of 
Lake  Superior  and  Miss.  R.  R. 

First  train  to  Lake  Superior,    . 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  Saint 
Paul  R.  R. 

Winona  and  St.  Peter  R.  R.,    . 

Minneapolis  and  St.  Louis  R,  R. 

Northern  Pacific  11.  R.,    .        . 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 


Representatives  in  Congress,    .    787 
Territorial  delegates,  .    7»'7 

Members  U.  S.  House  of  Rep's.    788 


United  States  Senators, 
Territorial  Governors, 
State  Governors, 


784 

785 
785 

785 
786 
786 
786 


791 
796 
796 


liif 


APPKNDIX  A. 


;  i 


Early  charts  of  Northwest.  .  797 
Map  by  Du  Val,  A.  D.  1664,  .  797 
Randin's  map,  .  .  .  797 
Joliet  and  Franquelin's  .  .  797 
Qravier  publishes  Joliet's  map 
of  A.  D.  1674,        .        .        .797 


Map  of  A.  D.  1682,  ...  798 
Hennepin's  map,  A.  D.  1683,  .  798 
Franquelin's  map,  A.  D.  1688.  798 
Notice  of  Franqnelin,  .  .  799 
Fort  La  Tourette,  .  .  .799 
"  St.  Croix 799 


■ 

CONTKNTS. 

sxxl* 

Fort  St.  Antoine, 

799 

Verendrye's  sketch.  . 

801 

"  St.  Nicholas,      , 

799 

De  la  Jenmraye's  map,    •       . 

801 

Ochagoch's  map,      .       . 

800 

^C-::,-;/-^-                               APPENDIX  B.             :,:,„.,■. ,,;,,^.-:, 

Pii'st  white  men  in  Minnesota, 

803 

Menard  visita  L.  Superior  with 

Grosellier's  early  life. 

8u3 

Groselliers,    . 

806 

His  mtirriaffp,  .... 

803 

"    on  the  Mississippi  before 

Names  of  his  children, 

808 

Joliet  and  Marquette,    . 

806 

Lake  Winnipi';;  not  seen  by  him 

804 

Flight  of  thi>  Hurons, 

806 

Reaches  Hudson's  Bay,    . 

804 

Tinontates  or  Petuns, 

806 

Sails  from  London  with  Captain 

Hurons  above  Lake  Pepin, 

807 

Gillam  of  Boston, 

805 

at  Black  river.  Wis.,    . 

807 

Mother  of  the  Incarnation's  let- 

"       migrate  to   La  Pointe, 

807 

ter 

805 

"        at  war  with  Sioux, 

808 

Radiiison,  notice  of,  .        .        . 

803 

"       retreat  to  Mackinaw,    . 

808 

His  arrest  ordered,    . 

804 

Sioux  killed  at  Sault  St.  Marie, 

809 

Rene  Menard,  missionary, 

805 

Jesuits  censured,      ,        . 

809 

APPENDIX  C. 


Du  Luth's  birth-place,  .  .  809 
Post  at  Kamanistigoyaor  Three 

Rivers,  A.  D.  1679,  .  .  809 
Supposed   visit  of  Du  Luth  to 

Sandy  Lake,  .  .  .810 
Trade  with  New  England,  .  810 
LaSalle's  disparagement  of  Du 

Luth 810-811 

Randin's  visit  to  Lake  Superior.  813 
Faffait,  interpreter  of  DuLuth.  81 1 
DuLuth  visits  France,  .  .  813 
Letter  of  DuLuth  to  the  Minister 

of  Marine,  .  .  .  813—819 
Notice  of  DuLuth's  early  life,  .  813 
DuLuth's  vindication,  .  .  813 
Military  career  of  DuLuth,  .  813 
Assineboines  at  the  extremity  of 

Lake  Superior,  .  .  .  814 
DuLuth  visits  the  Sioux,  .        .    814 


DuLuth's  descent  of  the  Saint 

Croix  river 

DuLuth  meets  Hennepin, 
Design  to  seek  Western  Sea,    . 
Traders  killed,         .        .        . 
Execution  of  murderers,   . 
DuLutli  at  Nepigon, 

"        goes  to  Niagara, 

"         returns  t<)  L.  Superior. 

"        builds  Port  St.  Joseph. 

"        in  battle  near  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y., 
Notice  of  DuLuth's  brother. 
Fort  St.  Joseph  destroyed, 
DuLuth  opposed  to  liquor  traffic. 

"      in  command  at  Ft.  Fron- 
tenac,   . 

"      death  of,       .       .       . 


APPENDIX  D. 


Notice  of  Hennepin's  writings,  822-8 
LaSnlle's  awount  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi, 822 


815 
815 
816 
817 
818 
818 
818 
818 
820 

820 
820 
821 
821 

821 
822 


Hennepin  and  LaSalle  compared   822 

823 
DuLuth's  narrative  and  Henne- 
pin's compared,     .        .        .    824 


HiillP 


Mill*       .  CONTENTS. 


ill 


ill 


I 

ll'i 

m 


w 


■U 


Hennepin's  first  work.      .  824,  825 

Tronson  on  tlennepin,      .        .  825 
Abbe  Bernou's  estimate  of  first 

book, 825 

Hennepin's  second  book, .        .  825 

LaSallf  consured,     .       .       .  826 


Mistake  as  to  Archbishop  Fen- 

elon, 

Voyuffo  to  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
Hennepin's  exagK^rations, 
His  last  volume,         .        .        . 
Answers  to  objections,      .        , 


APPENDIX  E. 


Sketch  of  Perrot.  .  .  832-839 
Winter  encampment,  .  .  832 
Fort  St.  Antoine,  Lake  Pepin.    832 

"  St.  Nicolas,  .  .  .832 
Perrot's  earlier  days.  ,  .  832 
Builds  Fort  St.  Antoine,  .  .  833 
loways  visit  Perrot,  .        .    838 

Miamis  visited,  .  .  .  834 
Perrot's  ruse,  ....  83ft 
Soleil  presented  to  Jesuits,  .  836 
Perrot's  expedition  aj^ainst  Sen- 

ecas,      I        .        f        .        .    836 


La  Hontan's  early  life, 

"   escorts  DuLuth  and  Tonty 
Fort  St.  Toseph  destroyed, 
La  Hontan's  book,    . 
Bobe's  letter  to  De  I'lsle, 
Long  River  fabrication,     . 
Charlevoix  criticises  LaHontan. 


Pierre  LeSueur,        t       < 

St.  Pierre  river, 

LeSueur's  marriage. 

His  children,     . 

Sioux  chief  baptized. 

Order  for  LeSueur  to  sail  with 

D' Iberville,    . 
Preparations  to  ascend  the  Mis 

sissippi, 
Penicaut  accompanies  LeSueur 


Second  visit  to  Lake  Pepin, 
Captive  Chippeway  girls, 
Sioux  visit  Perrot,     . 
Goods  recovered   by  a  cup  of 

brandy  and  water. 
Foxes  visit  Perrot,  , 
Perrot  at  Montreal,  . 

"  escorts  Louvigny  to  Mack- 
inaw,     .        .        .        . 

"  visits  lead  mines, 
Penicaut  describes  lead  mines. 
Perrot's  later  days,  .        .        . 


827 
827 
828 
8:10 
831 

:>,■•-,) 

.11-.-! 
836 
8:^6 
837 

837 
838 


839 

839 
839 


APPENDIX  P.              :  V  •,  ,  . 

.    840 

Nicollet's  opinion,     . 

842 

r.    840 

LaHontau's  alleged  visit  to  Eo- 

.    840 

koros,             .        .        ,        . 

842 

.    840 

Eiisanapes, 

842 

.    840 

Guacsitares,      .... 

843 

.    841 

Midwinter  canoe  voyage. 

843 

1.    841 

APPENDIX  G.                                ,,    / 

'  ■  i 

.    845 

Penicaut    describes     supposed 

.    845 

copper  mne, 

846 

.    845 

LeSueur  leaves  Blue  Earth  river. 

847 

.    845 

D'Evaque  in  charge  of  Fort  L' 

.    845 

Huillier,        .... 

847 

h 

D'Evaque  retires. 

847 

.    846 

Blue  earth  shipped  to  France,  . 

847 

- 

Jucliereau  St.  Denis, 

847 

.    846 

LeSueur   Lt  General  for  Misis- 

.    847 

sippi, 

845 

D'Iberville's  death,  . 

845 

CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX  H  ' 

Fort  Beauharnow,  Lake  Popin.    849      Building  of  fort  described, 


Father  de  la  Chagso  on  Sioux 

misaion,         ....    849 
Father  Mtirest's  opinion, .        .    849 
Father  Guignas  describud  as  an 
"able  niathematioian,"        .    849 


Occupation  of  fort,    . 
Flood  of  April,  1728, 
Port,  removal  of, 
Bellin'a  stateineDt,  . 

■  ■ft'    /.„'««i'«i.'!j'"    (ii 


uuttl* 


850 
850 
8o0 
850 
»50 


APPENDIX  I. 


Rene  Boucher,  Sieur  de  la  Per- 

riere, 851 

Sieur  Montbrun,  his  brother,   .  851 

Jemeray,  his  nephew,      .       .  851 
Lake  Pepin,  occasion  of  itHname 

sugi^etted,     .        •       a        .  851 


Father  DeQonor  returns  to  Can- 
ada,        

Father  Guignas  captured, 
Montbruii  escapes  from  Indians. 
Boucherville  captured. 
Goods  given  for  release,    .       . 


APPENDIX  J. 


.1) 


La  Noue  sent  to  extremity  of 

Lake  Superior,      .        .  .  856 

Pachot  visits  the  Sioux,    .  .  856 

Verandrift  at  Lake  Nepigon,  .  857 

Route  to  PaciBc  revived,  .  .  857 

Conference  with  DeGonor,  .  857 

Ochagach,  Indian  guide,  .  .  857 

Map  ot  Ochacagh,   ,          .  .  857 

Verandrie's  early  life,       .  .  858 

Veraiidrie's  explorations,  .  858 

De  la  Jemeraye's  map.      .  .  859 

Massacre  at  Lake  of  the  Woods.  859 

Father  Ouneau  killed,       .  .  859 

Verandrie's  son  killed,     .  .  859 


Death  of  De  la  Jemeray,   . 

Fort  Lalleine  built, 

Rocky  Mountains  discovered,   . 

Foit  Bourbon, 

Verandrie,  Jr., 

Verandrie,  the  father,  dies, 

Father  Ooquard  describes  Mis- 
souri Indians, 

Bougainville  on  Verandrie's 
discovery,      .... 

Jacques  Legardeur  St.  Pierre. 

Louis  Luc  La  Come, 

Boucher  de  NiverviUe, 

LaMarque  de  Marin,         .        . 


851 
851 
851 
852 
852 


859 
860 
860 
860 
860 

860 

863 
863 
864 
865 
865 


APPENDIX  K. 


Sioux  kill  Vemndrie's  son,        .  865 

Oasiniboia,  origin  of  name        .  866 
David  Thompson,    astronomer 

and  geographer  of  N.  W.  Co.  866 

Early  life  of  Thompson,    ,       .  866 

In  service  of  Hudson  Bay  Co.  .  866 

Joins  North-West  Company,    .  866 

Observations  at  Grand  Portage.  866 

Convocation  of  traders,     .       .  867 


Thomnson  ascends  Saskatche- 
wan   867 

Visits  the    Mandans,        ,  807 

Ascends   the    Assineboine.  867 

Explores  Red  River,  .        .  868 

Observations  at  Pembina.  863 
Reaches  northern  source  of 

the  Mississippi,       ,        .  869 

Visits  Sandy  Lake,     .        .  869 


If 


m 


UXiT* 


CONTKNTS. 


Ill 


■|> 


ll 


L 


D»"09ri(l8  St.  l/juis  river,   .  869 

Arrives  at  Siiult  St.  Marie.  869 

Franchere  alludes  to  Thompson.  870 

Irvine's    clescription,        .        .  870 

ThotnpHon's  later  years.    .        .  870 

N.  W,  Company  formed,        .  870 

X.  Y.  Company  organized,      .  870 
Count  Andriani  criticises  N,  VV. 

Company,      ....  871 

Alexander  ilenry  of  N.  W.  Co.  871 

His  manuscripts,       .        .        .  872 

Grasshoppers,  A.  D.  1800,        .  882 

Hudson  Bay  Co.  boats,     .        .  872 

Names  of  Henry's  voyageurs.  87:5 

lionfra,  of  Afriain  descent,        ,  874 

A  wile  offered  for  liquor,        .  874 

A  faithless  wife  tortured,        .  874 

Great  buffalo  crossintf,      .        .  870 

Old  fort  at  Pembina,         .        .  870 

Tradinpr  post  at  Park  River,     .  877 

Cheyenne  Indians,    .        .        .  877 

Nose  lost  in  a  fijfht,  .        .        .  877 

Horses  sent  to  Red  Lake,        .  877 


A  child  torn  asunder,       .        , 
An  etfcmmate  warrior,     .        . 
A  race  for  life,    .... 
Buffalo  abundant,    .        • 
Red  River  cart  invented.  •        . 
Fort  William  commenced. 
First  Red  River  train, 
Death  of  trader's  wife,      ,        . 
Products  of  trader's  garden,    . 
A  mare  fur  a  wife,    . 
Death  of  trader  Cameron,         . 
HcHse,  trader,   .... 
Drunken  fight,  .        . 

Joseph  Rainville, 
St.  Germain   accidentiiUy  shot. 
Fight  in  1805  between  Sioux 

and  Chippeways,  . 
Horrible  detail;*, 
News  of  Lt.  Z.  M.  Pike,    . 
William  Henry's  arrival, . 
Visit  to  Mandans,    .        , 
Explorations  of  Columbia  river. 


APPENDIX  L. 


'%/■  hi 


Early  days  of  Fort  Snelling,    .  890 

A  birth  in  camp,  .  .  .  890 
Major  Forsyth  at  Mendota  with 

presents  for  Sioux,     .    .        .891 

Col.  Leavenworth's  arrival,      .  891 

Officers  visit  St.  Anthony  Falls.  891 

First  schoolmaster,   .        .        .  81 1 

Old  chief  stabbed.     .        .        .  892 

Col.  Snelling,  arrival  of    .        ,  892 

Marriage  at  cantonment,  .  892 
Complimentary  letter  to  Agc.it 

Taliaferro 892 

Sissetons  kill  traders,        .        .  893 

First  occupation  of  fort,  .  .  839 
Alexis  Bdilly   drives  cattle  to 

Selkirk  settlemrnt,        .        .  893 

First  sawmill,    ....  094 

Beltrami  visits  fort,  .        .        .  894 

First  steamboat  arrival,  .  ,  8'?1 
First  flour  mill,         .        .        .895 


Kirst  Sunday  School,         .        . 

I  leut.  Alexander's  land  trip  to 
Pruirie  du  l.'hien,  .        .        . 

Name  of  fort  changed. 

Gen.  Scott's  report,  .        .        . 

Agent  Taliaferro,  in  1824  takes 
a  Sioux  delegation  to  Wash- 
ington, .... 

Rev.  Samuel  Peters  and  the 
Carver  claim, 

Surgeon  Purcell's  death,  .        . 

Indian  treaty  of  1825  at  Prairie 
du  Chien 

Lieut.  Col.  W.  Morgan  compli- 
mented  

Events  of  1826, 

Indian  woman  crazed,      . 

Steamboat  arrivals,  .        .        . 

Indians  attack  supply  boats,     . 

General  Gaines  inspects  fort,    . 


877 

878 
879 
880 
881 
882 
882 
884 
884 
884 
885 
885 
886 
886 
836 

887 
888 

889 
889 
889 
890 


895 

896 
896 
896 


897 


898 
900 
900 
901 
901 
902 


III  I 


CONTENTS.                                                   ixxT* 

Deaths  and  desertionB,     . 

.    903 

Presbyterian  missionaries. 

907 

Fifth  rejfiment  relieved,   . 

.    903 

A  bridal  tour  in  canoe,     . 

908 

Col.  Snellin^'g  dpath, 

.    903 

Drunken  and  licentious  Indians 

909 

A  drover  lost,    . 

.    908 

Letters  of  Oale  and  Talmferro,909,910 

Old  Spanish  cutninission, 

.    903 

EvenU  of  1831, 

911 

Jacob  Falstrom, 

.    904 

Events  of  1832, 

912 

Proposed  Huron  Territory, 

.    904 

Marriages,         .        .        •        . 

912 

Events  of  1829, 

.    904 

Dred  Scott  case. 

913 

Polish  count  arrives. 

.    905 

Visit  of  Alex.  Hamilton's  widow 

914 

Wahcoota  mode  chief  of  Red 

Impudent  whisky  sellers, 

916 

Winjf  Siour, 

.    905 

First  church  bell  in  Minnesota. 

917 

Dog  feast,         .        .       . 

.    905 

Sutleis  at  Fort  Suelliug,  .    918—920 

Little  Crow's  speech,       . 

.    906 

■*"'■-             ,       I                '    ■  ■ 

, 

APPENDIX  M. 

.  .      y 

Letter  of  Agent  Taliaferro, 

.    920 

Andrews,  a  Canadian,  killed,   . 

920 

Poupon,  a  half-breed,  killed, 

.    920 

Ci  '^ncil  at  Fort  Snelling, 

920 

. 

APPENDIX  N. 

Wxa.  Joseph  Snelling,      . 

.    921 

"Truth,"  a  poem  by  Joseph 

D«el  with  Lt.  Hunter,     . 

.    921 

Snelling,        •        .        .        . 

922 

Lt.  W.  Alexander  fights  a  duel.    921 

Willis'  lampoon,       .        ,        , 

922 

General  Gaines'  inspection, 

.    921 

Sneliing's  reply,        .        ,        , 

922 

Col.  Snelling's  views  censured.    921 

Other  books  by  Snelling, .        . 

923 

"  Talei  of  the  North-west," 

.    922 

APPENDIX  0. 

Treaties  of  1837,       ...  923 
Fur  company  charge  tribe  with 

debts  of  individuals,      .        .  923 

Exorbitant  claim,              .        ■  924 

Chipp'way  treaty  at  Ft.Snelling  924 

Sioux  treaty  at  Washington,    ,  924 

Sudden  departure  of  delegation  924 

Sioux  return  from  Washington  925 


Pitts  cuts  lumber  in  St.  Croix 

valley 

Steele,  Russell  and  others  make 

claims, 925' 

Steamer  Palmyra  biings  news 

of  ratification  of  treaty. 
Steamer  Gypsy  first  steamboat 

at  Falls  of  St.  Croix,      . 
Founders  of  Marine  Mills, 


921^ 


925 

92ft 
92S 


APPENDIX   P. 


Oapt  Marryatt,  R.  N.,  at  Men- 

dota 927 

Quest  of  H.  H.  Sibley,     .        .    927 


Notice  of  Rainville  family,        .    927 
Anecdotes  of  Jack  Fraaer,        .    928 


i^ 


i 


I! 


*1 


lii 
I 


I  ! 


11?'  ;| 


r.-m 


»„rt»  CONTBNTa 

APPENDIX  Q.       ^      ,sm;. 
;   Cen»ut of Mmnewta for  1880.  vt    . 

"  .,  APPENDIX   R.  '     . 

Brief  record  of  the  ofiBcers  of  Minnesota  regiments.  - 


MAPS  AND  PORTRAITS. 


Franquelin'«  map,  A.  D.  1688, 

Part  ot  De  I'l&le's  Canada,     . 
•'  "  Louisiana, , 

Discoveries  west  of  Lake  Superior, 

Northern  Louisiana, 

Portrait  ol  Governor  Sihlfy,     . 
"  Franklin  Steele,     . 

"  U.  S.  Senator  Rice, 

"  U.  S.  Senator  Ramsey, 

"  Mrs,  Rurasey, 

•'  Mrs.  Sibley,    . 

Mrs.  Rice,       •       • 
Mrs.  Steele,    . 

Table  of  railway  organizations, 

Ocha^uub't  map,     .        •       • 

.,..•1      .  ..!,'■       'i-^  '     •'•'      !■ 


« 


f.l't 


Faces  title. 

"     pafje 

.  kIti. 

ti      ti 

.    164 

(t      (-. 

.    188 

i(      Ik 

.    300 

14               11 

.    488 

It               1( 

.    490 

It               «l 

.    492 

11               11 

.    494 

11               tt 

.    496 

11               It 

.    498 

It               11 

.        .    500 

<t               11 

.        .    502 

It            4f 

.        .    780 

it 
•              •                        «                                  • 

.       .    800 

.j<        i:.       M^-.   '.».»>/?."     1 

>'  .  .-) 

,„•!,       .        "  *,...    .1   1',,'  ,' 

i  ,,  .<■'.  I  •• 

F.   ?r-'/-^4"'>A 


[IB  Si 


i 


B 


■^  '1      . 


.n  y^am  tu 


yiM 


4"\ ' 


.-,f     \     '^     t. 


tiim>^iiii 


■  ■'■»•?-» 


>^?  .i^viv^wdt  r;o:K',f;.  • 


jn-'/ 


;!*» 


INTRODUOTORY.  . 


.ffOif'' 


+;.f- 


**!■«:  'Ci: 


■/■f'-'H^ 


The  physical  characteristics  of  a  land  should  be 
known,  to  correctly  understand  the  history  of  its  people. 
In  an  important  sense,  when  the  skies  do  change,  men 
alijo  change.  Grand  sceneiy,  leaping  waters,  and  a 
bracing  atmosphere,  produce  men  of  different  cast  from 
those  who  dwell  where  the  land  is  on  a  dead  level,  and 
where  the  streams  are  all  sluggards.  We  associate 
heroes  like  Tell  and  Bruce  with  the  mountains  of  Swit- 
zerland and  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  not  with 
regions  of  country  where  the  outline  is  unbioken,  and 
the  horizon  appears  as  a  continuation  of  the  earth. 

Minnesota  occupies  the  elevated  plateau  of  North 
America;  and  from  its  gently  sloping  plains  descend 
the  rivulets  that  feed  the  mighty  Mississippi,  that  flows 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  the  noble  St.  Lawrence, 
emptying  its  volume  into  the  Atlantic;  and  the  wind- 
ing Red  River  of  the  North,  flowing  into  Hudson's  Bay. 
It  extends  from  48°  30'  to  49°  north  latitude,  and  its 
boundaries  are  :  on  the  north,  the  British  Possessions ; 


i 


i 


■ip. 


i 


r'itl 


XXXll 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


on  the  south,  the  state  of  Iowa ;  on  the  east,  Lake  Su- 
perior and  the  state  of  Wisconsin ;  and  on  the  west  Red 
river,  Sioux  Wood  river.  Lake  Traverse,  and  Big  Stone 
Lake,  and  from  the  latter  a  due  south  Une  to  the  north- 
em  boundary  of  Iowa. 

The  cUmate  of  Minnesota  has  elicited  an  eulogy  from 
every  observing  traveller,  and  yet  erroneous  impressions 
prevail  in  the  public  mind.  During  the  summer,  the 
temperature  corresponds  with  that  of  Philadelphia; 
and  while  the  thermometer  has  a  high  range  during  the 
day,  the  evenings  are  generally  cool  and  refreshing. 
Nights,  so  frei^uent  on  the  Atlantic  border,  when  the 
body  welters  in  perspiration,  and  the  individual  arises 
exhausted  rather  than  refreshed  by  sleep,  are  unknown. 
Nor  is  the  winter  any  more  trying  to  the  constitution 
than  the  summer.  The  air  is  dry  and  bracing,  and  the 
skies  are  by  day  generally  cloudless,  and  at  night  are 
studded  with  stars.  Maury,  the  author  of  the  Physi- 
cal Geography  of  the  Sea,  and  Superintendent  of  the 
National  Observatory  at  Washington,  has  remarked : — 

"  At  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  at  dewy  eve  and 
early  morn,  I  have  looked  out  with  wonder,  love,  and 
admiration  upon  the  steel-blue  sky  of  Minnesota,  set 
with  diamonds,  and  sparkling  with  brilliants  of  purest 
ray.  The  stillness  of  your  small  hours  is  sublime.  I 
feel  constrained,  as  I  gaze  and  admire,  to  hold  my  breath, 
lest  the  eloquent  silence  of  the  night  should  be  broken 
by  the  reverberations  of  the  sound,  from  the  seemingly 
solid  but  airy  vault  above. 

"  Herschell  has  said,  that  in  Europe,  the  astronomer 
might  consider  himself  highly  favoured,  if  by  patiently 
watching  the  skies  for  one  year,  he  shall,  during  that 


m 


MAURY'S  ESTIMATE  OF  MINNESOTA. 


ZXZUl 


period  find,  all  told,  one  hundred  hours  suitable  for  sat- 
isfactory observations.  A  telescope  laounted  here,  in 
this  atmosphere,  under  the  skies  of  Minnesota,  would 
have  its  powers  increased  many  times  over  what  they 
would  be  under  canopies  of  a  heaven  less  brilliant  and 
lovely."  ''''"--'■ 

Corroborative  of  these  statements  are  tables  which 
appear  in  the  report  of  the  Minnesota  and  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company  which  we  have  extracted. 

No  region  which  at  present  engages  the  public  mind, 
as  a  field  for  settlement,  has  been  so  grossly  misrepre- 
sented, in  regard  to  peculiarities  of  climate,  as  Minne- 
sota. Fabulous  accounts  of  its  arctic  temperature, 
piercing  winds,  and  accompanying  snoAvs  of  enormous 
depth,  embellish  the  columns  of  the  Eastern  press.  An 
examination  of  this  subject,  and  especially  in  relation 
to  the  snows  and  winds  of  winter,  as  opposed  to  the 
ippration  of  lines  of  railroad,  seems  necessary  to  correct 
*  Acting  prejudices ;  and  fortunately  the  means  are  at 
ARtid  for  conducting  this  examination  with  an  exactness 
nearj  reaching  mathematical  precision.  The  data 
employed  are  compiled  from  the  "  Army  Meteorological 
Register,"  and  "  Blodgett's  Climatology  of  the  United 
♦States,"  both  standa^'d  authorities,  based  upon  the  sys- 
tem of  meteorological  observations  which  have  been 
conducted  by  the  surgeons  of  the  United  States  army, 
and  other  scientific  gentlemen,  through  a  series  of 
upwards  of  thirty  years. 

in  the  following  table,  illustrative  of  the  temperature 
of  Minnesota,  St.  Paul  is  inserted  in  the  place  of  Fort 
Snelling  (six  miles  distant),  where  the  observation* 
were  made : — 


XZXIT 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


SPRING. 


i! 


iiil 


,.  i 


1-1 


MlAIf  TiK 


«n^r  UPW. 


St.  Paul 

Bofton,  Maaaachuaetta,    . 
SpringBeM,  Masaaohuaetta, 
Worcester,  Masaachuaetti, 
Kinderhook,  New  York, . 
Utica,  New  York,   .     .     . 
Cooporstomi,  New  York, 
Onondaga,  New  York,     . 
Ii«wi8ton,  New  York,  .     . 
Detroit,  Michigan,      .    . 
Ann  Arbor,  Michigan, 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  . 
Chicago,  Illinoie,     .     .     . 
Beloit,  Wisconsin,  .     .     , 
Portage  City,  Wisconsin, 


No.  of 
Years.1 


3&i 
20 

2 

7 
17 

9 
16 
18 
18 
18 

3 

Bi 
6 
6 
16 


SUMMBR. 
Huh  TmPERAToma,  TO"  SO'. 


St.  Paul, 

Lowell,  Masaacbusetta,    . 
Trenton,  New  Jersey, 
Middletown,  New  Jersey, 
Flatbush,  Long  Island,  New  York; 
Newburg,  New  York, .    .     . 
Philadelphia,  PennayWanl*, 
Mifflintown,  PenniylvanU, 
Warren,  Pennsylranis, 
Hudson,  Ohio,    .    .    . 
Oberlin,  Ohio,    .    .    . 
Chicago,  Illinois,    .     . 
Beloit,  Wisconsin,  .     . 
Portage  City,  Wisconsin, 
Pembina,  M.  T.  lat.  49o  , 


AUTUMN. 


Hl4If  TiHPnATDKI,  45°  M'. 


St.  Paul 

Portland,  Maine 

Burlington,  Vermont,  .    .    . 
Montreal,  Canada,       .     ,     . 
Lake  Simooe,  Canada  West, 
Lowville,  Lewis  County,  Now  York, 
Plattsburg,  New  York,    ... 
FairRold  Academy,  New  York, 
Mexico,  Oswego  County,  New  York 
Cherry  Valley,  New  York, 
Ebonsburg,  Pennsylvania, 
Smetbport,  Pennsiylviinia, 
Oreen  Bay,  VVisconsin,    . 
Manitowoc,  Wisconsin,    , 
Baraboo,  Wisconsin,    .     . 


No.  of 
Tears. 


36i 
81 

6 
15 

1 
19 
11 
19 
11 
15 

2i 

3 
21 
21 

1 


WINTER. 
HXAN  TlMPKRATCBI,  16°  6'. 


St.  Paul 

Hoalton,  Maine,  ,  .  .  .  . 
Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  .  . 
Williamstown,  Massaohusetta,  . 

Montreal,  Canada, 

Sault  St  Marie 


No.  ftf 
YeiiK. 


35i 

» 

i 

S 
34 
18 
10 

• 

7 
6 
S 
S 
18 
7-13tb 


No.  or 
Year*. 


35| 
17 
S    . 

19 
1» 


Taking  a  map  of  tlie  United  States,  and  applying  U> 
it  lilies  of  mean  temperature  for  the  seasons  and  year, 
passing  through  the  places  indicated  in  the  foregoing 
table,  we  find  that  while  the  winter  temperature  of  St. 

*  The  column  headed  "  No.  of  years"  gives  the  duration  of  the  obserTft^ 
tions  at  each  station. 


TBMPBRATURB  COMPAKED  WITH  EASTERN  STATES   xxx» 


Paul  does  not  fall  below  the  average  of  places  on  its 
parallel  of  latitude,  its  spring  temperature  coincides 
with  that  of  Central  Wisconsin,  Northern  Illinois, 
Southern  Michigan,  Central  New  York,  and  Massachu 
setts;  its  summer  with  that  of  Central  Wisconsin, 
Northern  Illinois,  Northern  Ohio,  Central  and  Southern 
Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey ;  its  autumn  with  that 
of  Central  Wisconsin,  Northern  New  York,  a  small  part 
of  N6rthem  Pennsylvania,  Northern  Vermont,  and 
Southern  Maine ;  and  its  entire  year  with,  that  of  Cen- 
tral Wisconsin,  Central  New  York,  Southern  New 
Hampshire,  and  Southern  Maine. 

Viewing  this  subject  with  reference  to  the  extremes 
of  latitude  touched  by  these  isothermal  lines,  we  disco- 
ver that  St.  Paul  has  a  temperature  in  spring  equal  to 
Chicago,  which  is  two  and  a  half  degrees  of  latitude 
south ;  in  autumn,  equal  to  Northern  New  York,  one 
and  a  half  degrees  south ;  and  during  the  whole  year, 
equal  ta  Central  New  York,  two  degrees  south. 

These  statements  do  not  admit  of  the  slightest  doubt 
or  question,  no  matter  how  widely  they  may  differ  from 
preconceived  opinions,  for  they  are  founded  on  facts  of 
experience  which  have  occupied  an  entire  generation  in 
their  development. 

This  condition  of  temperature  not  only  obtains  in 
Minnesota,  but  it  is  a  well  established  fact,  that  there 
extends  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  north-west  of  her  an 
immense  area  of  fertile  and  arable  soil,  possessed  of  a 
climate  hardly  inferior  in  warmth  to  her  own.  The 
closing  chapter  of  Blodgett's  Climatology  is  an  admira- 
ble treatise  on  the  climate  and  resources  of  this  vast 
region. 

The  obstruction  opposed  by  snows  to  the  rapid  and 


it 

[i 


if: 


XZXVl 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


?;'ft 


if! 


IS ;-. 


III!: 
"ill 

ii 


it 


M 


regular  passage  of  trains,  is  among  the  chief  difficulties 
of  winter  operation,  and  in  order  to  submit  in  the  plain- 
est and  most  concise  manner  possible  the  magnitude  of 
this  obstacle,  as  found  here  in  comparison  with  other 
districts,  a  table  of  mean  results,  compiled  from  the 
same  sources  with  the  preceding  table,  is  here  intro- 
duced. 

The  results  given  in  the  table  are  all  reduced  to 
water,  but  in  order  to  convert  them  into  equivuleuts 
of  snow,  we  have  only  to  consider  the  figures  in  the 
columns  as  representing  feet  and  decimals  of  a  foot. 
The  rule  adopted  in  the  "  Register,"  gives  ten  inches 
of  snow  as  equivalent  to  one  inch  of  water,  but  the  pro- 
portion of  twelve  to  one  is  believed  to  be  more  correct, 
particularly  as  regards  snows  of  our  latitude. 


1 


'■'  ■'» , 


111 


Mean  Fall  of  Rain  and  Melted  Snow  at  various  places  for  the  different  tea- 
sons  and  the  entire  year.  Also,  the  Maximum  and  Miniitium  Fall  during 
the  winter  months.  .:.,■:    iS     v,  , 


DEPTH  IN  INOBES  AHD  DB0IHAL8  OF  AH  IMOB. 

W 

BPRINO. 

•UMHER. 

ADTDMW. 

WIXTIB. 

TEAR. 

No. 

PLACES. 

of 
Years. 

Mean. 
6.61 

Mean. 

Mean. 

Minim. 
0.35 

Mean. 

Maxim. 

Mean. 

St.  PruI,  M.  T.    .    .    . 

10.92 

5.98 

1.92 

8.661 

26.43 

10 

tlontreal,  Canada   .    . 

11.64 

11.18 

16.60 

7.28 

47.28 

3 

Iloulton,  Me.       .    .    , 

7.62 

11.92 

9.95 

4.02 

7.48 

10.00 

86.97 

t\ 

Eastport,  .Me.      .    .    , 

8.88 

10.05 

9.86 

8.91 

10.61 

11.96 

89.39 

PorUmouth,  N.  H.  .    . 

9.03 

8.21 

8.96 

4.44 

8.38 

11,08 

36.67 

IS 

UnnoTer,  i\.  II.   .    .    . 

9.90 

11.40 

10.60 

9.10 

41.00 

18 

BurlliiKton,  Vt.  .    .    . 

7.41 

10.83 

9.82 

6.02 

34.11 

20 

CambrldKi;,  Mass.    .    . 

10.85 

11.17 

12.67 

9.89 

44.48 

12 

Worc'i'stir.  Slnsa.     .    . 

10.89 

10.71 

13.51 

11.85 

46.96 

13 

New  York  City   .    .    . 

11.89 

11.61 

9.93 

4.99 

10.39 

19.27 

43.65 

14 

Plaltahurg,  N.  Y.    .    . 
Potmlttin,  N.  Y.  .    .    . 

8.36 

10.03 

10.05 

2.90 

4.95 

9.83 

33.39 

10 

6.20 

10.16 

8.38 

8.90 

28.63 

20 

Utica,  N.  V 

9.'26 

12.83 

9.76 

8.72 

40.67 

19 

Roih"Rler,  N.  Y.      .    . 

6.82 

8.86 

9.38 

5.38 

30.44 

19 

Fort  Niauara,  N.  Y.     . 

0.87 

9.81 

8.68 

3.23 

6.41 

9.24 

31.77 

H 

PitUburnh,  Pa.  .    .    . 

9.38 

0.87 

8.23 

4.39 

7.48 

11.97 

34.96 

18 

Hudson,  Q 

9.76 

8.87 

6.16 

8.00 

32.79 

T 

Cincinnati.  0.      .    .    . 

11>.U 

1.3.70 

9.90 

11.15 

46.89 

30 

Detroit.  Mii'h.      .    .    . 

8.01 

9.29 

7.41 

2.84 

4.86 

6.01 

30.07 

in 

Bault  St.  Marie,  Mich. 

8.44 

9.97 

10.76 

2.86 

6.18 

11.67 

31.35 

Alhi'ns,  HI 

12.20 

13.30 

9.20 

7.10 

41.80 

10 

Mnicatino,  Iowa     .    . 

11.19 

15.08 

1034 

6.72 

44.33 

10 

Milwnnkee.  Wi8.     .    . 

6.60 

9.70 

6.80 

4.20 

27.20 

7 

Green  Hav.  Wis.      .    . 

9.011 

14.45 

7.84 

2.90 

336 

4.80 

34.65 

H 

Portano  City,  Wis.  .    . 

f>.S8 

11.46 

7.63 

1.92 

2.82 

S.84 

27.49 

8 

Baloit,  Wia 

13.16 

18.12 

10.44 

a.43 

48.16 

4 

>  In  the  winter  of  1849.    The  next  less  fall  was  in  the  winter  of  1837— 2.M  Inchea. 


! 


I 


LESS  SNOW  THAN  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  BORDER. 


xxzvii 


Without  going  into  a  detailed  review  of  the  contents 
of  the  foregoing  table,  which  presents  the  facts  in  n 
light  that  argument  cannot  strengthen,  it  may  be  well 
to  inquire  what  proportion  of  the  winter  precipitation 
is  in  the  form  of  snow,  and  in  the  absence  of  positive 
knowledge  we  may  arrive  at  general  conclusions  by 
other  means. 

Since  Houlton,  Hanover,  Plattsburg,  Montreal,  and 
Sault  St.  Marie,  coincide  in  mean  winter  temperature 
with  St.  Paul,  we  must  infer  that  the  precipitation  at 
those  places  assumes  the  form  of  snow  in  the  same  pro- 
portion as  here.  Admitting  this,  and  supposing  the 
entire  winter  precipitation  to  be  a  successive  accumula- 
tion of  snow^s,  the  resulting  depths  would  be  as  follows, 
viz.,  Average  annual  depth  at  St.  Paul,  3  feet;  Houl- 
ton, 7i  feet;  Hanover,  9  feet;  Plattsburg,  5  feet;  Mon- 
treal, 7  feet;  Sault  St.  Marie,  Hi  feet.  Maximum 
depth,  at  St.  Paul,  3i  feet;  Houlton,  10  feet;  Platts- 
burg, 9i  feet ;  and  Sault  St.  Marie,  1 1 J  feet.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  add  that  such  immense  depths  of  snow  are 
never  known,  and  it  must  follow  that  a  great  part  of 
the  fall  at  all  these  localities  is  dissipated  during  the 
higher  fluctuations  of  temperature.  This  is  confirmed 
by  Mr.  Blodgett,  who  estimates  the  average  depth  of 
snow  constantly  occupying  the  ground  in  winter  among 
the  elevated  and  northern  districts  of  New  England  at 
two  feet,  and  the  experience  of  the  present  winter, 
1857-8,  at  St.  Paul,  is,  that,  out  of  a  total  fall  of  up- 
wards of  tw^enty  inches  of  snow,  the  depth  on  the  ground 
has  at  no  time  exceeded  six  inches. 

Although  no  reliable  evidence  can  be  adduced  upon 
this  point,  it  seems  entirely  safe  to  assume  that  the 


ZXXTIU 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


average  of  extreme  depths  of  snow  in  Minnesota,  during 
the  nineteen  years  through  which  the  observations  ex- 
tend, does  not  exceed  ten  inches,  and  it  is  certain  that 
the  average  here  falls  quite  below  that  in  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  or  New  York,  and  very  far  below 
that  in  the  Eastern  States.  ,; 


••-  i-> 


i 


n 


Table  showing  the  Mean  Force  of  the  Wind  at  Varioua  Places  during  the 
Months  of  January,  Fehniary,  March,  and  December,  in  each  Tear  for  a 
Series  of  Tears.* 


1845  1846 

1847 

1848 

1849 

1850 

1851 

1852 

1853 

1854 

•3 

N 

¥r. 

r?iS 

PLACES. 

. 

. 

'  s 

M 

^ 

B  ^ 
f  ^ 

u 

^i 

n 

a  « 

u 

n 

a  i 

S'!h 

s£ 

Si 

i& 

SSita 

SA 

Eli:: 

s£ 

sn 

sH 

If 

S^ 

Fort  SnelUng,   M.  T., 

near  St.  Paul,      .    . 

l.&» 

1.72 

1.68 

1.74 

1.65 

2.05 

2.18 

2.00 

1.80 

2.41 

10 

1.87 

Fort    Trumbull,    New 

London,  Conn.,   .     . 

2.63 

2.86 

•   •    •    • 

•    .   •    . 

3.41 

2.98 

2.31 

2.46 

2.16 

.    •    .   . 

7 

2.67 

Fort    Hamilton,    New 

York  City,       .     .     . 

3.28 

3.43 

3.18 

3.08 

3.40 

3.14 

3.40 

3.14 

1.90 

1.66 

10 

2.96 

Fort  Niagara,  New 

York 

3.33 

.3.28 

•   •    •    • 

•    •    •  • 

3.30 

3.24 

2.69 

3.54 

2.20 

2.57 

8 

.3.01 

Plattsburg     Barracks, 

Plattaburg,  N.  Y.     . 
Fort    Sullivan,    East- 

?  "iS 

1  69 

1  48 

1  64 

?19 

P) 

1  90 

port,  Maine,    .    .    . 

3.29 

.  .  • . 

.  •    •    • 

.    *    •  • 

. .  ■  . 

2.31 

2.37 

2.55 

2.63 

•    •  •    . 

5 

2.63 

Fort  Constitution, 

Portsmouth,  N.  H.  . 

2.44 

*  .  • . 

.    ,    ,  , 

>    1    •   • 

.  *  . . 

2.18 

2.63 

2.70 

2.65 

•  •    •    • 

6 

2.60 

Alleghany  Arsenal, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.    .     . 

2.13 

1.86 

2.08 

1.86 

2.08 

2.29 

2.15 

2.74 

2.31 

2.55 

10 

2.20 

Detroit  Barracks,  De- 

troit. Mioh. 

?  5? 

2.46 

1.72 

2.11 

2.32 

5 

??6 

Fort  Atkinson,  Winne- 

shiek County,  Iowa, 
Fort  Leavenworth, 

2.89 

2.07 

2 

?48 

Kansas,      .     .     .     . 

2.30 

2.19 

1.70 

1.99 

2.55 

1.45 

1.61 

2.03 

2.07 

2.30 

10 

2.00 

Average  force  at  all 

places,    .    .    ,    . 

2.63 

2.40 

2.15 

2.17 

2.57 

2.32 

2.30 

2.59 

2.22 

2.30 



2.43 

*  la  this  classification  0  signifies  a  4  a  brisk  breeze,  and  so  on  to  10, 
calm,  1  a  barely  perceptible  breeze,  2  which  represents  a  violent  hurricane. 
a  gentle  breeze,  3  a  moderate  breeze, 


NUMEROUS  LAKES.— WATERFALLS. 


xxxix 


"  It  appears  that  the  mean  force  of  the  wind  at  Fort 
Snelling  for  the  whole  term  is  less  than  at  any  other 
station,  and  twenty-five  per  cent,  less  than  the  average 
of  all  stations  for  the  whole  term,  and  that  the  mean 
force  in  any  year  is  below  the  average  at  all  stations 
for  the  year,  except  in  1854,  when  it  slightly  exceeds 
the  average." 

Like  the  Garden  of  Eden,  the  state  is  encircled  by 
rivers  and  lakes.  There  is  "  water,  water  everywhere ;" 
and  in  view  of  this  characteristic,  Nicollet  called  the 
country  Undine.  To  naiads  and  all  water  spirits  it 
would  be  a  perfect  paradise.  The  surface  of  the  country 
is  dotted  with  lakes,  and  in  some  regions  it  is  impossible 
to  travel  five  miles  without  meeting  a  beautiful  expanse 
of  water.  Many  of  these  lakes  are  linked  together  by 
small  and  clear  rivulets,  while  others  are  isolated. 
Their  configuration  is  varied  and  picturesque ;  some 
are  large,  with  precipitous  shores,  and  contain  wooded 
islands,  others  are  approached  by  gentle  glassy  slopes. 
Their  bottoms  are  paved  with  agatcS;  cavnelians..  and 
other  beautiful  quartz  pebbles.  Owens,  in  his  Geological 
Eeport,  says:  "Their  beds  are  generally  pebbly,  or 
covered  with  small  boulders,  which  peep  out  along  the 
shore,  and  frequently  show  a  rocky  line  around  the 
entire  circumference.  Very  few  of  them  have  mud  bot- 
toms. The  water  is  generally  sweet  and  clear,  and 
north  of  the  water-shed  is  as  cool  and  refreshing  during 
the  heats  of  summer  as  the  water  of  springs  or  wells. 
All  the  lakes  abound  with  various  species  of  fish,  of  a 
quality  and  flavour  greatly  superior  to  those  of  the 
streams  of  the  Middle  or  Western  States. 

The  country  also  contains  a  number  of  ha-ha,  as  the 
Dahkotahs  call  all  waterfalls.     As  the  state  of  New 


*!i 


,1  '^ 


Mi- 


d  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

JTork  sluires  with  Great  Britain  the  subliniest  cataract, 
80  Minnesota  has  a  joint  ownership  in  a  picturesque 
fall.  It  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  mouth  of 
Pigeon  river.  The  perpendicular  descent  is  sixty  feet, 
after  which  the  river  chafes  its  way  for  many  yards. 
About  one  mile  below  the  west  end  of  Grand  Portage, 
the  old  depot  of  the  North-west  Company,  are  the  great 
cascades  of  Pigeon  river.  "  The  scenery  at  the  cas- 
cades presents  the  singular  combination  of  wild  grandeur 
and  picturesque  beauty,  with  an  aspect  the  most  dreary 
and  desolate  imaginable.  In  the  distance  of  lour 
hundred  yards,  the  river  falls  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  feet.  The  fall  is  in  a  series  of  cascades  through  a 
narrow  gorge,  with  perpendicular  walls,  varying  from 
forty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  on  both  sides  of 
the  river.'"  The  streams  in  the  north-east  county  of 
Minnesota  nearly  all  come  into  Lake  Superior  with  a 
leap.  Half  a  mile  from  the  lake,  the  Kawimbash  hur- 
ries through  perpendicular  walls  of  stone,  seventy-five 
feet  in  height,  and  at  last  pitches  down  a  height  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  feet. 

On  Kettle  river,  a  tributar^y  of  the  St.  Croix,  there 
are  also  interesting  rapids  and  falls.  The  Falls  of  St. 
Croix,  thirty  miles  above  Stillwater,  elicit  the  admira- 
tion of  the  traveller.  Between  lofty  walls  of  trap  rock, 
the  river  rushes,  "  at  first  with  great  velocity,  forming 
a  succession  of  whirlpools,  until  it  makes  a  sudden  bend, 
then  glides  along  placidly,  reflecting  in  its  deep  waters 
the  dark  image  of  the  columnar  masses,  as  they  rise 
towering  above  each  other  to  the  height  of  a  hundred 
to  a  hundred  and  seventy  feet."     On  the  Vermillion 

•>  '  Owens' Report,  p.  409,  4to         .,     '•    . 


THF  FALLS  OF  MINNE-HAITA. 


xli 


river,  which  is  a  western  tributary  of  the  Mississippi, 
opposite  the  St.  Croix,  there  are  picturesque  falls,  about 
a  mile  from  Hastings. 

A  drive  of  less  than  fifteen  minutes  from  Fort  Snel- 
ling,  in  the  direction  of  St.  Anthony,  brings  the  tourist 
to  a  waterfall  that  makes  a  lifetime  impression. 

,i  .  .       i   .       .    "  Stars  in  the  silent  nieht  .  ,. 

Might  be  enchained, 
Birds  in  their  passing  flight  ?, 

.'■■  M".    v '."..  ^  ■:■         Be  long  detained,  *       i  ,^    ■■■ 

^^,    ^;      -:;        •,.         And  by  this  scene  entrancing,         .      ,  < 
.   *  Angels  might  roam, 

'   ''  ''^''  Or  make  their  home,  ■    ■' 

■■•,'•. J     .''';;vvV  Hearing,  in  waters  dancing,        '.  ,r..':'^ 

,.'.■,.  'Mid  spray  and  foam,  ,  , 

Minnehaha!" 

These,  within  a  brief  period,  have  obtained  a  world- 
wide reputation,  from  the  fact  that  "  a  certain  one  of 
our  own  poets"  has  given  the  name  of  Minne-ha-ha  to 
the  wife  of  Hiawatha.  Longfellow,  in  his  vocabulary, 
says :  "  Minne-ha-ha — Laughing-water ;  a  waterfall  or  a 
stream  running  into  the  Mississippi,  between  Fort  Snell- 
ing  and  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony."  All  waterfalls,  in 
the  Dahkotah  tongue,  are  called  Ha-ha,  never  Minne- 
ha-ha.  The  "h"  has  a  strong  guttural  sound,  and  the 
word  is  applied  because  of  the  curling  or  laughing  of 
the  waters.  The  verb  I-ha  means  to  curl  the  mouth ; 
secondarily  to  laugh,  because  of  the  curling  motion  oi 
the  mouth  in  laughter.  The  noise  of  Ha-ha  is  called 
by  the  Dakhotahs  I-ha,  because  of  its  resemblance  to 
laughter. 

A  small  rivulet,  the  outlet  of  Lake  Harriet  and  Cal- 
houn, gently  gliding  over  the  bluff  into  an  amphithea- 


w 


|;j      *V 


slU 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


1 


% 


|: 


I      i    \ 


u 


li 


tre,  forms  this  graceful  waterfall.  It  has  but  little  of 
"  the  cataract's  thunder."  Niagara  symbolizes  the  sub- 
lime ;  St.  Anthony  the  picturesque ;  Ha-ha  the  beauti- 
ful. The  fall  is  about  sixty  feet,  presenting  a  parabolic 
curve,  which  drops,  without  the  least  deviation,  until 
it  has  reached  its  lower  level,  v  hen  the  stream  goes  on 
its  way  rejoicing,  curling  along  in  laughing,  childish 
glee  at  the  graceful  feat  it  has  performed  in  bounding 
over  the  precipice. 

Five  miles  above  this  embodiment  of  beauty,  are  the 
oaore  pretentious  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  This  fall  was 
Qot  named  by  a  Jesuit,  as  Willard  says,  in  her  History 
af  the  United  States,  but  by  Hennepin,  a  Franciscan  of 
the  Recollect  Order.  He  saw  it  while  returning  from 
Mille  Lac,  in  the  month  of  July,  1680,  and  named  it 
after  his  patron  Saint,  Anthony  of  Padua. 

In  the  last  edition  of  his  travels,  the  adventurous 
father  says,  "  the  navigation  is  interrupted  by  a  fall, 
which  I  called  St.  Anthony  of  Padua's,  in  gratitude  for 
the  favours  done  me  by  the  Almighty  through  the  inter- 
cession of  that  great  saint,  whom  we  had  chosen  patron 
and  protector  of  all  our  enterprises.  This  fall  i&  forty 
or  fifty  feet  high,  divided  in  the  middle  by  a  rocky 
island  of  pyramidal  form."  As  Hennepin  was  passing 
the  falls,  in  company  with  a  party  of  buffalo  hunt- 
ers, he  perceived  a  Dahkotah  up  in  an  oak  oppo.site 
the  great  fall  weeping  bitterly,  with  a  well  dressed 
beaver  robe,  whitened  inside,  and  trimmed  with  porcu- 
pine quills,  which  he  was  oflfering  as  a  sacrifice  to  the 
falls,  which  is  in  itself  admirable  and  frightful.  I  heard 
him  while  shedding  copious  tears  say,  as  he  spoke  *^o 
the  great  cataract :  "  Thou  who  art  a  spirit,  grant  that 


FALLS  OF  ST.  ANTHONY. 


sUU 


our  nation  may  pass  here  quietly  without  accident,  may 
kill  buffalo  in  abundance,  conquer  our  enemies,  and 
bring  in  slaves,  some  of  whom  we  will  put  to  death 
before  thee ;  the  Messenecqz  [to  this  day  the  Dahkotahs 
call  the  Fox  Indians  by  this  name]  have  killed  our 
kindred,  grant  that  we  may  avenge  them." 

The  only  other  European,  during  the  time  of  the 
French  dominion,  whose  account  of  the  f'nlls  is  pre- 
served, is  Charleville.  He  told  Du  Pratz,  the  author 
of  a  history  of  Louisiana,  that,  with  two  Canadians  and 
two  Indians,  in  a  birch  canoe  laden  with  goods,  he  pro- 
ceeded as  far  as  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  This  cata- 
ract he  describes  as  caused  by  a  fiat  rock,  which  forms 
the  bed  of  the  river,  and  causing  a  fall  of  eight  or  ten 
feet.  It  was  not  far  from  a  century  after  Hennepin 
saw  the  "  curling  waters,"  that  it  was  gazed  upon  by  a 
British  subject.  Jonathan  Carver,  a  native  of  Connec- 
ticut, and  captain  of  a  Provincial  troop,  was  the  Yankee 
who  first  looked  on  this  valuable  water-power,  and  began 
to  make  calculations  for  further  settlement.  His  sketch 
of  the  falls  in  1766  was  the  first  ever  taken,  and  was 
well  engraved  in  London. 

Carver,  like  Hennepin,  speaks  of  a  rocky  island 
dividing  the  falls,  and  estimates  its  width  about  forty 
feet,  and  its  length  not  much  more,  "  and  about  half 
way  between  this  island  and  the  eastern  shore,  is  a 
rock,  lying  at  the  very  edge  of  the  fall,  that  appeared 
to  be  about  five  or  six  feet  broad,  and  thirty  or  forty 
long." 

During  the  two  generations  that  have  elapsed,  since 
this  description  was  penned,  some  changes  have  taken 
place  in  the  appearance  of  the  falls.     The  small  island 


i  m 


xliv 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


t-i 


■i''i-5 


■'.ill    M 


about  forty  feet  broad,  which  ia  now  some  distance  in 
front  of  the  falls,  was  probably  once  in  iti  midst.  The 
geological  character  of  the  bed  of  the  river  is  such,  that 
an  undermining  process  is  constantly  at  work.  The 
upper  stratum  is  Ihnestone,  with  many  large  crevices, 
and  about  fifteen  feet  in  thickness.  Beneath  is  the 
saccharoid  sandstone,  which  is  so  soft,  that  it  cannot 
vedst  the  wearing  of  the  rapid  waters.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  in  an  age  long  passed,  the  falls  were  once 
in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Snelling.  In  the  course  of  two 
years  they  have  receded  many  feet.  The  numbers  of  pine 
logs  that  pitch  over  the  falls,  have  increased  the  reces- 
sion. As  the  logs  float  down  they  are  driven  into  the 
fissures,  and  serve  as  levers,  other  logs  ind  the  water 
communicating  the  power,  to  wi'ench  the  limestone  slabs 
from  their  localities.       At  length  engineering  skill  has 

prevented  the  fall  of  the  limestone  ledge 

The  fall  of  water  on  the  west  side  of  the  dividing 
island,  is  several  rods  above  that  on  the  east  side,  and 
the  difference  is  occasioned  by  the  greater  volume  of 
water  on  the  former  side,  causing  a  more  rapid  re- 
cedence. 

There  are  two  islands  of  great  beauty  in  the  rapids 
above  the  falls.  The  first  juts  some  feet  beyond  the 
falk,  and  contains  about  fifteen  acres.  It  is  now  gene- 
rally known  as  Hennepin  Island,  not,  as  some  blunderer 
says  in  Harper's  Magazine  for  July,  1853,  because  the 
Jesttit  fatfier  was  placed  there  by  the  Indians,  but  in 
accordance  with  the  following  suggestion,  in  an  address 
before  the  Historical  Society  of  Minnesota,  on  January 
first,  1850:— 

"  As  a  town  in  the  state  of  IlUnois  has  already  taken 


EARLY  FRENCH  MAPS. 


JClt 


the  name  of  Hennepin,  which  would  have  been  so  ap- 
propriate for  the  beautiful  village  of  St.  Anthony,  we 
take  leave  of  the  discoverer  of  those  picturesque  falls, 
which  will  alwaj's  render  that  town  equally  attractive 
to  the  eye  of  the  poet  and  capitalist,  by  suggesting  that 
the  island  which  divides  the  laughing  waters,  be  called 
Hennepin." 

When  Du  Luth  left  Minnesota,  in  1680,  one  of  the 
Dahkotah  chiefs  drew  on  birch  bark  a  map  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  French  should 
bring  goods  to  the  Mississippi,  and  that  the  Dahkotahs 
would  come  down  and  traffic  with  them.  Perrot,  in 
carrying  into  effect  this  arrangement,  appears  to  have 
erected  the  trading  establishment,  called  Fort  St. 
Nicholas,  in  the  vicinity  of  Prairie  du  Chien. 

When  forts  are  spoken  of  in  connection  with  the 
French  explorations  of  the  North-west,  the  reader  must 
divest  himself  of  the  idea  of  massive  walls  of  masonry, 
and  turrets  and  buttresses,  and  angles  with  ordnance 
protruding  their  muzzles; — and  picture  before  hi'u  a  )og 
cabin,  surrounded  by  a  few  pickets. 

The  early  French  maps  on  America,  are  bota  urious 
and  instructive.*  Without  their  aid  it  is  impossible  to 
trace  with  certainty  the  progress  of  discovery  in  Minne- 
sota, and  the  whole  North-west. 

An  early  chart  representing  Minnesota  that  has 
been  examined  is  that  of  Coronellis,  corrected  by 
Tillemon,  published  at  Paris,  1688. 

Mille  Lac  is  called  Lac  Buade,  and  the  map  states 
that  it  was  named  by  Du  Luth. 

The  St.  Croix  river  appears  as  Magdeline,  and  Snake 
river  is  marked  Prophet. 

The  second  map  that  attempts  a  representation  of 

•  Appendix  A 


zlvi 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


mn 


the  region  now  known  as  Minnesota,  is  attached  to  the 
Utrecht  edition  of  Hennepin's  Travels,  published  in  1698. 
Lake  Pepin  is  on  this  marked  Lac  des  Pleurs,  and  the 
St.  Croix  as  Riviere  du  Tombeau,  and  Mille  Lac  is  the 
Lake  of  the  Issati.  North-east  of  this  lake  are  placed 
the  Ouadebaton  band  of  Dahkotahs ;  and  near  by  the 
Chongas-kabions,  and  Songasquitons. 

A  member  of  the  Franciscan  priesthood,  Hennepin, 
was  very  jealous  of  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  yet  he 
is  frequently  by  loose  writers  called  a  Jesuit.  Ta 
convey  the  impression  that  his  order  were  the  pioneers 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  North-west,  he  has  marked 
beyond  Sauk  Rapids,  in  a  region  where  a  white  man's 
footsteps  were  not  seen  for  years  subsequent,  a  house 
which  is  called  Mission  of  the  Recollects. 

The  maps  on  the  North-west  that  were  the  basis  of 
the  French  and  English  charts,  for  half  a  century,  were 
prepared  by  William  de  I'lsle,  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris.  In  his  preparation  of 
the  chart  of  Louisiana,  he  was  assisted  by  the  obser- 
vations of  the  early  explorer  of  Minnesota,  Le  Sueur. 
The  map  was  issued  about  the  year  1700,  and  as  the 
section  of  it  accompanying  another  chapter  of  this  work 
shows,'  attempted  to  designate  the  villages  of  the  Sioux 
of  the  East  and  Sioux  of  the  West.  It  places  a  coal 
mine  on  the  Minnesota  river,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  present  town  of  Carver,  and  calls  Lake  St.  Croix, 
Lake  Pepin.  The  fort  built  by  Le  Sueur  on  the  island 
below  Hastings,  and  by  Perrot  at  an  earlier  period, 
above  the  Chippeway  river,  and  Fort  Huillier  on  the 
small  tributary  of  the  Mahkahto,  are  clearly  designated. 


'  See  page  164. 


|;CARTE  Oy  CANADA 

V  oiitu-  w 

1  NOUVEU.K  IRANI  1-.. I 
Pdr  Ouillauine  »E  LISl.F. 

tj^r  i/ii-ai/cMt^ ^OifaJe<fi:^  .uu-Ktiti^y 

AfARlS 

1703. 


#'^' 


Seclioii  of  a  Map  of  Caruidu 


SECURITY  AND  PROSPERITY  OF  PIONEERS. 


zlTii 


In  the  map  of  Canada,  by  the  same  author,  Minnesota 
is  more  fully  delineated.  Pepin  is  attached  to  the  lake 
which  now  bears  the  name.  Mille  Lac  is  called  Buade, 
after  the  family  name  of  Frontenac,  and  also  by  an 
Ojibway  word  Missisacaigan,  conveying  the  idea  ex- 
pressed by  the  French  term  Mille  Lacs. 

Bum  river  is  called  the  Mendeouacanton,  after  the 
division  of  Dahkotahs  that  dwelt  in  the  valley.  Snake 
river  bears  its  present  name,  and  the  mines  of  lead 
near  Galena  and  Dubuque  are  noted.  In  the  year 
1750,  after  Veranderie's  tour  by  the  chain  of  lakes  that 
form  the  northern  boundary  of  Minnesota,  Philip  Buache' 
revised  and  improved  the  maps  of  De  I'lsle.  The  fort 
at  the  Eamanatekwoya  river,  built  by  Du  Luth,  appears, 
and  this  locality  was  afterwards  occupied  by  Fort  Wil- 
liam ,  and  was  the  great  dep6t  of  the  North-west  Gom- 
pan}'.  The  post  on  Rainy  Lake,  and  Lake  Winnipeg  and 
Lake  of  the  Woods,  are  also  presented  for  the  first  time. 
Previous  to  the  treaty  of  peace  at  Paris,  in  1763,  Tho- 
mas Jefferys,  Geographer  to  the  King  of  England,  pre- 
pared a  map  which  embodied  all  of  the  latest  correc- 
tions, and  exhibits  the  sites  of  all  the  French  establish- 
ments in  Minnesota.* 

So  recent  has  been  the  removal  of  the  Dahkotahs, 
there  is  danger,  in  reading  the  history  of  Minnesota, 
of  supposing  that  the  emigrant  will  be  exposed  to  the 
scalping  knife  of  the  savage.  It  is  true  that  there  was 
a  massacre  by  some  outlaws  on  the  extreme  south- 
western frontier,  years  ago  ;  but  this  barbarity  was 
condemned  by  the  Indian  oands,  as  much  as  by  Ame- 
rican citizens.     Although  the  war-whoop  has  scarcely 


>  See  page  188. 


*  See  page  300. 


¥} 


ItMi' 


MMJili   -■' 


XlTiU 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


|!i!i 


ceased  to  resound  through  the  vales,  and  over  the  prai- 
ries, yet,  since  18G3,  the  Indian  population  has  receded 
westward  several  hundreds  of  miles,  and  an  Indian, 
when  he  appears  on  the  site  of  what  was  only  yesterday 
his  village,  is  gazed  at  with  curiosity. 

At  Weenonah,^  so  lately  the  residence  of  Wapashaw,*^ 
there  is  already  an  embryo  city  of  several  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  two  newspapers ;  at  Raymneecha,  the  re- 
cent village  of  the  Red  Wing  band,  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Pepin,  there  is  a  busy  town,  the  seat  of  a  Collegiate 
Institute,  with  comfortable   church   edifices  of  brick, 
and  an  industrious  population.     At  Shokpay,^  which 
was  one  of  the  largest  Dahkotah*  villages,  is  a  thriving 
county  seat,  with  a  population  that  is  rapidly  increasing. 
Near  the  old  mission-house  of  Traverse  des  Sioux,  is 
the  town  of  St.  Peter,  and  a  few  miles  beyond  is  the 
city  of  Mankahto,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Blue  Earth  river. 

Notwithstanding  the  erroneous  impressions  that  have 
prevailed,  that  Minnesota  was  too  far  north  for  agricul- 
tural success,  and  the  emigration  to  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
and  California,  its  growth  has  been  surprising.  In 
1849,  the  population  was  less  than  five  thousand,  in- 
cluding all  of  the  soldiers  of  the  forts;  in  1857,  a  census 
that  was  not  fully  completed,  presented  the  following  fig- 
ures : — 136,464.  Since  then  there  has  been  great  increase. 


'  In  several  places  we  write 
Winona  as  it  is  pronounced,  because 
some  are  beginning  to  talk  of  the 
town  of  Wyenonay,  a  barbarism 
that  would  shock  a  Dahkotah. 

'  Wapsahaw  is  used  for  Wabasha, 
because  more  correct  and  euphonious 
—See  Dahkotah  Lexicon,  vol.  iv. 
Smithsonian  Publications. 


*  Shokpay  or  Shakpay,  is  now 
written  Shakopee,  but  we  prefer  the 
old  method. 

*  Dahkotah  is  also  spelled  Dakota, 
Dacota,  Dahcotah,  and  Dakotah. 
The  accent  is  emphatic,  and  on  the 
penult.  _ 


V' 


^^ 


DESCRIPTION  OF  FALLS  OF  ST.  ANTHONY,  1848.  xlix 

POPULATION  OF  MINNESOTA. 


COVNTY. 

1870 

1800 

1850 

COUMTT. 

I8T0 

1860 

1850 

Aitken 

178 

3,940 

308 

so 

1,669 

24 

17,302 

6^93 

"286 

11,6S6 

380 

1,467 

4,368 

92 

634 

200 

16,312 

8,,')98 

4,230 

9,940 

24,887 

10,678 

22,618 

340 

31,666 

14,936 

2,(135 

116 

1,826 

92 

1.760 

145 

135 

11,607 

3,867 
6,643 

2 

2,106 

386 

"ti27 

4,818 
70 

2J39 
26 
61 

6,106 
160 

1,743 

'"12 

2C.9 

9,093 

3,797 

105 

1,335 

13.542 

3,31)7 

8,9(7 

12.849 

6,ii4i 

284 

61 

181 

30 

76 

"248 
6,318 

"iaa 

161 

1,286 

"as 
■"97 

168 

Meeker 

6,098 

1.109 

3.161 

1,681 

10,447 

209 

8,362 

117 

19,793 

1,968 

64 

"648 

2,'89i 

28,086 

1,829 

3,210 

16,083 

138 

11,042 

2,060 

6,725 

14.206 

8,271 

174 

4,561 

2,036 

13 

16,860 

6 

7,8.V« 
H7i« 

2420 

203 

22,318 

9,457 

..439,706 

1128 

73 

360 

618 

3,217 

29 

3,773 

.le 

9,.'.24 

240 

1,612 

11 

91 

23 

240 

12,160 

"245 
7,643 

3,695 
723 
2.609 
4.505 
2.8C3 

"4O6 
430 

7,228 



2T>(Vi 
6,123 

"■Jo 

9.208 
3.729 

Mille  LacB 

Becker , 

Bi'ltrHmi 

Big  Stono 

Blue  Kaith 

Nicollet 

httckrnrU/ge 

Nobles 

Otter  Tall 



Carletoii 

1,134 

Carver 

PStrce, 

CasB 

Pine 

Chisngo 

Potk 

CIiiv 

Kamaey 

Redwood 

8,227 

Crow  Wing 

Dftki»t« 

Doiij-'e 

Uife 

Kock 

Faiibuult 

Fillmore 

Fret-born. 

Sililev 

Grunt 

gteele 

Hennepin 

St.  I.ouis 

Todd 

Itnsca  • 

JtirkHon 

Wtilnishaw 

248 

WHdeiift 

Kandiyohi 

160 

\tiiv.  qui  Parle 

Luke 

l,l«66 

Mnnkaiito 

Wilkiii 

Manftiniu 

Wiiionu 

Wright 

"'^jlalii 

172,023 

6,077 

.» 


For  population  of  Counties  in  1880  see  Appendix  Q. 
PRINCIPAL  TOWNS— 1880. 


MinneRpoIts....- 48.887  I 

Bt.  Paul 41.40*( 

Winona I0,2i  .s 

StillWHter O.O-M 


Ifeil  WiiiB 5,876  |  .M.  I't-UT... 


MaiikHli) 5,650 

Kiinlmnlt .\415 

Uix'l.sti'r I.IOS 

I!ii.Hiiiis;>t 3,809 


3,436 


Owntonna 3,161 

Dii  Lutli 2,8(» 

Anoka 2,708 

St.  Cloud 2,462 

AuBtin 2,03» 


In  1848,  Minnesota  seemed  a  wilderness  to  a  divine, 
tlie  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  of  Philadelphia,  who  visited  the 
country  on  a  tour  of  pleasure ;  and  he  thus  presents  his 
views  of  a  locality,  which  is  spanned  by  several  bridges 
the  seat  of  the  State  University,  and  a  city  of  ahovt} 
fifty    -five  thousand  active  inhabitants : — 

'*  I  visited  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  I  know  not 
how  other  men  feel  when  standing  there,  nor  how  men 
will  feel  a  century  hence,  when  standing  there — then, 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


■I'l'ti' !' 


11* 


II 
I  ill 


f 


not  in  the  West,  but  almost  in  the  centre  of  our  great 
nation.  But  when  I  stood  there  and  reflected  on  the 
distance  between  that  and  the  place  of  my  birth  and 
my  home ;  on  the  prairies  over  which  I  had  passed ; 
and  the  stream — the  *  Father  of  Rivers' — up  which  I 
had  sailed  some  five  hundred  miles,  into  a  new  and  un- 
settled land — where  the  children  of  the  forest  still  live 
and  roam — I  had  views  of  the  greatness  of  my  country, 
such  as  I  have  never  had  in  the  crowded  capitals  and 
the  smiling  villages  of  the  East.  Far  in  the  distance 
did  they  then  seem  to  be;  and  there  came  over  the 
soul  the  idea  of  greatness,  and  vastness,  which  no  figures, 
no  description,  had  ever  conveyed  to  my  mind.  To  an 
inexperienced  traveller,  too,  how  strange  is  the  appear- 
ance of  all  that  land  f  *  *  *  *  Yqu  ascend  the 
Mississippi  amidst  scenery  unsurpassed  in  beauty 
probably  in  the  world.  You  see  the  waters  making 
their  way  along  an  interval  of  from  two  to  four 
miles  in  width — between  bluffs  of  from  one  hundred 
to  five  hundred  feet  in  height.  Now  the  river  makes 
its  way  along  the  eastern  range  of  bluffs,  and  now 
the  western,  and  now  in  the  centre,  and  now  it 
divides  itself  into  numerous  channels,  forming  thou- 
sands of  beautiful  islands,  covered  with  long  grass, 
ready  for  the  scythe  of  the  mower.  Those  bluffs, 
rounded  with  taste  and  skill,  such  as  could  be  imitated 
by  no  art  of  man,  and  set  out  with  trees  here  and  there, 
gracefully  arranged  like  orchards,  seem  to  have  been 
sown  with  grain  to  the  summit,  and  are  clothed  with 
beautiful  green.  You  look  out  instinctively  for  the 
house  and  barn ;  for  flocks  and  herds ;  for  men,  and 
women,  and  children ;  but  they  are  not  there.  A  race 
that  is  gone  seems  to  have  cultivated  those  fields,  and 


] 


MINNESOTA,  THB  SKY-TINTED  WATER. 


then  to  have  silently  disappeared — ^leaving  them  for  the 
first  man  that  should  come  from  the  older  parts  of  out 
own  country,  or  from  foreign  lands,  to  take  possession 
of  them.  It  is  only  by  a  process  of  reflection  that  you 
are  convinced  that  it  is  not  so."        i .  • 

The  state  of  Minnesota  derives  its  name  from  the 
principal  tributary  of  the  Mississippi  within  its  bounda- 
ries. The  name  is  a  compound  Dahkotah  word.  This 
nation  call  the  Missouri,  Minneshoshay,  muddy  water, 
and  this  stream  Minnesota.  The  precise  signification 
of  Sota  is  difficult  to  express.  Some  writers  have 
said  it  means  clear,  Schoolcraft  bluish  green,  others 
turbid.     Nicollet  remarks : — 

"  The  adjective  Sotah  is  of  difficult  translation.  The 
Canadians  translated  it  by  a  pretty  equivalent  word 
brouill6,  perhaps  more  properly  rendered  into  English 
by  blear,  as  for  instance  Minisorah,  blear  water.  I 
have  entered  upon  this  explanation  because  the  word 
sotah  really  means  neither  clear  nor  turbid,  as  some 
authors  have  asserted,  its  true  meaning  being  readily 
found,  in  the  Sioux  expression  Ishta-sotah,  blear  eyed." 

From  the  fact  that  the  word  signifies  neither  white 
nor  blue,  but  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the  sky  on 
certain  days,  the  Historical  Society  publications,  define 
Minnesota  to  mean  the  sky-tinted  water,  which  is 
certainly  poetic,  and  according  to  Gideon  H.  Pond,  one 
of  the  best  Dahkotah  scholars,  correct. 

Throughout  the  work,  we  have  called  the  tribe  who 
were  the  aborigines  of  Minnesota,  Dahkotahs,  a  name 
by  which  they  recognise  themselves.  The  term  Sioux 
is  a  mere  nickname  given  for  convenience  by  the  early 
voyageurs. 

Minnesota,  as  a  state,  ought  to  have  the  highest  aspi- 


.-tf 


'In 

HHt' 


11 


I!  tit 


lU 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


rations.  The  birthplace  of  many  rivers,  flowing  north, 
south,  east,  and  west ;  with  varied  scenery,  tlie  prairie, 
the  forest,  the  lofty  bhiff',  the  pUicid  lake,  and  the 
laughing  waterfall ;  the  summit  of  the  central  valley  of 
North  America;  with  an  atmosphere  peculiarly  dry  and 
bracing,  it  must  ever  be  attractive  to  emigrants  from  all 
regions  of  the  world.  If  the  aims  of  her  citizens  only 
correspond  with  the  elevated  natural  position  and  ad- 
vantages, the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills  will  soon 
occupy  the  old  pasture-grounds  of  the  elk  and  bison, 
and  school-houses  will  crown  the  eminences  but  lately 
adorned  with  burial  scaffolds ;  and  the  State  will  become 
the  birth-place  of  not  only  majestic  rivers,  but  great 
men. 

If  the  perusal  of  the  following  pages  shall  tend  to 
foste'.  a  proper  State  pride,  and  interest  the  generation 
now  f  pringing  up  in  the  history  of  their  country,  the 
chi'.'f  end  of  the  work  will  have  been  attained.  -  .1 


'^■■'•.■■".i/.'.'tiV  •;(\";'!''-*'^i'Sl 


•   ■   ''   "■    ■'..'  0;,/...,,.,   ,  '      ■   --.r'        ,:",:, 


.■0 


>iM    ;,•  ■_  ;  ■■'-■.■-■■■/! 


■,   '•(-ir- 


>fH^i« 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER  1. 

Minnesota  is  th;j  "land  of  the  Dahkotahs."  Long 
before  their  existence  was  known  to  civilized  men,  they 
wandered  through  the  forests,  between  Lake  Superior 
and  the  Mississippi,  in  auest  of  the  bounding  deer,  and 
over  the  prairies  beyond  in  search  of  the  ponderous 
buffalo. 

They  are  an  entirely  different  group  from  the  Algon- 
quin and  Iroquois,  who  were  found  by  the  early  settlers 
of  the  Atlantic  States,  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut, 
Mohawk,  and  Susquehanna  rivers.  Their  language  is 
much  more  difficult  to  comprehend;  and,  while  they 
have  many  customs  in  common  with  the  tribes  who 
once  dwelt  in  New  England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Illinois,  they  have  peculiarities  which  mark  them 
as  belonging  to  a  distinct  family  of  the  aborigines  of 
America. 

Winona,  Wapashaw,  Mendota,  Anoka,  Kasota,  Mah- 
kahto,  and  other  names  designating  the  towns,  hamlets, 
and  streams  of  Minnesota,  are  words  derived  from  the 
Dahkotah  vocabulary. 

Between  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  and  the  Missis- 

4  (49) 


IjK 

It  ISi 

"ill 

It  t 


50 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


i ,  I' 


)'  f 


|ri| 


sippi  river,  above  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony,  is  a 
country  of  many  lakes.  So  numerous  are  they,  and 
interlaced  by  clear  and  sparkling  brooks,  to  an  aeronaut 
they  would  appear  like  a  necklace  of  diamonds,  on  silver 
filaments,  gracefully  thrown  upon  the  bosom  of  Earth. 

Surrounded  by  forests  of  the  sugar  maple — the  neigh- 
bouring marshes  fertile  in  the  growth  of  wild  rice-^the 
waters  abounding  in  fish — the  shores  once  alive  with 
the  beaver,  the  otter,  the  bear,  and  the  fox — they  were 
sites  just  adapted  for  the  residence  of  an  Indian  popu- 
lation. 

When  the  Dahkotahs  were  first  noticed  by  the  Euro- 
pean adventurer,  large  numbers  were  occupying  this 
region  of  country,  and  appropriately  called  by  the  voya- 
geur,  "  People  of  the  Lakes." '  And  tradition,  asserts 
that  here,  was  the  ancient  centre  of  this  tribe.  Though 
we  have  traces  of  their  warring  and  hunting  on  tlie 
shores  of  Lake  Superior,  there  is  no  satisfactory  evidence 
of  their  residence,  east  of  the  Mille  Lac  region.* 

The  word  Dahkotah,  by  which  they  love  to  be  desig- 
nated, signifies  allied  or  joined  together  in  friendly  com- 
pact, and  is  equivalent  to  "  E  pluribus  unum,"  the  motto 
on  the  seal  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  history  of  the  mission  at  La  Pointe,  Wisconsin, 
published  nearly  two  centuries  ago,  a  writer,  referring 
to  the  Dahkotahs,  remarks : —  .' ;  .i  u  ; ,  > :  1 

"  For  sixty  leagues  from  the  extremity  of  the  Upper 
Lake,  toward  sunset ;  and,  as  it  were  in  the  centre  of 
the  western  nations,  they  have  all  v/nited  their  force  hy 
a  general  league." 

.-:      :.■  ....  ..»',  >.'.!    .•=•/     ■;.. 

'  Gens  du  Lac. 

'  They  have  no  name  for  Lake  Superior. — G.  H.  Pond,  in  "  Dahkotah 
Tawaxitku  Kin." 


THE  NAMES  SIOUX,  AND  UAHKOTAH 


u 


Dahkoldh 


:  The  Dahkotahs  in  the  earliest  documents,  and  even 
until  the  present  day,  are  called  Sioux,  Scioux,  or  Soos. 
The  name  originated  with  the  early  "  voyageurs."  Foi 
centuries  the  Ojibways  of  Lake  Superior  wage*  I  war 
against  the  Dahkotahs ;  and,  whenever  they  spoke  of 
them,  called  them  Nadowaysioux,  which  signifies  ene- 
mies.      *    J/  /;t*  -i-^.t,4-.F  ...r^    ..;  ».•.,■•...,.   (-,.*..,.>: 

The  French  traders,  to  avoid  exciting  the  attention 
of  Indians,  while  conversing  in  their  presence,  were 
accustomed  to  designate  them  by  names,  which  would 
n't  be  recognised. 

The  Dahkotahs  were  nicknamed  Sioux,  a  word  com- 
posed, of  the  two  last  syllables,  of  the  Ojibway  word,  for 

foes.  1!'*,!'!-  >?-r..:jiT  ■■•rKfV''  /Hit  >  fwlr  i>M  nn^i  ..\u;i  i.u-A'i 
Charlevoix,  who  visited  Wisconsin  in  1721,  in  his 
history  of  New  France  says :  "  The  name  of  Sioux,  that 
we  give  to  these  Indians,  is  entirely  of  our  own  making, 
or  rather  it  is  the  last  two  syllables  of  the  name  of 
Nadouessioux,  as  many  nations  call  them." 

From  an  early  period,  there  have  been  three  great 
divisions  of  this  people,  which  have  been  subdivided 
into  smaller  bands.  The  first  are  called  the  Isanyati, 
the  Issati  of  Hennepin,  after  one  of  the  many  lakes 
at  the  head  waters  of  the  river,  marked  on  modern 
maps,  by  the  unpoetic  name  of  Rum.  It  is  asserted  by 
Dahkotah  missionaries  now  living,  that  this  name  waa 
given  to  the  lake  because  the  stone  from  which  they 
manufactured  the  knife  (isan)  was  here  obtained.  The 
principal  band  of  the  Isanti  was  the  M'dewakanton- 
wan.*  In  the  journal  of  Le  Sueur,  they  are  spoken 
of  as  residing  on  a  lake  east  of  the  Mississippi.     Tra* 


.-■I 


*  Pronounced  as  if  written  Medday-wawkawn-twawn. 


C-i- 


^■■I 


62 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


•fif] 


;.'  ■( 


"'»f1 


!|* 


dition  says  that  it  was  a  day's  walk  from  Isantamde  or 
Knife  Lake,    ■^■.^-'mn^y.^^an  'i!i>^„^.^/:^.  iu^^'j  '^v  v-ii;  i; ' 

On  a  map  prepared  in  Paris  in  1703,  Rum  River  is 
called  the  river  of  the  M'dewakantonwans,  and  the 
Spirit  Lake  on  which  they  ci^/elt,  wa£,  without  doubt, 
Miile  Lac  of  modern  charts. 

The  second  great  division  if  the  Ihanktonwan,  com- 
monly called  Yankton.  They  appear  to  have  occupied 
the  region  west  of  the  M'dcAvakantonwan,  and  north  of 
the  Minnesota  river.  The  geographer  De  Lisle  places 
their  early  residence  in  the  vicinity  of  Traverse  des 
Sioux,  extending  northward. 

The  last  division,  the  Titonwan,  hunted  west  of  the 
Ihanktons,  and  all  the  early  maps  mark  their  villages 
at  Lac-qui-parle  and  Big  Stone  Lake.    '   "  '<•  v-Vi viij 

Hennepin,  in  August,  1679,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Falls  of  Niagara,  met  the  Senecas  returning  from  war 
with  the  Dahkotahs,  and  with  them  some  captive  Tin- 
tonwans  (Teetwawns). 

This  division  is  now  the  most  numerous,  and  comprises 
about  one-half  of  the  whole  nation.  They  have  wan- 
dered to  the  plains  beyond  the  Missouri,  and  are  the 
plundering  Arabs  of  America.  Whenever  ^hey  appear 
in  sight  of  the  emigrant  train,  journeying  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  the  hearts  of  the  company  are  filled  with  painful 
apprehensions. 

North  of  the  Dahkotahs,  on  Lake  of  the  Woods  and 
the  watercourses  connecting  it  with  Lake  Superior, 
were  the  Assiniboine.  These  were  once  a  portion  of  the 
nation.  Before  the  other  divisions  of  the  Dahkotahs 
had  traded  with  the  French,  they  had  borne  their  pel- 
tries to  the  English  post.  Fort  Nelson,  on  Hudson's  Bay, 
and  had  received  in  return  British  manufactures.     By 


DIFFERENT  DAHKOTAH  BANDS. 


58 


association  with  the  EngUsh,  they  learned  to  look  upon 
the  French  with  distrust,  and  in  time  to  be  hostile 
towards  those  who  had  formed  alliances  with  the 
French. 

Le  Sueur  writes,  in  relation  to  their  separation  from 
the  rest  of  the  nation,  in  these  wox-ds : — 

"  The  Assinipoils  speak  Scioux,  and  are  certainly  oJ' 
that  nation.  It  is  only  a  few  years  since  they  became 
enemies.  It  thus  originated :  The  Christianaux  having 
the  use  of  arms  before  the  Scioux,  through  the  English 
at  Hudson's  Bay,  they  constantly  warred  upon  the 
Asssinipoils,  who  were  their  nearest  neighbours.  The 
latter  being  weak  sued  for  peace,  and,  to  render  it  more 
lasting,  married  the  Christianaux  women.  The  other 
Scioux,  who  had  not  made  the  compact,  continued  to 
war,  and  seeing  some  Christianaux  with  the  Assinipoils, 
broke  their  heads."  After  this  there  was  alienation.  A 
letter,  however,  written  at  Fort  Bourbon,  on  Hudson's 
Bay,  about  1695,  remarks :  "  It  is  said  that  the  Assini- 
boins  are  a  nation  of  the  Sioux,  which  separated  from 
them  a  long  time  ago." 

The  Dahkotahs  call  these  alienated  tribes  Hohays, 
and  make  woman  the  cause  of  the  separation.  They 
are  said  to  have  belonged  to  the  Ihanktonwan  (Yankton) 
division  of  the  nation.  A  quarrel,  tradition  asserts, 
occurred  between  two  families  hunting  at  the  time  in 
the  vicinity  of  Lake  Traverse.  A  young  man  seduced 
the  wife  of  one  of  the  warriors.  The  injured  husband, 
in  attempting  to  rescue  his  wife,  was  killed  in  the  tent 
of  the  seducer.  His  father  and  some  relatives  wanted 
to  secure  the  corpse.  On  the  road,  they  were  met,  by 
some  of  the  friends  of  the  guilty  youth,  and  three  of 
their  number  were  killed.    The  father  then  turned  back 


l':.\l 


54 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


•i!ti»l!)  «:•(*' 


i::.l[ 


and  raised  a  party  of  sixty  warriors,  who  waged  war 
against  the  seducer  and  his  friends,  which  continued 
until  the  whole  band  were  involved,  and  ended  in  a 
revolt  upon  the  part  of  the  aggressor  and  his  friends,  who 
in  time  became  a  separate  people. 

In  the  valleys  of  the  Blue  Earth,  the  Des  Moines,  and 
the  eastern  tributaries  of  the  Missouri,  within  the  limits 
of  the  territory  of  Minnesota,  there  also  dwelt  in  ancient 
days  bands  of  the  loways,  Ottoes,  Cheyennes,  Aricarees, 
and  Omahaws,  who  sought  other  hunting-grounds  as 
the  Dahkotahs  advanced  westward. 

The  Dahkotahs,  like  all  ignorant  and  barbarous  peo- 
ple, have  but  little  reflection  beyond  that  necessary  to 
gratify  the  pleasure  of  revenge  and  of  the  appetite.     '"'■• 

It  would  be  strange  to  find  heroes  among  skulking 
savages,  or  maidens  like  "Minnehaha"  of  the  poet, 
among  those  whose  virtue  can  be  easily  purchased. 
While  there  are  exceptions,  the  general  characteristics 
of  the  Dahkotahs,  and  all  Indians,  are  indolence,  im- 
purity, and  indifference  to  the  future. 

The  religion  of  this  people  is  exceedingly  indistinct, 
and  with  reluctance  do  they  converse  on  the  subject. 
That  a  nation  so  low  in  the  scale  of  humanity  should 
have  preserved  the  idea  of  one  great  spirit,  the  father 
of  all  spirits,  the  supreme  and  most  perfect  of  beings, 
is  not  to  be  supposed.  To  attribute  to  them  more 
elevated  conceptions  than  those  of  the  cultivated  Athe- 
nians, is  perfect  absurdity.  The  Dahkotahs,  in  their 
religious  belief,  are  polytheists.  The  hunter,  ps  he 
passes  over  the  plains,  finds  a  granite  boulder :  he  stops 
and  prays  to  it,  for  it  is  "  Wawkawn" — mysterious  or 
supernatural.  At  another  time,  he  will  pray  to  his 
dog;  and  at  another  time,  to  the  sun,  moon,  or  stars. 


!^i 


DAHKOTAH  WORSHIP  AND  GODS. 


55 


"fi'V'vt 


In  every  leaf,  in  every  stone,  in  every  shrub,  there  is  a 
spirit.  It  may  be  said  of  them,  as  Cotton  Mather  said 
of  the  Massachusetts  Indians,  in  his  Life  of  Eliot :  "  Ah 
the  religion  they  have  amounts  to  thus  much:  they 
believe  that  there  are  many  gods,  who  made  cand  own 
the  several  nations  of  the  world.  They  believe  that 
every  remarkable  creature  has  a  peculiar  god  within  or 
about  it ;  there  is  with  them  a  oun  god  or  a  moon  god 
and  the  like ;  and  they  cannot  conceive  but  that  the  fire 
must  be  a  kind  of  god,  inasmuch  as  a  spark  of  it  will 
soon  produce  very  strange  effects.  They  believe  that 
when  any  good  or  ill  happens  to  them,  there  is  the 
favour  or  anger  of  a  god  expressed  in  it."       ;f'  Isa 

The  Dahkotahs  have  greater  and  minor  deities,  and 
they  are  supposed  to  multiply  as  men  and  animals,  and 
the  superior  to  have  power  to  extenninate  the  inferior. 

The  Jupiter  Maximus  of  the  Dahkotahs  is  styled 
Oanktayhee.  As  the  ancient  Hebrews  avoided  speak- 
ing the  name  of  Jehovah,  so  they  dislike  to  speak  the 
name  of  this  deity,  but  call  him  "  Taku-wakan,"  or 
"  That  which  is  supernatural."  This  mighty  god  mani- 
fests himself  as  a  large  ox.  His  eyes  are  as  large  as  the 
moon.  He  can  haul  in  his  horns  and  tail,  or  he  can 
lengthen  them,  as  he  pleases.  From  him  proceed  in- 
visible influences.     In   his  extremities  reside   mighty 

powers.       /■' ■'  •■f'-C    .».,    -i^->..;.-'    "v      -  '-.y''-^.,i  ■    y.'\;-  I 

He  is  said  to  have  created  the  earth.  Assembling  in 
grand  conclave  all  of  the  aquatic  tribes,  he  ordered  them 
to  bring  up  dirt  from  beneath  the  water,  and  proclaimed 
death  to  the  disobedient.  The  beaver  and  others  for- 
feited their  lives.  At  last  the  muskrat  went  beneath 
the  waters,  and,  after  a  long  time,  appeared  at  the  sur- 
face nearly  exhausted,  with   some   dirt.      From    this, 


n 


:'•!{     r 


?i;lr*-* 


....U:, 


56 


HISTORY  Ol-   MINNESOTA. 


Oanktayhee  fashioned  the  earth  into  a  large  circular 
plain. 

The  earth  being  finished,  he  took  a  deity,  one  of  his 
own  offspring,  and  grinding  him  to  powder,  sprinkled  it 
upon  the  earth,  and  this  produced  many  worms.  The 
worms  were  then  collected  and  scattered  again.  They 
matui'ed  into  infants ;  and  these  were  then  collected  and 
scattered  and  became  full-grown  Dahkotahs. 

The  bones  oi"  the  mastodon,  the  Dahkotahs  think,  are 
those  of  Oanktayhee,  and  they  preserve  them  with  the 
greatest  care  in  the  medicine  bag.  It  is  the  belief  of 
the  Dahkotahs  that  the  Rev.  R.  Hopkins,  who  was 
drowned  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  on  July  4th,  1851,  waa 
killed  by  Oanktayhee,  who  dwells  in  the  waters,  because 
he  had  preached  against  him. 

This  deity  is  supposed  to  have  a  dwelling-place 
beneath  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony.  A  few  years  ago, 
by  the  sudden  breaking  up  of  a  gorge  of  ice,  a  cabin 
near  Fort  Snelling.  containing  a  soldier,  was  swept  off 
by  the  flood.  The  Dahkotahs  supposed  that  this  great 
god  was  descending  the  river  at  the  time,  and,  being 
hungry,  devoured  the  man. 

Hay-o-kah  (fhe  anti-natural  (jod) . — There  are  four  per- 
sons in  this  godhead.  The  first  appears  like  a  tall  and 
slender  man  with  two  faces,  like  the  Janus  of  ancient 
mythology.  Apollo-like,  he  holds  a  bow  in  his  hand 
streaked  with  red  lightning,  also  a  rattle  of  deer  claws. 
The  second  is  a  little  old  man  with  a  cocked  hat  and 
enormous  ears,  holding  a  yellow  bow.  The  third,  a  man 
with  a  flute  suspended  from  his  neck.  H\\q  fourth  is 
invisible  and  mysterious,  and  is  the  gentle  zephyr  which 
bends  the  grass  and  causes  the  ripple  of  the  water. 

Hayokah  is  a  perfect  paradox.    He  calls  bitter  sweet, 


HAYOKAH,  AND  OTHER  DEITIES. 


57 


and  sweet  bitter ;  he  groans  when  he  is  fttll  of  joy ;  he 
laughs  Avhen  he  is  in  distress ;  he  calls  black,  white,  and 
white,  black ;  when  he  wishes  to  tell  the  truth  he  speaks 
a  lie,  and  when  he  desires  to  lie,  he  speaks  the  truth ;  in 
winter  he  goes  naked,  and  in  summer  he  wraps  up  in 
buftalo  robes.  The  little  hills  on  the  prairies  are  called 
Hay-o-kah-tee,  or  the  house  of  Hay-o-kah.  Those  whom 
he  inspires,  can  make  the  winds  blow  and  the  rain  fall, 
the  grass  to  grow  and  wither. 

There  is  said  to  exist  a  clan  who  especially  adore  this 
deity,  and  at  times  dance  in  his  honour.  At  dawn  of  day 
they  assemble  within  a  teepee,  in  the  centre  of  which  is 
a  fire,  over  which  are  suspended  kettles.  With  cone- 
shaped  hats  and  ear-rings,  both  made  of  bark,  and  loins 
girded  with  the  same  material,  they  look  like  incarnate 
demons.  On  their  hats  are  zigzag  streaks  of  paint — 
representations  of  lightning. 

The  company  remain  seated  and  smoking  around  the 
fire,  until  the  water  in  the  kettle  begins  to  boil,  which 
is  a  signal  for  the  commencement  of  the  dance.  The 
excitement  now  becomes  intense.  They  jump,  shout, 
and  sing  around  the  fire,  ai;d  at  last  plunge  their  hands 
into  the  cauldron,  seize  and  eat  the  boiled  meat.  Then 
they  throw  the  scalding  water,  on  each  others  backs, 
the  sufferers  never  wincing,  but  insisting  that  it  is  cold. 

Taku-shkan-shkan. — This  deity  is  supposed  to  be 
invisible,  yet  everywhere  present.  He  is  full  of  revenge, 
exceedingly  wrathful,  very  deceitful,  and  a  searcher  of 
hearts.  His  favourite  haunts  are  the  four  winds,  and 
the  granite  boulders  strewn  on  the  plains  of  Minnesota. 
He  is  never  so  happy  as  when  he  beholds  scalps,  warm 
and  reeking  with  blood,     jf.r  jst*  tt  wj, .» 

The  object  of  that  strange  ceremony  of  the  Dahko- 


\Mn 


58 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


iiji 


tabs,  in  whkh  the  performer  being  bound  hand  and  foot 
with  the  fjreatest  care,  is  suddenly  unbound  by  an  invi- 
sible agent,  is  to  obtain  an  interview  with  Taku-shkon- 
shkan. 

The  name  of  another  one  of  the  superior  divinities 
is  Wahkeenyan.  His  t65pe§  is  supposed  to  be  on  a 
mound  on  the  top  of  a  high  mountain,  in  the  far  West. 
The  teepee  or  tent  has  four  openings,  with  sentinels 
clothed  in  red  down.  A  butterfly  is  stationed  at  the 
east,  a  bear  at  the  west,  a  fawn  at  the  south,  and  a 
reindeer  at  the  north  entrance.  He  is  supposed  to  be 
a  gigantic  bird,  the  flapping  of  whose  wings  makes 
thunder.  He  has  a  bitter  enmity  against  Oanktayhee, 
and  attempts  to  kill  his  offspring.  The  high  water  a 
few  years  ago  was  supposed  to  be  caused  by  his  shooting 
through  the  earth,  and  allowing  the  water  to  flow  out. 
When  the  lightning  strikes  their  t6epees  or  the  ground^ 
they  think  that  Oanktayhee  was  near  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  that  Wahkeenyan,  in  great  rage,  fired  a  hot 
thunderbolt  at  him.  I'u--        w 

By  him  wild  rico,  is  said  to  have  been  created,  alsa 
the  spear,  and  tomahawk. 

A  bird  of  thunder  was  once  killed,  the  Indians  assert, 
near  Kaposia.  Its  face  resembled  the  human  counte- 
nance. Its  nose  was  hooked  like  the  bill  of  an  eagle. 
Its  wings  had  four  joints,  and  zigzag  like  the  lightning. 

About  thirty  miles  from  Big  Stone  Lake,  near  the 
head  waters  of  the  Minnesota,  there  are  several  small 
lakes  bordered  with  oak-trees.  This  is  the  supposed 
birth-place  of  the  Thunder  Bird,  and  is  called  the  Nest 
of  Thunder.  The  first  step  the  spirit  ever  took  in  this 
world  was  equal  to  that  of  the  hero,  in  the  child's  story, 
who  wore  seven-league  boots,  being  twenty-five  miles  in 
length.     A  rock  is  pointed  out  which  has  a  foot-like 


m 


WAHKEENYAN.— THUNDER  BIRD. 


A» 


impression,  which  they  say  is  his  track ;  and  the  hill  is 
called  Thunder  Tracks. 

A  son  of  Colonel  Snelling,  the  first  commander  of 
the  fort  of  that  name,  in  a  poem,  which  is  published  in 
Griswold's  collection  of  American  poetry,  alludes  to  the 
foregoing  incidents : —       ii,;  -i,!' .: 


■■>'j:w»Jt;; 


.,:;li 


itU 


H;  (!!'>'! 


■■il--Hr 


:jt  >(:C'v*tl!> 


"  The  moon  that  night  withheld  her  light,    i' " 
By  fits,  instead,  a  lurid  glare 
Illumed  the  skies ;  while  mortal  eyes         ' 

Were  closed,  and  .-oices  rose  in  prayer  -    . 
While  the  revolving  sun 
Three  times  his  course  might  run,       I 

The  dreadful  darkness  lasted ;  ' 

And  all  that  time  the  red  man's  eye    ■ 
A  sleeping  spirit  might  espy, 
Upon  a  tree-top  cradled  high,      i'     "''',  ■    !i 

Whose  trunk  his  breath  had  blasted. 
So  long  he  slept,  he  grew  so  fast. 

Beneath  his  weight  the  gnarled  oak 
Snapped,  as  the  tempest  snaps  the  mast:   >' 

It  fell,  and  Thunder  woke  I 
The  world  to  its  foundation  shook,      , 
The  grizzly  bear  his  prey  forsook,  ! 

The  scowling  heaven  an  aspect  bore  : 
That  man  had  never  seen  before ;        •       ■     , 
The  wolf  in  terror  fled  away, 
And  shone  at  last  the  light  of  day. 

"  'Twas  here  he  stood  ;  these  lakes  attest 
Where  first  Waw-kee-an's  footsteps  prese'd. 
About  his  burning  brow  a  cloud. 

Black  as  the  raven's  wing,  he  wore  ;      i  ? 
Thick  tempests  wrapt  him  like  a  shroud,    ^ 

Red  lightnings  in  his  hand  he  bore ; 
Like  two  bright  suns  his  eyeballs  shone,    '  •' 
His  voice  was  like  the  cannon's  tone ; 
And,  where  he  breathed,  the  land  became^ 
Prairie  and  wood,  one  sheet  of  dame. 


"Not  long  upon  this  mountain  height  •  . 
The  first  and  worst  of  storms  abode, 


i  -:■'     ■ 


60  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

«/;),>.  .-'i        For,  moving  in  his  fearful  might,  i- i    f,  j  t<'  '  ;  •,■: 

Abroad  the  OoD-begotten  strode.  j  ,     | 

Afar,  on  yonder  faint  blue  mound, 
'  '  In  the  horizon's  utmost  bound,  '    •''■     ,'  •'^-    • 

., .  ,  "     At  the  first  stride  his  fcH)t  be  set ;  '      '•,,,>     ,; 

.    '.  ,  The  iarrinc  world  confessed  the  shock,  , 

Stranger !  the  track  (if  Thunder  yet 
Remains  upon  the  living  rock.  ■  ',''.■■'    '• 

"  The  second  step,  he  gained  tiie  sand 
On  far  Superior's  storm-beat  strand : 
Then  with  his  shout  the  concave  rung, 
As  up  to  heaven  the  giant  sprung 

On  high,  beside  his  sire  to  dwell ; 
But  still,  of  all  the  spots  on  earth. 
He  loves  the  woods  that  gave  him  birth. — 

Such  is  the  talc  our  fathers  tell."  ; 

After  an  individual  has  dreamed  in  relation  to  the 
Bun,  there  are  sacred  ceremonies.  Two  persons  are  the 
participants,  who  assume  a  peculiar  attitude.  Almost 
naked,  holding  a  small  whistle  in  their  mouths,  they 
look  towards  the  sun,  and  dance  with  a  strange  and 
awkward  step.  One  of  their  interpreters  remarks, 
"  The  nearest  and  best  comparison  I  can  make  of  them 
when  worshipping,  is  a  frog  held  up  by  the  middle  with 
its  legs  half  drawn  up." 

During  the  continuance  of  the  ceremony,  which  may 
last  two  or  three  days,  the  parties  fast. 

When  a  Dahkotah  is  troubled  in  spirit,  and  desires  to 
be  delivered  from  real  or  imaginary  danger,  he  will  select 
a  stone  that  is  round  and  portable,  and,  placing  it  in  a 
spot  free  from  grass  and  underbrush,  he  will  streak  it 
with  red  paint,  and,  oftering  to  it  some  feathers,  he  will 
pray  to  it  for  help.  The  stone,  after  the  ceremony  is 
over,  does  not  appear  to  be  regarded  with  veneration. 
J£  visitors  request  them,  they  can  be  obtained. 


SACRED  MEN  INITIATED. 


M 


.f    !' 


■■''.':  'I     ■  '      "i 

'!■■■.'■'■••.   '      '  f     ,1.1  '  ;f:i'. 


.ii-; 


CHAPTER   II. 


I  . ) 


\     '     :i':1^;/ 


In  all  nations  where  the  masses  are  unenlightened, 
their  spiritual  nature  is  uncultivated,  and  they  believe 
whatever  a  class  of  men  pretending  to  have  authority 
from  the  spirit  world,  may  impose  upon  them.  All 
ignorant  communities  are  superstitious  and  easily  priest- 
ridden.  The  early  Britons  looked  upon  the  Druids,  as 
a  supernatural,  and  wonder-working  class,  and  they 
fed,  and  feared  them.  The  Wawkawn,  or  medicine 
men,  hold  the  same  relation  to  the  Dahkotahs  as  the 
Druids  to  the  ancient  Britons.  They  are  the  most 
powerful  and  influential  of  the  tribe.  They  are  looked 
upon  as  a  species  of  demi-gods.  They  assert  their 
origin  to  be  miraculous.  At  first  they  are  spiritual 
existences,  encased  in  a  seed  of  some  description  of  a 
winged  nature,  like  the  thistle.  Wafted  by  the  breeze 
to  the  dwelling-place  of  the  gods,  they  are  received  to 
intimate  communion.  After  being  instructed  in  rela- 
tion to  the  mysteries  of  the  spirit  world,  they  go  forth 
to  study  the  character  of  all  tribes.  After  deciding 
upon  a  residence,  they  enter  the  body  of  some  one 
about  to  become  a  mother,  and  are  ushered  by  her  into 
the  world.  A  great  majority  of  the  M'dewakantonwans 
are  medicine  men. 

When  an  individual  desires  to  belong  to  this  priest- 


i 


m 


In 

14''* 
i    ,  i  ■ 


mm 


i     ...  i 


■■■!    * 


nil  I 


62 


HISTORV  OF  MINNESOTA 


hood,  he  is  initiated  by  what  is  termed  a  "medicine 
dance."  This  dance  is  said  to  have  been  instituted 
by  Oanktayhee,  the  patron  of  medicine  men.  The 
editor  of  the  "Dahkotah  Friend,"  in  a  description  of 
this  dance,  remarks : — 

"  When  a  member  is  to  be  received  into  this  society, 
it  is  his  duty,  to  take  the  hot  bath  ur  days  in  succes- 
sion. In  the  mean  time,  some  oi  the  elders  of  tlie 
society  instruct  him  in  the  mysteries  of  the  medicine, 
and  Wahmnoo-Aah — shell  in  the  throat.  He  is  al-^o 
provided  with  a  dish  (wojute)  and  spoon.  On  the  side 
of  the  dish  is  sometimes  carved  the  head  of  some  vora- 
cious animal,  in  which  resides  the  spirit  of  Eeyah  (glut- 
ton god).  This  dish  is  always  carried  by  its  owner  to 
the  medicine  feast,  and  it  is  his  duty,  ordinarily,  to  eat 
all  which  is  served  up  in  it.  Gray  Iron  has  a  dish 
which  was  given  him  at  the  time  of  his  initiation,  on 
the  bottom  of  which  is  carved,  a  bear  complete.  The 
candidate  is  also  instructed  with  what  paints,  and  in 
what  manner,  he  shall  paint  himself,  which  must  always 
be  the  samo,  when  he  appears  in  tlie  dance.  There  is 
supernatural  virtue  in  this  paint,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  applied ;  and  those  who  ha\  (.'  not  been  fur- 
nished with  a  better,  by  the  regular  war  prophets,  wear 
it  into  battle,  as  a  Ufe-preserver.  The  bag  contains 
besides,  the  claws  of  animals,  with  the  toanwan  of 
which  they  can,  it  is  believed,  inflict  painful  diseases 
and  death  on  whomsoever,  and  whenever,  they  desire. 

"  The  candidate  being  thus  duly  prepared  for  initiar 
tion,  and  having  made  the  necessary  offerings  for  the 
benefit  of  the  institution,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  pre- 
vious to  the  dance  a  lodge  is  prepared,  and  from  ten  to 
twenty  of  the  more  substantial  members  pass  the  night 


MEDFCINE  DANCE  AND  SONUS. 


«8 


In  singing,  dancing,  and  feasting.  In  the  morning,  the 
tent  is  opened  for  the  dance.  After  a  few  aj)propriate 
.ceremonies  preliminary  to  the  grand  operation,  the  can- 
didate takes  his  place  on  a  pile  of  blankets  which  he 
has  contributed  for  the  occasion,  naked,  except  the 
breech-cloth  and  moccasins,  duly  painted  and  prepared 
for  the  mysterious  operation.  An  elder  having  been 
stationed  in  the  rear  of  the  novice,  the  master  of  the 
ceremonies,  with  his  knee  and  hip  joints  bent  to  an 
angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees,  advances,  with  an 
unsteady,  unnatural  step,  with  his  bag  in  his  hand, 
uttering,  "  Heeti,  keen,  heen,^'  with  great  energy,  and 
raising  the  bag  near  a  painted  spot  on  the  breast  of  the 
candidate,  gives  the  discharge,  the  person  stationed  in 
the  rear  gives  him  a  push  forward  at  the  same  instant^ 
and  as  he  falls  headlong  throws  the  blankets  over  him 
Then,  while  the  dancers  gather  around  him  and  chant, 
the  master  throws  off  the  covering,  and,  chewing  a  piece 
of  tlie  bone  of  the  Oanktay//ee,  spirts  it  over  him,  and 
he  revives,  and  resumes  a  sitting  post^ue.  All  then 
return  to  their  seats  except  the  maste?  he  approaches, 
and,  making  indescribable  noises,  pats  upon  the  breast 
of  the  novice,  till  the  latter,  in  agonizing  throes,  heaves 
up  the  Wahnnioo-/;ah  or  shell,  which  falls  from  his 
mouth  upon  the  bag  which  hinl  been  previously  spread 
before  him  for  that  purpose.  Life  l:)eing  now  completely 
restored,  and  with  the  mysterious  shell  in  his  open 
hand,  the  new-ma(i<'  member  passes  around  and  exhi- 
bits it  to  all  the  members  and  to  the  wondering  by- 
standers, and  the  ceremonies  of  initiation  are  closed. 
The  dance  continues,  interspersed  with  shooting  each 
other,  rests,  smoking,  and  taking  refreshments,  till  they 
■have  jumped  to  the  music  of  four  sets  of  singers.     Be- 


11' -''^ 


64 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


'f   t  * 


81  dew  vocal  music,  they  make  use  of  the  drum  and  the 
gour-'-shcU  rattle.  The  following  chants,  which  are 
used  in  the  dance,  will  best  exhibit  the  character  of 
rJliie    lysterious  institution  of  the  OauktayAee  : — 


if; 


•if 


1    ,;. 


i   M 


"  Waduta  ohna  micage. 
Waduta  ohna  micage. 
'    '  '  Miniyata  ite  wakan  de  inaqu,  '  >      .  ■ 

, ;  Tunkanixdan.  '    > '  i'      )     ' 

"He  created  it  for  me  enclosed  in  red  down.  ■  w     :      > 

He  created  it  for  me  enclosed  in  red  down. 
He  in  the  water  with  a  mysterious  visage  gave  me  tbii, 
My  grandfather. 

"Tunkanixdan  pejihuta  wakan  micage, 
Ho  wicako. 
Miniyata  oioago  wakan  kin  maqu  ye, 

Tunkanixdan  i>t«  kin  yuwinta  wo. 
Wahutopa  yuha  ite  yuwinto  wo. 

''        "  My  grandfather  created  for  me  mysterious  medicine,  '  ' 

•  i'  That  is  true. 

The  mysterious  being  in  tho  water  gave  it  to  me. 

Stretch  out  your  hand  before  the  face  of  my  grandfather, 

Having  a  quadruped,  stretch  out  your  hand  before  him." 

The  medicine  pouch  is  the  skin  of  an  otter,  fox,  or 
similar  animal,  containing  certain  articles  which  are 
held  sticred. 

;  A  warrior  leaving  his  village  to  hunt,  gave  his  pouch 
to  a  friend  of  the  writer,  who  had  dwelt  as  a  missionary 
among  the  Dahkotahs  for  a  score  of  years.  The  owner 
having  died,  he  retained  it,  and,  being  at  his  house  (me 
day,  it  was,  at  my  request,  opened.  The  contents  were 
some  dried  mud,  a  dead  beetle,  a  few  roots,  and  a  scrap 
of  an  old  letter,  which  had  probably  been  picked  up 
about  the  walls  of  Fort  Snelling. 

Where  the  science  of  medicine  is  not  understood,  the 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. -VAPOUR  BATH. 


65 


inhabitants  are  very  superstitious  concerning  the  sick. 
Those  who  are  prominent  in  their  devotion  to  the  sacred 
rites  of  a  heathen  tribe,  generally  act  as  physicians 
The  Druids  of  the  early  Britons  performed  the  duties 
of  doctors,  and  the  conjurers,  or  medicine  men,  as  they 
are  generally  termed,  are  called  to  attend  the  sick  Dah- 
kotahs.  This  tribe  of  Indians  are  well  acquainted  with 
the  bones  of  the  body ;  but  no  Dr.  Hunter  has  yet  risen 
among  them  to  explain  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and 
therefore  they  have  but  a  single  word  for  nerves,  arteries, 
and  veins.  When  a  young  man  is  sick,  he  is  generally 
well  watched;  but  old  persons,  and  those  that  have 
some  deformity,  are  often  neglected.  To  effect  a  cure, 
they  often  practise  what  is  called  steaming.  They 
erect  a  small  tent  covered  with  thick  buffalo  robes,  in 
which  they  place  some  hot  stones.  Stripping  the  sick 
person  of  his  blanket,  they  place  him  in  the  tent. 
Water  is  then  thrown  upon  the  hot  stones,  which  creates 
considerable  vapour.  After  the  patient  has  been  confined 
in  this  close  tent  for  some  time,  and  has  perspired  pro- 
fusely, they  occasionally  take  him  out  and  plunge  him 
into  the  waters  of  an  adjacent  river  or  lake. 

This  custom  is  very  ancient.  One  of  the  first  white 
men  who  appear  to  have  resided  amongst  them,  was  a 
Franciscan  priest,  named  Hennepin.  He  was  made 
their  prisoner  in  the  year  1680,  while  travelling  on  the 
Mississippi,  a1x>ve  the  Wisconsin  river.  The  Dahkotahs 
took  him  to  their  villages  on  the  shores  of  Rum  river, 
at  Mille  Lac,  where  he  was  quartered  in  a  chief's  lodge, 
whose  name  was  Aquipaguetin.  The  chief  observing 
that  Hennepin  was  mu'ch  fatigued,  ordered  an  oven  to 
be  made,  which,  to  use  the  words  of  the  Franciscan, 

"  he   ordered   me   to   enter,    stark   naked,   with   four 
6 


'.,f '  ft 

^  i,  P 


M 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


savages 


The  oven  was  covered  with  buflfalo  hides,  and 
in  it  they  placed  red-hot  flint  and  other  stones.  They 
ordered  me  to  hold  my  breath  as  long  as  I  could.  As 
soon  as  the  savages  that  were  with  me  let  go  their 
breath,  which  they  did  with  a  gi'eat  force,  Aquipaguetin 
began  to  sing.  The  others  seconded  him ;  and  laying 
their  hands  on  my  body  began  to  rub,  and  at  the  same 
time  cry  bitterly.  I  wa^  near  fainting,  and  forced  to 
leave  the  oven.  At  my  coming  out,  I  could  scarcely 
take  up  my  cloak.  However,  they  continued  to  make 
me  swea+  thrice  a  week,  which  at  last  restored  me  to 
my  former  vigour." 

When  a  Dahkotah  is  very  sick,  the  friends  call  in  a 
conjurer  or  medicine  man.  Before  we  proceed,  it  is 
proper  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  term  "  medicine 
man."  Anything  that  is  mysterious  or  wonderful,  the 
Dahkotahs  call  "  Wawkawn."  The  early  explorers  and 
traders  in  Minnesota  were  French,  and  they  always 
call  a  doctor  "medecin."  As  the  Indian  doctors  are 
all  dealers  in  mysteries,  the  word  "medicine"  has  at 
last  obtained  a  local  signification,  meaning  anything 
that  is  mysterious  or  unaccountable.  A  "medicine 
man"  means,  then,  a  doctor  who  calls  to  his  aid  charms 
and  incantations.  The  medicine  men  are  divided  into 
,var  prophets,  and  conjurers  or  doctors. 

A  Dahkotah,  when  he  is  sick,  believes  hhat  he  'i  pos- 
sessed by  the  spirit  of  some  animal,  or  insect,  or  enemy . 
The  medicine  men,  are  supposed  to  have  g)'eat  power  of 
suction  in  their  jaws,  by  which  they  can  draw  out  the 
spirit  that  afflicts  the  patient,  and  thus  restore  him  to 
health.  They  are  much  feared  by  all  the  tribe.  The 
doctor  is  called  to  see  a  sick  person  by  sending  some  one 
with  a  present  of  a  horse  or  blankecs,  oi-  something  aa 


MEDICAL  PRACTICE. 


valuable.  The  messenger  sometimes  -.rries  a  bell,  and 
rings  around  the  lodge  until  the  conjurer  makes  his 
appearance;  at  other  times  he  bears  to  the  doctor's 
lodge  a  lighted  pipe,  and  presenting  it  to  him,  places 
his  hands  on  his  head  and  moans. 

"  The  person  sent  to  call  on  the  doctor,  strips  himself 
for  running,  retaining  only  his  breech  cloth,  and  carry- 
ing a  bell.  He  enters  the  lodge,  and  without  further 
ceiemony,  st'-lkes  the  doctor  with  his  foot,  jingles  his 
bell,  and  sur  lenly  issuing  from  the  lodge,  runs  with  all 
his  might  for  the  sick  man's  lodge,  with  the  doctor  at 
his  heels.  If  the  latter  overtakes  and  kicks  him  before 
he  reaches  the  lodge,  he  does  not  proceed  any  further, 
but  returns  home.  Another  person  is  then  despatched, 
and  it  is  not  until  one  is  sent  who  is  too  swift  for  him, 
that  the  doctor's  services  can  be  secured." 

The  doctor  having  entered  the  te..  ,  without  touching 
the  patient,  begins  to  strip  himself,  leaving  nothing  upon 
his  body  but  the  breech  cloth,  and  moccasins.  Having 
obtained  a  sacred  rattle,  which  is  nothing  more  than  a 
dried  gourd,  filled  with  a  few  kernels  of  corn,  or  beads, 
he  begins  to  shake  and  sing  in  unearthly  monotones. 
He  now  gets  upon  his  knees,  and,  to  use  a  vulgarism, 
"  crawls  on  all  fours,"  up  to  his  patient.  After  a  few 
moments  we  see  him  rise  again  retching  violently,  and 
picking  up  a  bowl  of  water  thrusts  his  face  therein,  and 
begins  to  make  a  gurgling  noise.  Into  this  bowl  he 
professes*  to  expectorate  the  spirit  which  has  incited  the 
disease.  The  doctor  having  decided  what  animal  has 
possessed  his  patient,  he  has  an  image  of  the  animal  made 
out  of  bark,  and  placed  outside  near  the  tent  door  in  a 
vessel  of  water.  Mr.  Prescott,  United  States  Interpreter 
of  the  Dahkotahs,  in  a  communication  ^pon  this  subject 


* 


t      ii: 


68 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


says :  "  The  animal  made  of  bark  is  to  be  shot.  Two 
or  three  Indians  are  in  waiting,  standing  near  the  bowl, 
with  loaded  guns,  ready  to  shoot  when  the  conjurer 
gives  the  signal.  To  be  sure  that  the  conjuring  shall 
have  the  desired  effect,  a  woman  must  stand  astride  the 
bowl,  when  the  men  fire  into  it,  with  her  dress  raised 
as  high  as  the  knees.  The  men  are  instructed  how  to 
act  by  the  conjurer;  and  as  soon  as  he  makes  his  ap- 
pearance out  of  doors,  they  all  fire  into  the  bowl,  and 
blow  the  little  bark  animal  to  pieces.  The  woman 
steps  aside,  and  the  juggler  makes  a  jump  at  the  bowl 
on  his  hands  and  knees,  and  commences  blubbering  in 
the  water.  While  this  is  going  on,  the  woman  has  to 
jump  on  the  juggler's  back,  and  stand  there  a  moment; 
then  she  gets  off,  and  as  soon  as  ho  has  finished  his 
incantations,  the  woman  takes  him  by  the  hair  of  his 
head,  and  pulls  him  back  into  the  lodge.  If  there  are 
any  fragments  found  of  the  animal  that  has  been  •<hot, 
thev  are  buried.  If  this  does  not  cure,  a  similar  cere- 
mony  is  performed,  but  some  other  kind  of  animal  is 
shaped  out." 

Among  tlie  earliest  songs,  to  which  a  Dahkotah  child 
listens,  are  those  of  war.  As  soon  as  he  begins  to  totter 
about,  he  carries  as  a  plaything,  a  miniature  bow,  and 
artow.  The  first  thing  he  is  taught,  as  great  and  truly 
noble,  is  taking  a  scalp,  and  bo  pants  to  perform  an  act, 
which  is  so  manly.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  is  often 
on  the  war  path.  When  a  boy  is  of  the  proper  age  to 
go  to  war,  he  is  presented  with  weapons,  or  he  makes  a 
war  club.  He  then  consecrates  certain  parts  of  animals, 
which  he  vows,  not  to  eat.  After  he  has  killed  an  enemy, 
he  is  at  liberty,  to  eat  of  any  one  of  those  portions  of  an 
animal,  from  which  he  agreed  to  abstain.     If  he  kills 


4-1 


I 


CRUELTY  TO  FOES. 


69 


another  person,  the  jirohibition  is  taken  oflF  from  another 
part,  until  finally  he  has  emancipated  liimself  from  his 
oath,  by  his  bravery.  Before  young  men  go  out  on  a 
war  party,  they  endeavour  to  propitiate  the  patron  deity 
by  a  feast.  During  the  hours  of  night,  the;  celebrate 
the  "  armour  feast,"  which  is  distinguished  by '  rumming, 
singing,  and  agonizing  shrieks. 

The  war  prophets  or  priests,  by  the  narrating  of  pre- 
tended dreams,  or  by  inspiring  oratory,  incite  the  tribe 
against  an  enemy.  If  a  party  are  succefeibail  in  securing 
scalps,  they  paint  themselves  black,  and  return  home  in 
mad  triumph.  As  they  approach  their  village,  those 
who  are  there  run  forth  to  greet  them,  and  strip  them 
of  their  clothes,  and  supply  them  Avith  others.  The 
scalp  is  very  carefully  prepared  for  exhibition,  being 
painted  red,  and  stretched  upon  a  hoop,  which  is  fastened 
to  a  pole.  If  the  scalp  is  from  a  man,  it  is  decked  with 
an  eagle's  feather,  if  from  a  woman,  with  a  comb.  At 
a  scalp  dance,  which  we  once  attended  at  Kaposia,  the 
braves  stood  on  one  side  of  the  circle,  drumming  and 
rattling,  and  shouting  a  monotonous  song,  reminding 
one  of  a  song  of  chimney  sweeps  of  a  city.  The 
women,  standing  opposite  to  the  men,  advanced  and 
retreated  from  the  men,  squeaking  in  an  unearthly  man 
uer,  a  sort  of  chorus.  This  is  the  chief  dance,  in  which 
tlie  women,  engage.  If  a  scalp  is  taken  in  summer,  they 
dance  until  the  falling  of  the  leaves ;  if  in  winter,  until 
the  leaves  begin  to  appear.  When  the  scalp  is  freshly 
painted,  as  it  is  four  times,  it  is  a  great  occasion.  After 
their  mad  orgies,  have  ceased,  they  burn  or  bury  it.  An 
eagle's  feather,  with  a  red  spot,  in  the  head  of  some  of 
those  Indians  walking  through  our  settlements,  is  a  badge 
that  the  possessor  has  killed  a  foe.     If  the  feather  is 


■#• 


.f. 

n      1 


^, 

iiip 

■ 

;  '^' 

Pi! 

,l'-.'« 

I'"}] 

•ti 

il' 

Pi 

70 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


notched  a)  id  bordered  with  red,  or  clipped  and  topped 
with  red,  it  signifies  that  a  throat  has  been  cut.  The 
red  hand  on  a  blanket,  shows  that  the  man  has  been 
wounded  by  an  enemy ;  but  the  black  hand,  that  he  has 
killed  his  enemy.  The  Dahkotahs,  like  other  savages 
in  war,  show  no  sympathy  for  sex,  infancy,  or  old  age. 
At  Pokeguma,  the  Kaposia  band  scalped  two  httle  girls 
that  attended  the  mission  school ;  buried  a  tomahawk  in 
their  brains;  severed  the  hands  from  the  bodies;  and  then 
set  them  up  in  the  sand.  Mr,  Riggs  narrates  an  inci- 
dent of  some  of  the  upper  bands  of  Dahkotahs,  pursuing 
a  weak  Ojibway  mother.  To  save  her  life  she  swam  a 
stream.  Half  naked  she  reached  the  opposite  bank,  and 
dropped  down,  too  much  exhausted  to  attempt  to  pro- 
ceed. With  the  delight  of  demons  just  let  loose  from 
hell,  her  pursuers  came  over,  stabbed  and  scalped  her. 
Prematurely,  ushering  her  unborn  babe  into  existence, 
they  dashed  its  brains  out,  upon  the  ground.  Returning 
with  a  poor,  sick  mother's  scalp,  they  came  home  iis 
"  conquering  heroes  come,"  and  were  received  with  pride 
and  honour.  Such  is  savage  warfare,  and  the  savage  idea 
of  what  constitutes  true  glory.  But,  notwithstanding 
their  horrid  mode  of  warfare,  they  are  not  destitute  of 
affection  for  their  own  offspring  or  friends. 

The  Dahkotahs  assert  that  a  mothov  is  with  her  absent 
children  whenever  they  think  of  hor,  and  that  she  feels 
a  pain  in  her  l)reast  (or  heart)  whenever  anything  of 
moment  happens  to  them.  When  a  child  dies,  like 
Rachel,  they  refuse  to  be  comforted.  The  following 
paraphrase  of  the  lament  of  a  bereaved  Indian  mother, 
prepared  for  the  ''  Dakota  Friend,"  is  full  of  poetry  :  "  Me 
choonl'shee!  Me  ch(X)n1cshee !  (my  daughter,  my  daughter,) 
alaa !  alas !    My  hope,  my  comfort  has  departed,  my 


A  MOTHER'S  WAIL  OVER  HER  INFANT. 


71 


heart  is  very  sad.  My  joy  is  turned  into  sorrow,  and 
my  song  into  wailing.  Shall  I  never  behold  thy  sunny 
smile  ?  Shall  I  never  more  hear  the  music  of  thy  voice  ? 
The  Great  Spirit  has  entered  my  lodge  in  anger,  and 
taken  thee  from  me,  my  first  born  and  only  child.  I 
am  comfortless  and  must  wail  out  my  grief.  The  pale 
faces  repress  their  sorrow,  but  we  children  of  nature 
must  give  vent  to  ours  or  die.  Me  choonkshee !  me 
choonkshee ! 

"  The  light  of  my  eyes  is  extinguished ;  all,  all  is  dark. 
I  have  cast  from  me  all  comuyi'table  clothing,  and  robed 
myself  in  comfortless  skins,  for  no  clothing,  no  fire,  can 
wami  thee,  my  daughter.  Unwashed  and  uncombed,  I 
will  mourn  for  thee,  whose  long  lock .  ^  can  never  more 
braid ;  and  whose  cheeks  I  can  never  again  tinge  with 
Vermillion.  I  will  cut  off  my  dishevelled  hair,  for  my 
grief  is  great,  me  choonkshee  !  me  choonkshee  !  How 
can  I  survive  thee  ?  How  can  I  be  happy,  and  you  a 
homeless  wanderer  to  the  spirit  land  ?  How  can  I  eat 
if  you  are  hungry  ?  I  will  go  to  the  grave  with  food 
for  your  spirit.  Your  bowl  and  spoon  are  placed  in 
y.\v  cofFm  for  use  on  the  journey.  The  feast  fbr  your 
playmates  has  been  made  at  the  place  of  interment. 
Knowest  thou  of  their  presence?  Me  choonkshee!  me 
choonkshee ! 

'•  Wlien  sprmg  returns,  the  choicest  of  ducks  '«hall  be 
your  poition.  Sugar  and  berries  also  shall  be  placed 
nea**  your  grave.  Neither  grass  nor  flowers  shall  be 
allowed  to  grow  thereon.  Affection  for  thee  will  keep 
the  little  moimd  desolate,  like  the  heart  from  which 
thou  art  torn.  My  daughter,  I  come,  I  come.  I  bring 
you  pai died  corn.  Oh,  how  long  will  you  sleep  ?  The 
wintry  winds  wail  your  requiem.     The  cold  earth  is 


mf 


^'At 


'K 


i 


ii'i""tt! 


'|a| 


72 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


your  bed,  and  the  colder  snow  thy  covering.  I  would 
that  they  were  mine.  I  will  lie  down  by  thy  side.  I 
will  sleep  once  more  with  you.  If  no  one  discovers  me, 
I  shall  soon  be  as  cold  as  thou  art,  and  together  we  will 
sleep  that  long,  long  sleep  from  which  I  cannot  wake 
thee,  Me  choonkshee !  me  choonkshee !" 

A  Dahkotah  obtains  liis  wives  (for  they  are  polyga- 
mists)  not  by  courtship,  but  by  a  practice  as  old  as  the 
book  of  Genesis,  that  of  purchase.  A  young  man,  when 
he  wants  a  wife,  atuiounces  the  fact,  and  begs  his  friends 
to  give  him  an  outfit.  He  then  proceeds  to  the  parents 
an<l  makes  a  purchase.  The  ancestors  of  some  of  the 
first  families  of  Virginia,  purchased  their  wives  from  the 
Loudon  company,  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  or  fifty 
pounds  of  tobacco,  at  three  shillings  a  pound,  but  a 
Dahkotah  pays  a  higher  price  for  the  article,  and  takes 
more.  Usually  they  pay  a  horse,  or  four  or  five  guns, 
or  six  or  eight  blankets,  a  value  equal  to  thirty  or  forty 
dollars. 

The  chief  of  the  Kaposia  band  had  three  wives,  who 
were  sisters.  His  second  wife  he  purchased  of  her  father 
while  he  was  drunk,  and  she  but  ten  years  of  age.  It 
is  said  that  a  friend  throws  a  blanket  over  the  bride  and 
bears  her  to  the  lodge  of  the  purchaser.  Though  a  son- 
in-law  lives  near  the  parents  of  his  wife,  he  never  names 
or  talks  to  them,  and  never  looks  his  wife's  mother  in 
the  face.  He  thinks  it  is  respectful  to  act  in  this 
manner.  He  occupies  a  large  lodge,  Avhile  his  wife's 
parents  frequently  live  in  a  small  one,  in  the  rear, 
whom  he  supplies  with  game  until  he  has  a  family  of 
his  own.  Should  the  parents  accidentally  meet  him, 
they  hide  their  faces.     If  the  mother  starts  for  the 


THE  WOODPECKER  CHARM —DRESS. 


7a 


daughter's  lodge  and  perceives  her  husband  inside,  she 
does  not  enter. 

If  a  woman  proves  faithless  to  her  husband,  she  is 
frequently  shot  or  has  her  nose  cut  off.  This  latter 
practice  was  noticed  hy  Le  Sueur,  in  1700.  There  is 
much  system  in  relation  to  the  place  in  which  each 
should  sit  in  a  Dahkotah  lodge.  The  wife  always  occu- 
pies a  place  next  "to  the  entrance  on  the  right.  The 
seat  of  honour,  to  which  a  white  man  is  generally 
pointed,  is  directly  opposite  to  the  door  of  the  lodge. 

Like  the  rest  of  mankind,  they  are  by  no  means 
insensible  to  flattery.  \^'hen  one  thinks  that  he  cannot 
obtain  a  horse,  or  somi.^  other  article  that  he  wishes, 
by  a  simple  reqnej't,  he  will  take  a  number  of  wood- 
peckers' heads,  and  sing  over  them  in  the  presenile  of 
the  individual  he  hopes  to  influence,  recounting  the 
honourable  deeds  of  the  man  to  whom  he  gives  the 
birds'  heads.  This  process  acts  like  a  charm,  and  is 
ofton  successfuL 

A  Parisian  dandy  is  known  the  world  ov(>r,  but  he  is 
not  to  be  compared  with  a  Dahkotdi  fop.  An  Indian 
young  mau  passes  hours  in  attiring  himself.  Tliat  grat^n 
streak  ol  paint  upon  the  ( he^  k ;  those  yellow  circl<^«< 
around  the  eyes,  and  those  -.  «>t  upon  the  forehead, 
have  cost  him  much  trouble  and  frequent  gaziugs  into 
liis  mirror,  which  he  Jways  keeps  with  him.  That 
head-iress.  which  appears  •  '  MiX  >  ca-  lessl}.  is  all 
designed.     None  '  -im-    b(>*-  -        ^^'^     to    ttitudi- 

nize  and  play  th(     lou      aehioed 

clerk,  with  cui'ling  lociks,  and  kid  glo\ cs,  uml  cambric 
handkerchief,  and  patent4eather  boots,  and  glossy  hat, 
is  half  so  conscious  as  he  who  struts  past  us  with  his 
streaming  blanket  and  ornamented  and  uncovered  head, 


mm^: 


Mi 


i, 


'n^ 


■  I    ilcii  3.  ..  ^- 


fl 


74 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


holding  a  pipe  or  a  gun  in  the  place  of  a  cane,  and 
wearing  moccasins  in  the  place  of  boots  The  rain 
upon  his  nicely  decorated  head  and  face,  causes  as 
much  of  a  flutter  as  it  does  when  it  falls  upon  the  hat 
of  the  nice  young  man  who  smokes  his  cigar  and  pro- 
menades in  Broadway. 

When  the  Dahkotahs  are  not  busy  with  war,  or  the 
chase,  or  the  feasts  and  dances  of  their  religion,  time 
hangs  heavily,  and  they  either  sleep  or  resort  to  some 
game  to  keep  up  an  excitement.  One  of  their  games  is 
like  "  Hunt  the  Slipper ;"  a  bullet  or  plum-stone  is 
placed  by  one  party  in  one  of  four  moccasins  or  mittens, 
and  sought  for  by  the  opposite.  There  is  also  the  play 
of  "plum-stones."  At  this  game  much  is  often  lost 
and  won.  Eight  plum-stones  are  marked  with  certain 
devices.  This  game  is  played  by  young  men  and 
females.  If,  after  shaking  in  a  bowl,  stones  bearing 
certain  devices  turn  up,  the  game  is  won. 

The  favourite  and  most  exciting  game  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs is  ball  playing.  It  appears  to  be  nothing  more  than 
a  game  which  was  often  played  by  the  writer  in  school- 
boy days,  and  which  was  called  "  shinny."  A  smooth 
place  is  chosen  on  the  prairie  or  frozen  river  or  lake. 
Each  player  has  a  stick  three  or  four  feet  long  and 
crooked  at  the  lower  end,  with  deer  strings  tied  across 
fiwrming  a  sort  of  a  pocket.  The  ball  is  made  of  a 
rounded  knot  of  wood,  or  clay  covered  with  hide,  and 
is  supposed  to  possess  supernatural  qualities.  Stakes 
are  set  at  a  distance  of  a  quarter  or  half  mile,  as  bounds. 
Two  parties  are  then  formed,  and  the  ball  being  thrown 
up  in  the  centre,  the  contest  is  for  one  party  to  carry  the 
ball  from  the  other  beyond  one  of  the  bounds.  Two  or 
three  hundred  men  are  sometimes  engaged  at  once.    On 


FOOT  RACING.— DOa  AND  FISH  DANCB8. 


7& 


a  summer's  day,  to  see  them  rushing  to  aiid  fro,  painted 
in  divers  colors,  with  no  article  of  apparel,  with  feathers 
in  their  heads,  bells  around  their  wrists,  and  fox  and 
wolf  tails  dangling  behind,  is  a  wild  and  i  oisy  spectacle. 
The  eye-witnesses  among  the  Indians  become  more 
interested  in  the  success  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  par- 
ties than  any  crowd  at  a  horse  race,  and  frequently 
stake  their  last  piece  of  property  on  the  issue  of  the 
game. 

On  the  13th  of  July,  1852,  the  last  great  ball-play  in 
the  vicinity  of  Saint  Paul  took  place.  The  ground 
selected  was  Oak  Grove,  in  Hennepin  county,  and  the 
parties  were,  Shokpay's  band,  against  the  Good  Road, 
Sky  Man,  and  Gray  Iron  bands.  The  game  lasted 
several  days ;  about  tM'^o  hundred  and  fifty  were  parti- 
cipants, encompassed  by  a  cloud  of  witnesses.  About 
two  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  property  was  won  by 
Shokpay's  band  the  first  day.  The  second  day  they 
were  the  losers.  On  the  third  day  Shokpay  lost  the 
first  game,  and  the  stake  was  renewed.  Shokpay  lost 
again;  but  while  a  new  stake  was  being  made  up,  a 
dispute  arose  between  the  parties  concerning  some  of 
the  property  which  had  been  won  from  Shokpay's  band, 
but  which  they  kept  back.  They  broke  up  in  a  row, 
as  they  usually  do.  Gray  Iron's  band  leaving  the 
ground  first,  ostensibly  for  the  reason  above  na  led,  but 
really  because  Shokpay's  band  had  just  been  r  Enforced 
by  the  arrival  of  a  company  from  Little  Crow's  band. 
During  the  play  four  or  five  thousand  dollars'  WDrth  of 
goods  changed  hands. 

Like  the  ancient  Greeks,  they  also  practise  foot  racing. 
Before  proceeding  to  other  topics,  it  is  well  to  give  a 
brief  account  of  the  dog  dance  and  the  fish  dance.    The 


..  l.-i- 


76 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


it 


m 

i  -  - 

in 


'i 


J I 


si 


first  is  seldom  performed,  and  is  said  to  be  peculiar  to 
this  nation.  A  dog  being  thrown  into  the  midst  of  the 
crowd  of  dancers,  is  speedily  ''  tomahawiced"  by  one  of 
the  sacred  men.  The  liver  is  then  extracted  and  cut 
into  slices,  after  which  it  is  hung  upon  a  pole.  Now 
the  dancers  hop  around,  their  mouths  apparently  water- 
ing with  the  desire  for  a  bite.  After  a  time  some  one 
dances  up  to  the  pole  and  takes  a  mouthful  of  the  raw 
liver.  He  is  then  succeeded  by  others,  until  the  whole 
is  devoured.  If  another  dog  is  thrown  into  the  circle, 
the  same  process  is  repeated. 

"  Not  long  since  a  Dahkotah  chief  was  sick,  and  tlie 
gods  signified  to  him  that  if  he  would  make  a  raw 
fish  feast,  he  would  live  till  young  cranes'  wings  are 
grown.  So  he  must  make  the  feast  or  die.  Fifteen  or 
twenty  others,  who,  like  himself,  were  inspired  by  the 
cormorant,  joined  with  him  in  the  ceremonies  of  the 
feast,  of  which  the  chief  was  master. 

"  After  one  or  two  days  spent  in  '  vapour  baths'  and 
'  armour  feasts,'  a  tent  is  prepared,  opening  towards  the 
east.  The  railing  extending  from  the  tent  is  composed  of 
bushes.  Within  the  enclosure  each  of  those  who  are  to 
participate  in  the  feast  has  a  bush  set,  in  which  is  his 
nest.  Early  in  the  morning,  on  the  day  of  the  feast, 
the  master  informs  two  others  where  the  fish  are  to  be 
taken,  and  sends  them  forth  to  spear  and  bring  them 
in,  designating  the  kind  and  number  to  be  taken.  On 
this  occasion  two  pike,  each  about  one  foot  in  length, 
were  taken,  and  after  having  been  painted  with  Vermil- 
lion and  ornamented  with  red  down  about  the  mouth 
and  along  the  back,  were  laid  on  some  branches  in  the 
enclosure,  entire,  as  they  were  taken  from  the  water. 
Near  the  fish  were  placed  birch-bark  dishes  filled  with 


«4i 


■If  1 


*':.-l 


CORMORANT  DANCE.  77 

sweetened  water.  Their  implements  of  war  were  sol- 
emnly exhibited  in  the  tent,  and  the  dancers,  who  were 
naked,  except  the  belt,  breech-doth,  and  moecisius".  uid 
fantastically  painted  and  adorned  with  down,  n-d  and 
white,  being  in  readiness,  the  singers,  of  whom  there  are 
four  ranks,  commenced  to  sing,  each  rank  in  its  turn. 
The  singing  was  accompanied  with  the  drum  and  rattle. 

"  The  cormorant  dancers  danced  to  the  niusic,  having 
a  little  season  of  rest  as  each  rank  of  singers  ended 
their  ch  'it,  until  the  fourth  rank  struck  the  drum  and 
made  the  v'.  olkin  ring  with  their  wild  notes ;  then,  like 
starving  beasts,  they  tore  off  pieces  of  the  fish,  scales, 
bone.M,  entrails,  and  all,  with  their  teeth,  and  swallowed 
it,  at  the  same  time  drink  s  their  sweetened  water, 
till  both  t!i*-  pike  were  consui,  d,  excej)  the  heads  and 
fins  and  huse  bones,  the  latter  of  which  were  deposited 
in  the  nests.  Thus  the  feast  ended,  iidd  tl  »;  chief  will 
of  course  live  till  the  young  cranes  can  ^y.  At  the 
close  of  the  ceremony,  whnt^'ver  of  clothing  is  worn  on 
the  occasion  is  oflered  in  sacrifice  to  the  g.ods." 

Sufficient  has  been  said  to  show  th.tt  the  Dahkotahs 
are  Odd  Fellows;  but  not  the  half  has  IxM^n  told. 
Among  the  Ojibways  there  are  totems,  or  family  sym- 
bols, of  the  name  '^f  some  ancestor,  which  is  honoured 
as  much  as  the  ■',  i;  of  arras  among  the  nobility  of  Eu- 
rope. If  a  mtn  dies,  his  totem  is  marked  upon  his 
grave  post  witfc  as  much  formality  as  the  heraldic 
design  of  an  English  nobleman.  It  Avas  this  custom 
among  th'^  Algonquin  Indians,  that  lei  the  unscrupu- 
lous La  liontan  to  publish  engravings  of  the  fabulous 
coats  of  arms  of  the  various  savage  nations  of  the  north- 
west.    That  of  the   "  Outchipoues"   (Ojibways)  is 


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78 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


\^m 


owl.  That  of  the  Sioux,  or  Dahkotahs,  is  a  squirrel 
perched  upon  a  citron  or  pumpkin,  and  gnawing  its 
rind.  While  the  Dahkotahs  do  not  appear  to  have 
totems  or  family  designs,  like  the  Ojibways,  yet,  from 
time  immemorial,  secret  clans,  with  secret  signs,  have 
existed  among  them.  It  is  impossible  to  force  any 
member  of  these  clans  to  divulge  any  of  their  proceed- 
ings. Culbertson,  who  visited  the  Dahkotahs  of  the 
Missouri,  at  the  request  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
was  struck  with  this  peculiarity.  His  remarks,  for  the 
entire  accuracy  of  which  we  do  not  vouch,  are  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  The  Sioux  nation  has  no  general  council,  but  each 
tribe  and  band  determines  its  own  affairs.  These  bands 
have  some  ties  of  interest  analogous  to  the  ties  of  our 
secret  societies.  The  *  Crow-Feather-in-Cap'  band  are 
pledged  to  protect  each  others'  wives,  and  to  refrain 
from  violating  them.  If  the  wife  of  one  of  their  num- 
ber is  stolen  by  another  of  their  number,  she  is  returned, 
the  band  either  paying  the  thief  for  returning  the  stolen 
property,  or  forcing  him  to  do  it,  whether  he  will  or 
jjQt;.  *****  The  'Strong-Heart'  band  is 
pledged  to  protect  each  other  in  their  horses.  Should 
a  '  Strong-Heart'  from  a  distance  steal  some  horses,  and 
they  be  claimed  by  a  brother  '  Strong-Heart,'  his  fellows 
would  tell  him  that  he  must  give  them  up,  or  they 
would  give  the  robbed  mau  some  of  their  own  horses, 
regarding  it  as  the  greatest  disgrace  to  themselves  to 
allow  him  to  go  away  on  foot.  And  thus  I  suppose 
that  all  these  bands  have  some  common  object  that 
unites  them  together,  and  here  we  have  the  origin  of 
this  system  of  banding.  In  the  absence  of  law,  it 
takes  the  place  of  our  system  of  justice." 


WANT  OF  CLEANLINE88. 


70 


The  heathen,  in  their  manner  of  life,  are  essentially 
the  same  all  over  the  world.  They  are  all  given  up  to 
uncleanness.  As  you  walk  through  a  small  village,  in 
a  Christian  land,  you  notice  many  appearances  of  thrift 
and  neatness.  The  day-labourer  has  his  lot  fenced,  and 
his  rude  cabin  white-washed.  The  widow,  dependent 
upon  her  own  exertions,  and  alone  in  the  world,  finds 
pleasure  in  training  the  honeysuckle  or  the  morning- 
glory  to  peep  in  at  her  windows.  The  poor  seamstreas, 
though  obliged  to  lodge  in  some  upper  room,  has  a  few 
flower-pots  upon  her  window-sill,  and  perhaps  a  canary 
bird  hung  in  a  cage  outside.  But  in  an  Indian  village 
all  is  filth  and  litter.  There  are  no  fences  around  their 
bark  huts.  White-washing  is  a  lost  art  if  it  was  ever 
known.  Worn-out  moccasins,  tattered  blankets,  old 
breech-cloths,  and  pieces  of  leggins  are  strewn  in  con- 
fusion all  over  the  grpund.  Water,  except  in  very  warm 
weather,  seldom  touches  their  bodies,  and  the  pores  of 
their  skins  b'^^ome  filled  with  grease  and  the  paint  with 
which  they  daub  themselves.  Neither  Monday^  ^r  any 
other  day,  is  known  as  washing-day.  Their  cooking 
utensils  are  incrusted  with  dirt,  and  used  for  a  variety  of 
purposes.  A  few  years  ago,  a  band  of  Indians,  with  their 
dogs,  ponies,  women,  and  children,  came  on  board  of  a 
steamboat  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  on  which  the 
writer  was  travelling.  Their  evening  meal,  consisting 
of  beans  and  wild  meat,  was  prepared  on  the  lower 
deck,  beneath  the  windows  of  the  ladies'  cabin.  After 
they  had  used  their  fingers  in  the  place  of  forks,  and 
consumed  the  food  which  they  had  cooked  in  a  dirty 
iron  pan,  one  of  the  mothers,  removing  the  blanket 
from  one  of  her  children,  stood  it  up  in  the  same  pan, 
and  then,  dipping  some  water  out  of  the  river,  began  to 


80 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


p|.  1^; 


wash  it  from  head  to  foot.  The  rest  of  the  band  looked 
on  with  Indian  composure,  and  seemed  to  think  that 
an  iron  stew-pan  was  just  as  good  for  washing  babes  as 
for  cooking  beans.  Where  there  is  so  much  dirt,  of 
course  vermin  must  abound.  They  are  not  much  dis- 
tressed by  the  presence  of  those  insects  which  are  so 
nauseating  to  the  civilized  man.  Being  without  shame, 
a  common  sight,  of  a  summer's  eve,  is  a  woman  or  child 
with  her  head  in  another's  lap,  who  is  kindly  killing 
the  fleas  and  other  vermin  that  are  burrowing  in  the 
long,  matted,  and  uncombed  hair. 

The  Dahkotahs  have  no  regular  time  for  eating. 
Dependent,  as  they  are,  upon,  hunting  and  fishing  for 
subsistence,  they  vacillate  from  the  proximity  of  star- 
vation to  gluttony.  It  is  considered  uncourteous  to 
refuse  an  invitation  to  a  feast,  and  a  single  man  will 
sometimes  attend  six  or  seven  in  a  day,  and  eat  intera- 
perately.  Before  they  came  in  contact  with  the  whites, 
they  subsisted  upon  venison,  bufialo,  and  dog  meat. 
The  latter  animal  has  always  been  considered  a  deli- 
cacy by  these  epicures.  In  illustration  of  these  remarks, 
I  transcribe  an  extract  from  a  journal  of  a  missionary, 
who  visited  Lake  Traverse  in  April,  1839  : — 

"  Last  evening,  at  dark,  our  Indians  chiefly  returned, 
having  eaten  to  the  full  of  buffalo  and  dog  meat.  I  asked 
one  how  many  times  they  were  feast-ed.  He  said, '  Six, 
and  if  it  had  not  become  dark  so  soon,  we  should  have 
been  called  three  or  four  times  more.'  *  *  *  This 
morning,  'Burning-Earth'  (chief  of  the  Sissetonwan 
Dahkotahs),  came  again  to  our  encampment,  and  re- 
moving we  accompanied  him  to  his  village  at  the  south- 
western end  of  the  lake.  *  *  *  jjj  ^j^g  afternoon, 
I  visited  the  chief;  found  him  just  r.bout  to  leave  for 


IRREGULAR  MODE  OF  LIFE. 


81 


a  dog  feast  to  which  he  had  been  called.  When  he  had 
received  some  pa{)ers  of  medicine  I  had  for  him,  he  left, 
saying,  'The  Sioux  love  dog  meat  as  well  as  white 
people  do  pork.' " 

In  this  connection,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  Dah- 
kotahs  have  no  regular  hours  of  retiring.  Enter  a  New 
England  village  after  nine  o'clock,  and  all  is  still.  Walk 
through  Philadelphia  after  the  State  House  clock  has 
struck  eleven,  and  everybody  and  thing,  hacks,  hack- 
men,  and  those  on  foot,  appear  to  be  hastening  to  rest; 
the  lamp  in  the  store,  the  entry  and  parlour,  is  extin- 
guished, and  lights  begin  to  flicker  in  the  chambers  and 
in  the  garrets,  and  soon  all  are  quiet,  except  rogues  and 
disorderly  persons,  and  those  who  watch ;  and  you  can 
hear  the  clock  tick  in  the  entry,  and  the  watchman's 
slow  step  as  he  walks  up  and  down  the  street.  But 
there  is  nothing  like  this  in  an  Indian  village.  They 
sleep  whenever  inclination  prompts ;  some  by  day  and 
some  by  night. 

If  you  were  to  enter  a  Dahkotah  village,  at  midnight, 
you  might,  perhaps,  see  some  few  huddled  round  the 
fire  of  a  teep65,  listening  to  the  tale  of  an  old  warrior, 
who  has  often  engaged  in  bloody  conflict  with  their 
ancient  and  present  enemies,  the  Ojibways;  or  you 
might  hear  the  unearthly  chanting  of  some  medicine 
man,  endeavouring  to  exorcise  some  spirit  from  a  sick 
man ',  or  see  some  lounging  about,  whiffing  out  of  their 
sacred  red  stone  pipes,  the  smoke  of  kinnikinnick,  a 
species  of  willow  bark;  or  some  of  the  young  men 
sneaking  around  a  lodge,  and  waiting  for  the  lodge-fire 
to  cease  to  flicker  before  they  perpetrate  some  deed  of 
sin ;  or  you  might  hear  a  low,  wild  drumming,  and  then 
a  group  of  men,  all  naked,  with  the  exception  of  a 

6 


82 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


girdle  round  the  loins,'  daubed  with  vermillion  and 
other  paints,  all  excited,  and  engaged  in  some  of  their 
grotesque  dances ;  or  a  portion  may  be  firing  their  guns 
into  the  air,  being  alarmed  by  some  imaginary  evil,  and 
supposing  that  an  enemy  is  lurking  around. 


fi'i*. 


.'>,•» ff!'  i::>: 


CHAPTER  III. 


m 


Dahkotah  females  deserve  the  sympathy  of  every 
tender  heart.  From  early  childhood  they  lead  "  worse 
than  a  dog's  life."  Like  the  Gibeonites  of  old,  they  are 
the  hewers  of  wood,  and  the  drawers  of  water  for  the 
camp.  On  a  winter's  day,  a  Dahkotah  mother  is  often 
obliged  to  travel  five  or  eight  or  ten  miles  with  the 
lodge,  camp-kettle,  axe,  child,  and  small  dogs  upon  her 
back.  Arriving  late  in  the  afternoon  at  the  appointed 
camping-ground,  she  clears  off"  the  snow  from  the  spot 
upon  which  she  is  to  erect  the  t?§p5S.  She  then,  from 
the  nearest  marsh  or  grove,  cuts  down  some  poles  about 
ten  feet  in  length.  With  these  she  forms  a  frame  work 
for  the  tent.  Unstrapping  her  pack,  she  unfolds  the 
tent-cover,  which  is  seven  or  eight  buffalo  skins  stitched 
together,  and  brings  the  bottom  part  to  the  base  of  the 
frame.  She  now  obtains  a  long  pole,  and  fastening  it 
to  the  skin  covering,  she  raises  it.  The  ends  are  drawn 
around  the  frame  until  they  meet,  and  the  edges  of  the 
covering  are  secured  by  wooden  skewers  or  tent  pins. 
The  poles  are  then  spread  out  on  the  ground,  so  as  to 
make  as  large  u  circle  inside  as  she  desires.     Then  she, 


THE  HARDSHIPS  OF  DAHKOTAH  FEMALES. 


88 


or  her  children,  proceed  to  draw  the  skins  down  so  as  to 
make  them  fit  tightly.  An  opening  is  left  where  the 
poles  rnoet  at  the  top,  to  allow  the  smoke  to  escape. 
The  fire  is  built  upon  the  ground  in  the  centre  of  the 
lodge.  Bu£falo  skins  are  placed  around,  and  from  seven 
to  fifteen  lodge  there  through  a  winter's  night,  with  far 
more  comfort  than  a  child  of  luxury  upon  a  bed  of 
down.  Water  is  to  be  drawn  and  wood  cut  for  the 
night.  The  camp-kettle  is  suspended,  and  preparations 
made  for  the  evening  meal.  If  her  lord  and  master  has 
not  by  this  time  arrived  from  the  day's  hunt,  she  is 
busied  in  mending  up  moccasins.  Such  is  a  scene  which 
has  been  enacted  by  hundreds  of  females  this  very  winter 
in  Minnesota.  How  few  of  the  gentle  sex  properly  ap- 
preciate the  everlasting  obligations  they  are  under  to 
the  Son  of  Mary,  after  the  flesh,  who  was  the  first  that 
tiiught  the  true  sphere  and  the  true  mission  of  woman  ! 
The  Dahkotah  w'ife  is  subject  to  all  of  the  whims  of 
her  husband,  and  woe  unto  her  when  he  is  in  bad 
humour !  As  a  consequence,  the  females  of  this  nation 
are  not  possessed  of  very  happy  faces,  and  frequently 
resort  to  suicide  to  put  an  end  to  earthly  troubles 
Uncultivated,  and  made  to  do  the  labour  of  beasts,  when 
they  are  desperate,  they  act  more  like  infuriated  brutes 
•than  creatures  of  reason.  Some  years  ago  a  lodge  wap 
pitched  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix.  The  wife,  fear- 
ing her  husband  would  demand  the  whiskey  keg,  when 
he  came  from  hunting,  hid  it.  Upon  his  return,  she 
refused  to  tell  him  where  it  was,  and  he  flogged  her. 
,  In  her  rage,  she  went  oflf  and  hung  herself.  At  Oak 
Grove,  a  little  girl,  the  pet  of  her  grandmother,  was 
whipped  by  her  father.  The  old  woman,  sympathizing 
with  the  child,  flew  into  a  passion  and  went  off.     At 


84 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


■ktr 


^  n 


:!.135iH 


last,  the  screaming  of  the  grandchild  was  heard,  for  she 
had  discovered  her  "  grandma' "  hanging  by  a  portage 
collar  from  a  burial  scaffold.  An  assistant  female 
teacher  in  the  mission  school,  being  attracted  by  the 
noise,  went  and  cut  the  "  old  granny"  down  before  life 
had  fled.  On  another  occasion,  at  the  same  place,  a 
son-in-law  refused  to  give  his  mother  some  whiskey,  and 
in  a  rage  she  went  on  to  the  burial  scaffold,  tied  the 
portage  strap  around  her  neck,  and  was  about  to  jump 
off,  when  Mr.  Pond  came  up  to  her  and  cut  th'^  strap. 
Still  she  did  not  relinquish  her  intention  of  suicide.  At 
last,  he  climbed  on  to  the  scaffold  and  told  her  he  would 
stay  there  as  long  as  she.  Other  females  from  the 
village  then  came  out,  and  succeeded  in  persuading  her 
to  live  a  little  while  longer.  In  this  connexion,  an 
incident  may  be  told,  which,  for  romantic  interest,  can- 
not be  surpassed.  The  girl,  since  the  occurrence,  which 
we  substantially  narrate  as  we  find  it  in  the  "  Pioneer," 
without  being  responsible  for  every  particular,  be- 
came a  pupil  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hancock's  mission  school 
at  Remnica  or  Red  Wing  Village. 

In  the  spring  of  1850,  a  young  girl,  fourteen  years  of 
age,  shot  another  girl  with  whom  she  was  quarrelling. 
The  deceased  ^^as  a  daughter  of  a  sullen  man  by  the 
name  of  Black  Whistle.  The  aflfrighted  girl,  after  she 
fired  the  gun,  fled  to  the  trader's  house,  and  was  by  him 
aided  to  make  her  escape  down  to  Wapashaw's  village. 
While  stopping  at  Red  Wing's  village,  some  hundred 
miles  from  the  place  where  the  deed  was  committed,  the 
incensed  father  overtook  her.  His  first  plan  was  to 
carry  her  home  and  sacrifice  her  at  his  daughter's  burial 
scaffold;  but,  through  the  influence  of  some  of  the 
whites,  he  changed  his  plan,  and  resolved  to  make  her 


THE  DISaUISED  QIRL.— WANT  OF  LAW. 


16 


his  slave  or  his  wife.  For  some  time  she  endured  what 
to  her  was  a  living  death,  but  on  one  night  she  suddenly 
disappeared.  Not  many  days  after,  there  appeared  at 
Good  Road's  village,  a  young  Indian  boy,  stating  that 
he  was  a  Sisseton,  and  had  just  arrived  from  the  plains 
He  was  well  received,  no  one  dreaming  that  he  was  the 
Indian  maid.  While  in  this  disguise,  she  went  out  one 
day  to  spear  fish,  when  her  husband  and  enemy,  the 
revengeful  father  of  the  girl  she  had  shot,  met  her,  and 
inquired  for  her,  and  avowed  his  intention  to  kill  her. 
She  very  coolly  assented  to  the  justice  of  what  he  said, 
and  left.  At  last,  her  real  sex  being  suspected,  she 
came  down  to  Little  Crow  or  Kaposia  village.  Here 
she  passed  herself  oflf  as  a  Winnebago  orphan,  which 
disguise  succeeded  for  a  time.  But  soon  she  was  sus- 
pected, and  was  again  obliged  to  seek  safety  in  flight, 
and  at  last  took  up  her  residence  at  Red  Wing's  village, 
though  for  a  long  time  no  one  knew  what  had  become 
of  her.  ''-'  ■, 'H!'  '• 

It  is  an  erroneous  idea  that  chiefs  have  any  authority. 
Popularity  is  the  source  of  power,  and  they  resort  to 
measures  which  vie  with  those  of  the  modem  dema- 
gogue, to  gain  the  ear  of  the  people.  They  never 
express  an  opinion  on  any  important  point,  until  they 
have  canvassed  the  band  over  which  they  preside,  and 
their  opinions  are  always  those  of  the  majority. 

The  Dahkotahs  suffer  much  for  want  of  law.  The 
mdividual  who  desires  to  improve  his  condition  is  not 
only  laughed  at,  but  maltreated.  Moreover,  if  he  ao 
quires  any  property,  there  is  no  law  which  secures  it  to 
him,  and  it  is  liable  to  be  taken  a\v&y  at  any  time  by 
any  ill-disposed  person.  Until  this  state  of  things  is 
altered  by  the  interposition  of  the  United  States  govern 


«6 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


<=*M 


I 'I' 


ment,  or  the  interposition  of  Providence  in  some  unfore- 
seen way,  there  is  little  hope  of  elevating  this  tribe. 
Their  missionary  will  be  forced  to  look  upon  this  degra- 
dation, and  say,  in  view  thereof,  "  My  whole  head  is 
sick,  my  whole  heart  faint." 

The  superstitions  and  peculiarities  of  the  Dahkotahs 
are  so  various  that  we  can  but  barely  glance  'at  them. 
They  count  years  by  winters,  and  compute  distances  by 
the  number  of  nights  passed  upon  a  journey;  their 
months  are  computed  by  moons,  and  are  as  follows : — 

1.  Wi-TERi,  January ;  the  hard  moon. 

2.  WiCATA-wi,  February ;  the  raccoon  moon. 

3.  IsTAWicAYAZAN-wi,  March;  the  sore-eye  moon. 

4.  Magaokadi-wi,  April;  the  moon  in  which  the 
geese  lay  eggs :  also  called  Wokadorwi ;  and,  sometimes, 
Watopapi-wi,  the  moon  when  the  streams  are  again 
navigable. 

6.  WoJUPi-wi,  May;  the  planting  moon. 

6.  Wajustecasa-wi,  June;  the  moon  when  the  straw- 
berries are  red. 

7.  Canpasapa-wi,  and  Wasunpa-wi,  July ;  the  moon 
when  the  choke-cherries  are  ripe,  and  when  the  geese 
shed  their  feathers. 

8.  Wasuton-wi,  August;  the  harvest  moon. 

9.  PsiNHNAKETU-wi,  September;  the  moon  when  rice 
is  laid  up  to  dry. 

10.  Wi-WAJUPi,  October;  the  drying  rice  moon;  some- 
times written  Wazupi-wi. 

11.  Takiyura-wi,  November;  the  deer-rutting  moon. 

12.  Tahecapsun-wi,  December';  the  moon  when  the 
deer  shed  their  horns. 

They  believe  that  the  moon  is  made  of  something  as 
good  as  green-cheese.    The  popular  not'on  is  that  when 


RELIGIOUS  RITES  AND  SUPERSTITIONS. 


87 


the  moon  is  full,  a  great  number  of  very  small  mic 
commence  nibbling  until  they  have  eaten  it  up.   A  ne\r 
moon  then  begins  to  grow  until  it  is  full,  then  it  is 
devoured. 

Though  almost  every  Dahkotah  young  man  has  his 
pocket  mirror,  a  maid  does  not  look  at  a  looking-glass, 
for  it  is  "  wakan"  or  sacred.  Almost  everything  that 
the  man  owns  is  wakan  or  sacred,  but  nothing  that  the 
woman  possesses  is  so  esteemed.  If  one  has  a  toothache, 
it  is  supposed  to  be  caused  by  a  woodpecker  concealed 
within,  or  the  gnawing  of  a  worm.  Coughs  are  occa- 
sioned by  the  sacred  men  operating  through  the  medium 
of  the  down  of  the  goose,  or  the  hair  of  the  buffalo.  It 
is  considered  a  sin  to  cut  a  stick  that  has  once  been 
placed  on  the  fire,  or  to  prick  a  piece  of  meat  with  an 
awl  or  needle.  It  is  wrong  for  a  woman  to  smoke 
through  a  black  pipe-stem,  and  for  a  man  to  wear  a 
woman's  moccasins.  It  is  also  sinful  to  throw  gun- 
powder on  the  fire. 

This  tribe  of  Indians  believe  that  an  individual  has 
several  souls.  Le  Sueur  said  that  they  thought  that 
they  had  three  souls,  but  the  sacred  men  say  that  a 
Dahkotah  has  four  souls.  At  death  one  of  these  re- 
mains with  or  near  the  body ;  one  in  a  bundle  contain- 
ing some  of  the  clothes  and  hair  of  the  deceased,  which 
the  relatives  preserve  until  they  have  an  opportunity 
to  throw  them  into  the  enemy's  country ;  one  goes  into 
the  spirit  land ;  and  one  passes  into  the  body  of  a  child 
or  some  animal. 

They  have  a  fear  of  the  future,  but  no  fixed  belief  in 
relation  to  the  nature  of  future  punishment.  They  are 
generally  taciturn  on  such  topics.  The  more  simple- 
minded  believe  that  a  happy  land  exists  across  a  lake 


M 


HI8T0KY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


mm 


of  boiling  water,  and  that  an  old  woman  sits  on  the 
shore  holding  a  long  narrow  pole,  that  stretches  across 
the  water  to  the  earth.  Warriors  who  can  show  marks 
of  wounds  on  their  flesh,  can  walk  the  pole  with 
security ;  also  infants,  whose  blue  veins  are  a  passport 
OS  good  as  war  marks.  Others  slip  into  the  boiluig 
water.  .-.  ..  ■  .'  *  ..."     ■<•  ^■ 

Their  theology  makes  no  difference  between  the  con- 
dition of  the  thief  and  liar  and  the  correct  and  good 
man.  Those  who  commit  suicide  are  thought  to  be 
unhappy.  They  believe  that  a  woman  who  commits 
suicide  will  have  to  drag  through  another  world  that 
from  v;hich  she  hung  herself  in  this,  and  that  she  will 
often  break  down  the  com  in  another  land  by  the  pole 
or  tree  which  dangles  at  her  feet,  and  for  this  will  be 
severely  beaten  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  spirit  land. 

When  any  one  dies,  the  nearest  friend  is  very  anxious 
to  go  and  kill  an  enemy.  A  father  lost  a  child  while 
the  treaty  of  1851  was  pending  at  Mendota,  and  he 
longed  to  go  and  kill  an  Ojibway.  As  soon  as  an  indi- 
vidual dies,  the  coi'pse  is  wrapped  in  its  best  clothes. 
Some  one  acquainted  with  the  deceased  then  harangues 
the  spirit  on  the  virtues  of  the  departed ;  and  the  friends 
sit  around  with  their  faces  smeared  with  a  black  pig- 
ment;  the  signs  of  mourning.  Their  lamentations  are 
very  loud,  and  they  cut  their  thighs  and  legs  with 
their  finger  nails  or  pieces  of  stone,  to  give  free  vent,  as 
it  would  appear,  to  their  grief.  The  corpse  is  not 
buried,  but  placed  in  a  box  upon  a  scaffold  some  eight 
or  ten  feet  from  the  ground.  Hung  around  the  scaffold 
are  such  things  as  would  please  the  spirit  if  it  was  still 
in  the  flesh — such  as  the  scalp  of  an  enemy  or  pots  of 
food.     After  the  corpse  has  been  exposed   for  poavi 


SCHILLER'S  POEM— BULWER,  HERSCIIELL. 


8» 


months,  and  the  bones  only  remain,  they  are  buried  in 
a  heap,  and  protected  from  the  wolves  by  stakes. 

On  the  bluff,  above  the  dilapidated  cave  which  fornui 
the  eastern  limit  of  Saint  Paul,  there  is  an  ancient 
burial  place.  Here  the  Dahkotahs  formerly  brought 
their  dead,  and  performed  solemn  services. 

Carver,  In  his  Travels,  publishes  the  alleged  speech 
over  the  remains  of  a  Dahkotah  brave — the  reading  of 
which  so  attracted  the  attention  of  the  great  German 
poet,  Schiller,  that  he  composed  a  poem  called  the 
"  Song  of  a  Nadowessee  Chief"  Goethe  considered  it 
one  of  his  best,  "and  wished  he  had  made  a  dozen 
such." 

Sir  John  Herschell  and  Sir  E.  L.  Bulwer  have  each 
attempted  a  translation,  both  of  which  seem  to  convey 
the  spirit  of  the  original. 


SIR  E.  L.  BCLWBR's. 


SIR  JOHN  HERSCBELL'S. 


See  on  hli  mat — u  if  of  yore, 

Alllire-llkcsttiibehera! 
With  that  Mine  aapect  which  he  vora 

When  light  to  him  waa  dear.  V 

But  where  the  right  hand'a  strength  ?  and  where 

The  breath  that  lored  to  breathe, 
ro  the  Great  Spirit  aloft  In  air. 

The  peaee-pipe'a  luaty  wreath? 

And  where  the  hawk-like  eye,  alu! 

That  woot  the  deer  puraue, 
\long  the  wavea  of  rippling  graaa, 

Or  fleldg  that  tbone  with  dew  I 

Are  theiw  the  limber,  bounding  fbat 

That  awept  the  winter'a  tnowif 
tfhat  ■tateliest  atsg  m  faat  and  fleet  t 

Their  ipeed  outitrlpped  the  loa'al 

Thaae  srmi,  that  then  the  ateady  bow 

Ooold  (apple  from  Ita  pride, 
How  (tark  nnd  helpleaa  hang  they  now 

Adown  the  atlSened  aldei 


8m,  where  upon  the  mat,  be  lita 

Kreet,  before  bia  door, 
With  Juet  the  aame  mi^eatle  air 

That  ODoe  in  lifi>  he  wore. 

But  where  la  fled  hii  itrength  of  limb, 

The  whii  Iwind  of  hia  breath. 
To  the  Great  Spirit,  when  he  aent 

The  peaoa-plpe'a  mounting  wreath  t 

Where  are  IhoM  falcon  eyea,  which  late 

Along  the  plain  could  trace. 
Along  the  grua'a  dewy  ware. 

The  relodeer'a  printed  pace  ? 

Thojie  legii,  which  once,  with  matchlesi  (peed, 

Flew  through  the  driftad  mow, 
Surpaated  the  atag'a  •-nweariad  conna, 

Outran  the  mouabun  roa  t 

Thoae  armi,  onoa  need  with  might  and  nalo, 

The  itubborn  bow  to  twang  t 
Sea,  aee,  their  narrea  are  •lack  at  laat, 

All  motionlaaa  they  hang. 


F"-.a'<  i 


''k!M!i^ 


mM 


90 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


BIR  E.  h.  BCLWER's. 


(>>    r    v'    "      SIR  JOHN  aSHSCHELL'S. 


Tet  weal  to  him— at  peace  be  itays 

Where  nerer  fall  the  iinows; 
Where  o'er  the  meadowa  ipringi  the  mtlu 


That  mortal  nerer  eowa. 


.!:;!. 


Where  birds  are  blithe  on  erery  brake- 
Where  (bn>ata  teem  wiI^  >leer^- 

Wliere  glide  the  fl«b  through  erery  Uk»— 
One  uhaie  from  jear  to  yearl 


With  apirita  now  he  feaata  above ; 

All  left  UB — to  revere 
The  deeda  we  honour  with  our  lora, 

The  duat  we  bury  here. 

Here  bring  the  laat  gift  I  lond  and  ahrill 
Wail,  death  dirge  for  the  brave  I, 

What  pleaaed  him  most  in  life  may  atUl 
Give  pleasure  in  the  grave. 

We  lay  the  axe  beneath  hig  head 
He  ai;ung  when  strength  wai  strong— 

The  bear  on  which  hia  banquets  fed— 
The  way  tiom  earth  i?  lontcl 

And  here,  new  sharped,  place  the  knlfii 

That  severed  from  the  clay, 
ffrsm  which  the  ax«  had  spoiled  the  life, 

The  conquered  scalp  away  I  .-.   r 

The  paints  that  deck  the  dead  bestow— 
Tea,  place  them  in  hla  hand.— 

That  red  the  kingly  vhade  may  glow     .^^    . 
Amid  the  spirlt-laiul.  M 


'Tls  well  with  him,  for  ha  Is  gone 
Whrra  snow  no  more  is  found. 

Where  the  gay  thorn's  perpetual  bloom 
Desks  all  the  field  around; 

Where  v^Ud  b<rdB  slog  ttom  every  spraj. 
Where  deer  come  sweeping  by. 

Where  3sh  from  every  lake,  afford 
A  plentiful  supply.  i 


^  .        With  spirits  now  he  feasts  above, 
And  leaves  us  here  alone, 
■.fi  ;':•■',      To  celebrate  his  valiant  deeds, 
And  round  hia  grave  to  moan. 

Sound  the  death-song,  bring  forth  the  gUI% 

The  last  gifts  of  the  dead,— 
Let  all  which  yet  may  yield  him  Joy 

Within  his  grave  he  Uld. 


The  hatchet  place  beneath  his  huad^ 
Still  red  with  hosUIe  blood; 

And  add,  because  the  way  Is  long, ' 
The  bear's  &t  limbs  fbr  food. 

The  Bcalping'knife  beside  him  lay, 
With  paints  of  gorgeous  dye. 

That  in  the  land  of  aouls  hla  Ibrm 
May  shine  triumphantly. 


■U 


:  "  t 


.    \ 


1-^ 


}     I 


t 


The  legends  of  the  Dahkotahs  are  numerous,  and 
while  many  are  puerile,  a  few  are  beautiful. 

Eagle-Eye,  the  son  of  a  great  war  prophet,  who  lived 
more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  was  distinguished  for 
bravery.  Fleet,  athletic,  83anmetrical,  a  bitter  foe  and 
warm  friend,  he  was  a  model  Dahkotah.  In  the  ardour 
of  his  youth,  his  affections  were  given  to  one  who  was 
also  attractive,  named  Scarlet  Dove. 

A  few  moons  after  she  had  become  an  inmate  of  his 
lodge,  they  descended  the  Mississippi,  with  a  hunting 
party,  and  proceeded  east  of  Lake  Pepin. 


SCARLET  DOVE— ANPETUSAPA. 


91 


One  day,  while  Eagle-Eye  was  hid  behind  some^ 
bushes,  watching  for  deer,  the  arrow  of  a  comrade 
found  its  way  through  the  covert,  into  his  heart.  With 
only  time  to  lisp  the  name  Scarlet  Dove,  he  expired. 

For  a  few  days  the  widow  mourned  and  cut  her  flesh, 
and  then,  with  the  silence  of  woe,  wrapping  her  beloved 
in  skins,  she  placed  him  on  a  temporary  burial  scaffold, 
and  sat  beneath. 

When  the  hunting  party  moved,  she  carried  on  her 
own  back  the  dead  body  of  Eagle-Eye.     At  every  en 
campment  she  laid  the  body  up  in  the  manner  already 
mentioned,  and  sat  down  to  watch  it  and  mourn. 

When  she  had  reached  the  Minnesiita  river,  a  dis- 
tance of  more  than  a  hundred  miles,  Scarlet  Dove 
brought  forks  and  poles  from  the  woods,  and  erected  a 
permanent  scaffold  on  that  beautiful  hill  opposite  the 
site  of  Fort  Snelling,  in  the  rear  of  the  little  town  of 
Mendota,  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  Pilot  Knob. 
Having  adjusted  the  remains  of  the  unfortunate  object 
of  her  love  upon  this  elevation,  with  the  strap  by  which 
she  had  carried  her  precious  burden,  Scarlet  Dove  hung 
herself  to  the  .>caffold  and  died.  Her  highest  hope  was 
to  meet  the  beloved  spirit  of  her  Eagle-Eye,  in  the  world 
of  spirits.* 

Ivtany  years  before  the  eye  of  the  whiie  man  gazed 
on  the  beautiful  landscape  around  the  Falls  of  Saint 
Anthony,  a  scene  was  enacted  there  of  which  this  is  the 
melancholy  story : — 

Anpetusapa  was  the  first  love  of  a  Dahkotah  hunter. 
For  a  period  they  dwelt  in  happiness,  and  she  proved 
herself  a  true  wife. 

>  For  this  legend  we  are  indebted  to  Rev.  G.  H.  Pond. 


92 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


*>fKtf  '  "  ^'th  ^nih  of  bone  she  carved  her  food, 
Fuel,  with  axe  of  stone  procured — 
*    '         Gould  fire  extract,  from  flinc  or  wood ; 
t !  'rVi        To  rudest  savage  life  inured.      ;..'   { f 


"In  kettle  frail  of  birchen  bark. 

She  boiled  her  food  with  heated  stones ; 
"  '       The  slippery  fish  from  coverts  dark 

She  drew  with  hooked  bones."  ';,;j 


'ky- 

■ov/ 

>:iii\rtC 

.*•■'  ' 

innHh 

■uy 

:  t       1(J. : 

a.. 

,ftf 

■Is  lA\ 

V     ■■:■}- 

,r:,f^..V 

ou^- 


But  her  heart  was  at  length  clouded.  The  husband, 
in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  his  nation,  introduced 
a  second  wife  within  the  teSpeg,  and  the  first  wife's  eyes 
began  to  grow  sad,  and  her  form  frOm  day  to  day 
drooped.  Her  chief  joy  was  to  clasp  the  little  boy, 
who  was  the  embodiment  of  hopes  and  happiness  fled 
for  ever.  Faithful  and  unmurmuring,  she  followed  her 
husband  on  his  hunts.  One  day  the  band  encamped  on 
the  picturesque  shores  near  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony. 
With  tearless  eye,  and  n^^'  ved  by  despair,  the  first  wife, 
with  her  little  son,  walked  to  the  rapid  waters.  Enter- 
ing a  canoe,  she  pushed  into  the  swift  current,  and  the 
chanting  of  her  death  dirge  arrested  the  attention  of 
her  husband  and  the  camp  in  time  to  see  the  canoe  on 
the  bank,  and  plunge  into  the  dashing  waves.  The 
Dahkotahs  say,  that  in  the  mist  of  the  morning,  the 
spirit  of  an  Indian  wife,  with  a  child  clinging  around 
her  neck,  is  seen  darting  in  a  canoe  through  the  spray, 
and  that  the  sound  of  her  death-song  is  heard  moaning 
in  the  winds,  and  in  the  roar  of  the  waters. 

On  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Pepin,  about  twelve 
miles  from  its  mouth,  there  stands  a  bluflf  which  attracts 
attention  by  its  boldness.  It  is  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  height,  the  last  hundred  of  which  is  a  bald, 
precipitous  crag.     It  is  seen  at  a  distance  of  miles;  and 


MAIDEN'S  ROOK  OF  THE  DAHK0TAH8. 


n 


;U(>Y 

i((|r 


as  the  steamer  approaches,  the  emergence  of  passengers 
to  the  upper  deck,  and  the  pointing  of  the  finger  of  the 
captain,  or  some  one  familiar  with  the  country,  evince* 
that  it  is  an  interesting  locality — it  is  the  Maiden's 
Rock  of  the  Dahkotahs, 

The  first  version  of  the  story,  in  connection  with  this 
bluff,  differa  from  those  more  modem,  but  is  preferable. 

In  the  days  of  the  great  chief  Wapashaw,  there  lived 
at  the  village  of  Keoxa,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
town  which  now  bears  her  name,  a  maiden  with  a  lov- 
ing soul.  She  was  the  first-born  daughter,  and,  as  is 
always  the  case  in  a  Dahkotah  family,  she  bore  the 
name  of  Wgenonah.  A  young  hunter  of  the  same  band, 
was  never  happier  than  when  he  played  the  flute  in  her 
hearing.  Having  thus  signified  his  affection,  it  wa8 
with  the  whole  heart  reciprocated.  The  youth  begged 
from  his  friends  all  that  he  could,  and  went  to  her 
parents,  as  is  the  custom,  to  purchase  her  for  his  wife, 
but  his  proposals  were  rejected. 

A  warrior,  who  had  often  been  on  the  war  path, 
whose  head-dress  plainly  told  the  number  of  scalps  he 
had  wrenched  from  Ojibway  heads,  had  also  been  to  the 
parents,  and  they  thought  that  she  would  be  more 
honoured  aa  an  inmate  of  his  teepee. 

WeSnSnah,  however,  could  not  forget  her  first  love ; 
and,  though  he  had  been  forced  away,  his  absence 
strengthened  her  affections.  Neither  the  attentions  of 
the  warrior,  nor  the  threats  of  parents,  nor  the  persua- 
sions of  friends,  could  make  her  consent  to  marry  simply 
for  position. 

r^  One  day  the  band  came  to  Lake  Pepin  to  fish  or 
hunt.  The  dark  green  foliage,  the  velvet  sward,  the 
beautiful  expanse  of  water,  the  shady  nooks,  made  it  a 


■94 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


it'i^ 


■I  ':  <  !■••« 


$ 


place  to  utter  the  breathings  of  love.  The  warrior 
sought  her  once  more,  and  begged  her  to  accede  to  her 
parents'  wish,  and  become  his  wife,  but  she  refused  with 
<iecision. 

While  the  party  were  feasting,  WeenOnah  clambered 
to  the  lofty  bluflf,  and  then  told  to  those  who  were 
below,  how  crushed  she  had  been  bv  the  absence  of  the 
young  hunter,  and  the  cruelty  of  her  friends.  Then 
chanting  a  wild  death-song,  before  the  fleetest  runner 
could  reaxih  the  height,  she  dashed  herself  down,  and 
that  form  of  beauty  was  in  a  moment  a  mass  of  broken 
limbs  and  bruised  flesh. 

The  Dahkotah,  as  he  passes  the  rock,  feels  that  the 
spot  is  Wawkawn.  "m  sev? 

The  Dahkotahs  call  the  St.  Croix  ri\er,  Hogan- 
wanke-kin.  The  legend  is  that  in  the  distant  past, 
two  Dahkotah  warriors  were  travelling  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  So.  CroLx,  one  of  whom  was  under  a  vow  to  one 
of  his  gods  not  to  eat  any  flesh  which  had  touched 
water.  Gnawed  by  hunger,  the  two  perceived,  as  they 
supposed,  a  raccoon,  and  pursued  it  to  a  hollow  tree. 
On  looking  in,  the  one  who  could  not  eat  flesh  that  had 
touched  water,  saw  that  the  animal  was  a  fish  and  not 
a  quadruped.  Turning  to  his  companion,  he  agreed  to 
throw  it  to  the  ground  'f  he  was  not  urged  to  eat. 
Hunger,  however,  was  imperious,  and  forced  him  to 
break  his  vow  and  partake  of  the  broiled  fish. 

After  the  meal,  thirst  utarped  the  place  of  hunger. 
He  called  for  water  to  cool  his  parched  tongue,  until 
the  strength  of  his  companion  failed,  and  he  was  then 
told  to  lie  down  by  the  lake  and  drink  till  his  thirst 
was  quenched.  Complying  with  the  advice,  he  drank 
and  drank,  till  at  last  he  cried  to  his  friend,  "  come  and 


LANGUAGE  AND  LEXICON. 


95 


look  at  me."  The  sight  caused  the  knees  of  his  comrade 
to  smite  together  with  fear,  for  he  was  fast  turning  to  a 
fish.  At  length,  he  stretched  himself  across  the  Lake, 
and  formed  what  is  called  Pike  Bar.  This,  tradition 
says,  is  the  origin  of  the  sand-bar  in  the  Lake,  which  is 
so  conspicuous  at  low  stage  of  water. 

Having  full  faith  in  the  legend,  to  this  day  they  call 
the  river,  which  is  part  of  the  boundary  between  Wis- 
consin and  Minnesota,  "the  place  where  the  fish 
LIES."     (Hogan-wanke-kin.) 

The  Dahkotahs,  from  the  Minnesota  to  the  plains 
beyond  the  Missouri,  speak  essentially  the  same  lan- 
guage. Though  difficult  to  acouire,  it  is  allied  to  that 
of  the  Ottoes,  Winnebagoes,  To  ways,  and  Omahaws.' 

After  ten  years'  close  study  by  an  observing  mis- 
sionary, he  was  obliged  to  confess  that  he  had  not 
mastered  it,  which  admission  forms  quite  a  contrast 
to  the  vaunting  statement  of  Jonathan  Carver,  who 
wintered  in  Minnesota  in  1767.  He  remarks:  "To 
render  my  stay  as  comfortable  as  possible,  I  first  endea- 
voured to  learn  their  language.  This  I  soon  did,  to 
make  myself  perfectly  intelligible." 

Hennepin  made  the  first  effort  to  collect  a  vocabularj 
of  the  language,  while  he  was  a  captive  on  Rum  river 
or  Mille  Lacs.  His  description  of  the  attempt  is  very 
quaint :  "  Hunger  pressed  me  to  commence  the  forma- 
tion of  a  vocabulary  of  their  language,  learned  from 


'  The  ancient  Arkansas  seera  to 
have  belonged  to  the  Dahkotah 
family.  A  letter  published  in  Rip's 
Jesuit  Mission,  written  by  a  mis- 
sionary at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkan- 
sas, in  October,  1727,  speaks  of  "  a 
rirer  which  the  Indians  call  Ni  ska 


(Minne  ska)  or  White  Water." 
Again :  "  They  place  the  hand  upon 
the  mouth,  which  is  a  sign  of  admi- 
ration among  them,"  Ouakan  tague 
they  cry  out, "  it  is  the  Great  Spirit." 
They  said  probably,  Wakan  de,  Thia 
is  wonderful. 


9» 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


n  K4f 


the  prattle  of  their  children.  When  once  I  had  learned 
the  word  Taketchiabein,  which  means  *  How  call  you 
this  ?'  I  began  to  be  soon  able  to  talk  of  such  things 
as  are  most  familiar.  For  want  of  an  interpreter  this 
difficulty  was  hard  to  surmount  at  first.  For  example, 
if  I  had  a  desire  to  know  what  to  run  was  in  their 
tongue,  I  was  forced  to  increase  my  speed,  and  actually 
run  from  one  end  of  the  lodge  to  the  other,  until  they 
understood  what  I  meant  and  had  told  me  the  word, 
which  I  presently  set  down  in  my  Dictionary." 

The  first  printed  vocabulary  is  that  appended  to 
Carver's  Travels,  which  is  exceedingly  incorrect,  though 
it  contains  many  Dahkotah  words.  The  Smithsonian 
Institution  have  published,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Historical  Society  of  Minnesota,  a  quarto  Grammar  and 
Dictionary  of  this  language,  which  will  be  gazed  upon 
with  interest  by  the  "  wise  men  of  the  East"  long  after 
the  Dahkotah  dialect  has  ceased  to  be  spoken.  This 
work  is  the  fruit  of  eighteen  years  of  anxious  toil 
among  this  people,  and  is  the  combined  work  of  the 
members  of  the  Dahkotah  Presbytery,  edited  by  the 
Rev.  S.  R.  Riggs,  of  Lac  qui  Parle ;  and  should  be  pre- 
served in  the  library  of  every  professional  man  and 
lover  of  letters  in  Minnesota. 

The  vocabulary  is,  of  course,  meagre,  compared  with 
that  of  the  civilized  European ;  for  living,  as  they  have 
until  of  late,  far  away  from  any  but  those  of  like  habits 
and  modes  of  thought,  they  are  defective  in  many  words 
which  have  their  place  in  the  dictionary  of  a  Christian 
people.  Accustomed  to  cut  poles  from  a  forest  and 
spread  buffalo  skins  thereon,  under  which  they  pass  the 
night,  and  then  decamp  early  the  next  day  in  quest  of 
game  or  the  scalp  of  an  enemy,  they  have  no  word  which 


DAHKOTAH  ALPHABET. 


97 


expresses  the  comfortable  idea  of  our  noble  Saxon  word 
"  home."  Still,  in  the  language  of  a  missionary,  "  it  is 
in  some  of  its  aspects  to  be  regarded  as  a  noble  lan- 
guage, fully  adequate  to  all  the  felt  wants  of  a  nation, 
and  capable  of  being  enlarged,  cultivated,  and  enriched, 
by  the  introduction  of  foreign  stores  of  thought.  Nothing 
can  be  found  anywhere  more  full  and  flexible  than  the 
Dahkotah  verb.  The  affixes,  and  reduplications,  and 
pronouns,  and  prepositions,  all  come  in  to  make  it  of 
such  a  stately  pile  of  thought  as  is  to  my  knowledge 
found  nowhere  else.  A  single  paradigm  presents  more 
than  a  thousand  variations." 

THE  DAHKOTAH  ALPHABET. 


NAHE 

NAME. 

A  ab, 

sounds 

as  a 

in  far. 

0  0, 

sounds  as  0    in  go. 

6  be, 

It 

b 

in  but. 

P  pe, 

(t 

p   in  pea. 

C   che, 

(( 

ch 

in  cheat. 

Q  qe, 

indescribable. 

D  de, 

*i 

d 

in  deed. 

R  re. 

high  guttural. 

E  a, 

(i 

a 

in  say.       • 

S    se, 

sounds 

as  3    in  sea. 

G  ge, 

ow  guttural 

T  te, 

n 

t    in  tea. 

H  be, 

sounds 

as  h 

in  he. 

U  00, 

It 

00  in  noon. 

I    e. 

tt 

e 

iu  see. 

W  we. 

tt 

to  in  we. 

J  je, 

<( 

si 

in  hosier. 

X  she 

ft 

sh  in  sheet. 

K  ke, 

K 

k 

in  key. 

Y  ye. 

II 

y  in  yeasx. 

M  me, 

t4 

m 

in  me. 

Z   ze, 

11 

2    in  zeta. 

N  ne. 

It 

n 

in  neat. 

The  vowels  represent  each  but  one  sound.  O  repre- 
sents a  low  guttural  or  gurgling  sound.  R  represents 
a  rough  hawking  sound,  higher  than  that  of  g.  Besides 
their  simple  sounds,  c,  Je,  p,  s,  t,  and  x,  have  each  a  close 
compound  sound,  which  cannot  be  learned  except  from 
!i  living  teacher.  They  are  printed  in  italics  when  they 
represent  these  sounds,  except  k,  which  is  never  italicised 
for  this  purpose ;  but  q  is  used  instead  of  it.     The  lE»t- 

7 


;rl 


mi 


hJ 

M 


'»i^i 


98 


HISTORY  OF  MliNNESOTA. 


named  letter  might  as  well,  perhaps,  be  expunged  from 
the  Dahkotah  alphabet,  and  k  held  responsible  for  the 
performance  of  this  service.  When  n  follows  a  vowel 
at  the  end  of  a  syllable,  except  in  contracted  words, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  it  is  not  full,  but  sounds  like 
n  in  tinkle,  ankle. 

It  was  intended  that  the  Dahkotah  orthography  should 
be  strictly  phonetic,  and  it  fails  but  little  of  being  so.  To 
learn  the  names  of  the  letters  is  to  learn  to  read  it,  and 
no  English  scholar  need  spend  more  than  a  few  hours, 
or  even  a  few  moments,  in  learning  to  read  the  Dahko- 
tah language.' 


'  I  'vi  !J    .'     J,)  •11';   i  '.i 


>  G.  H.  Pond,  in  "  TateaxUku  Kin." 


.  /I  *  \    '. .  i  t\      I   r  I    ,7  ' 


. 

,'  '    -  - 

'  •■'         { 

.'     '•     fC 

•■  •■  y- 

V  .    ■   '0-      .■•    ♦.."•■ 

.1-.%  -    •-  fii    . 

n!v  t» 

I*. 

« 

,|_v, .,.,„■,. 

1  ;■'  -' 

...■    vt 

-i-i  lis 

•     '...  :>;  .  .; 

.'■':         \i 

■■-  '_•■-■  ■■; 

.■■'<    li 

,.,  .I-  • 

, 

.'■         '. 

.!,.    Y 

■     :.    /.    •::':'■ 

•"■     ^ 

f  ..■■  ,"..■     c 

^    ,,'S      If 

• 

.  '  ^     '  '■ 

•  '  ':  *j'*' 

■■"  ■■-;■' 

■Til                               1      ,    ,     . 

i     t  - 

i-i:'.  uri*!    ^;. 

%.•    r'  ^V'« 

"l  / 

,. 

''  .:  /  ■     i'i 
■.  i          -.    i    , 

'.  ,    , 

1 

<    1 

T^^Vi 

'■'•    '}  "    ■  .  * 

■  -■:'■  ,'■:  r;,,^;  .A , 

-       r» 

!)!i''-:;.': 

i'i',  .'.1 

CARTIER.— CHAMPLAIN. 


99 


t 
■Hill  ■l;:^ 


:  1   ' 


V' 


.1  1' 


.>■,') 


.; . 


1 ' 


CHAPTER    IV. 


More  than  three  centuries  ago,  an  enterprising  naval 
officer,  Jacques  Cartier,  discovered  the  mouth  of  the 
great  river  of  North  America,  that  empties  into  the 
Atlantic,  and  whose  extreme  head  waters  are  in  the 
interior  of  Minnesota,  within  an  hour's  walk  of  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Missifc  ippi. 

Having  erected,  in  the  vicinity  of  Quebec,  a  rude  fort, 
in  1541,  more  than  a  half  century  before  the  settlement 
of  Jamestown,  in  Virginia,  from  that  time  the  river 
Saint  Lawrence  became  known  to  the  bold  mariners  of 
B'rance,  and  there  was  an  increasing  desire  to  explore 
its  sources. 

In  the  year  1608,  Champlain  selected  the  site  in  the 
vicinity  of  Cartier's  post  as  the  future  capital  of  New 
France.  Burning  to  plant  a  colony  in  the  New  World, 
he,  with  great  assiduity,  explored  the  country.  In  1609 
he  ascended  a  tributary  of  the  Saint  Lawrence,  till  he 
came  to  the  beautiful  lake  in  New  York,  which,  to  this 
day,  bears  his  name. 

After  several  visits  to  France,  in  1615  he  is  found, 
with  unabated  zeal,  accompanying  a  band  of  savages 
to  their  distant  hunting-grounds,  and  discoveri'  g  the 
waters  of  Lake  Huron. 


V-LW    .*?;,.,*         trh. 


mi) 


ffi 


100 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Before  the  emigrants  of  the  *'  May  Flower"  trod  on 
New  England  soil,  and  while  Massachusetts  was  an 
unknown  country  to  the  geographers  of  Europe,  he  had 
gained  an  inkling  of  the  Mediterranean  of  America,  Lake 
Superior.  In  a  map  accompanying  the  journal  of  his  dis- 
coveries, this  lake  appears  as  "  Grand  Lac,"  and  a  great 
river  is  marked  flowing  from  the  lake  toward  the  south, 
intended  to  represent  the  Mississippi,  as  described  by 
the  Indians,  who,  from  the  earliest  period,  had  been 
accustomed,  b^'  slight  portages,  to  pass  from  the  waters 
of  Lake  Superior  into  those  of  the  "  grand"  river  which 
flows  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

About  the  time  that  Champlain  returned  from  his 
expedition  to  the  Huron  country,  there  arrived  in 
Canada  a  youth  from  France  of  more  than  ordinary 
promise,  who,  by  his  aptness  in  the  acquisition  of  the 
Indian  dialects,  became  interpreter  and  commissary  of 
the  colony. 

Determined  to  press  beyond  others,  he,  in  1634, 
arrived  at  the  lake  of  the  Winnebagoes,  in  the  present 
state  of  Wisconsin,  which  had  been  described  by  Cham- 
plain,  though  erroneously  located  on  the  map  accom- 
panying his  narrative. 

While  in  this  region  he  concluded  a  friendly  alliance 
with  the  Indians  in  the  valley  of  the  Fox  river. 

Paul  le  Jeune,  in  a  letter  to  his  superior,  Vimont, 
written  in  the  month  of  September,  1640,  alludes  to 
Nicolet,  and  is  also  the  first  writer  who  makes  distinct 
mention  of  the  Dai  kotahs.  Speaking  of  the  tribes  on 
Lake  Michigan,  the  father  remarks  : — 

"  Still  further  on,  dwell  the  Ouinipegou  (Winnebago), 
a  sedentary  people  and  very  numerous.  Some  French- 
men call  them  the  '  Nation  of  Stinkers,'  because  the 


TRADERS  PIONEERS  FOR  TFIE  PRIESTS. 


XOl 


Algonquin  word  Ouinipeg  signifies  stinking  water.  They 
thus  designate  the  water  of  the  sea,  and  these  people 
(rail  themselves  Ouinipegou,  because  they  come  from 
the  shores  of  a  sea,  of  which  we  have  no  knowledge, 
and  therefore  we  must  not  call  them  the  nation  of 
*  Stinkers,'  but  the  nation  of  the  sea. 

"  In  the  neighbourhood  of  this  nation  are  the  Nadou- 
essi  (Dahkotahs),  and  the  Assinipouars  (Assiniboines). 
*****!  will  say,  by  the  way,  that  the  Sieur 
Nicolet,  interpreter  of  the  Algonquin  and  Huron  lan- 
guages for  '  Messieurs  de  la  Nouvelle  France,'  has  given 
me  the  names  of  these  nations,  whom  he  has  visited, 
for  the  most  part,  in  their  own  countries." 

Two  years  elapse,  and,  in  1641,  Jogues  and  Rayra- 
biiult,  of  the  "  Society  of  Jesus,"  after  a  journey  of 
seventeen  days,  in  frail  barks,  over  tempestuous  waters, 
arrive  at  the  barrier  of  rocks  at  the  entrance  of  Lake 
Superior ;  and  then,  at  Sault  St.  Marie,  met  the  Potto- 
wattomies  flying  from  the  Dahkotahs,  and  were  told 
that  the  latter  lived  to  the  west  of  the  Falls,  about 
eighteen  days'  journey,  the  first  nine  across  the  lake, 
the  other  up  a  river  which  leads  inland,  referring,  pro- 
bably', to  the  stream  which  interlocks  with  the  head 
waters  of  the  river  Saint  Croix. 

Wt  would  not  detract  from  the  zeal  of  the  man  of 
God,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  those  in  the  service  of  mam- 
)uon  have  ever  outrun  those  in  the  service  of  Christ. 
The  "insacra  fames  auri,"  the  unholy  thirst  for  gold, 
has  always  made  the  trader  the  pioneer  of  the  mis- 
sionary in  savage  lauds. 

In  a  communication  moxie  as  early  as  1654,  it  was 
stated  that  it  was  only  nine  days'  journey  from  the 
Lake  of  the  Winnebago  (Green  Bay)  to  the  sea  that 


102 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


; 


sc'ptiratcH  America  from  China;  nnd,  that,  if  a  person 
could  bo. found  who  would  send  thirty  Frenchmen  into 
that  country,  they  would  obtain  the  finest  peltries  and 
amass  wealth.  .    '"' 

This  year  two  adventurous  Frenchmen  went  to  seek 
their  fortunes  in  the  region  west  of  Lake  Michigan ; 
and,  in  August,  1656,  with  a  flotilla  of  canoes,  laden 
with  treasures,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  Ojibways, 
they  arrived  at  Quebec,  and  interested  "  voyageurs" 
■with  a  recital  of  their  hair-breadth  escapes — merchants 
with  their  packs  of  valuable  furs,  and  ecclesiastics  with 
narrations  of  the  miserable  condition  of  immortal  souls, 
and  of  the  numerous  villages  of  the  "  Nadouesiouack" 
(Dahkotahs)  and  other  tribes. 

Thirty  young  Frenchmen,  excited  by  the  reports, 
equipped  themselves  to  trade  with  the  lodges  in  the 
distant  wilderness ;  and,  two  Fathers,  Leonard  Garreau 
and  Gabriel  Dreuilletes,  were  summoned  by  their  Supe- 
rior to  return  with  the  brigade,  and  were  rejoiced  to 
find  themselves  chosen  to  be  the  first  to  carry  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  into  a  country  alike  replete  with  tribu- 
lation, darkness,  and  death. 

The  latter  missionary  had  been  a  visiter  to  the  house 
of  the  Puritan  minister,  Eliot,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston, 
and  they  had  frequently  taken  sweet  counsel  together  in 
relation  to  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  abo- 


rigines. 


This  expedition  failed  to  reach  its  destination,  owing 
to  a  murderous  attack  of  the  Iroquois,  in  which  Gar- 
reau was  killed,  and  the  Ojibways  so  alarmed  that  they 
refused  to  receive  the  surviving  "  black  robe." 

In  the  year  1659  two  traders  travelled  extensively 
among  the  distant  tribes.    Six  days'  journey  south-west 


OROSELLIKR'8  JOURNEY  TO  HUDSON  HAY,  BY  LAND.       108 


liigan; 


of  TiR  Pointe,  in  H^iick  River  Valley,  they  found  vil- 
lages of  llurons,  who,  retreating  iicroes  rocky  ridgen, 
over  deep  streams,  wide  lakes,  and  dense  thickets,  had 
reached  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi,  and  found  a  shelter 
among  the  Dahkotahs  from  the  fierce  o!islaught  of  the 
Inxpiois.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  llu'.ons  they  saw  Dah- 
kotah  settlements,  "in  five  of  which  were  counted  all 
of  five  thousand  men."  They  noticed  women  with  the 
tips  of  their  noses  cut  off,  and  heads  partly  scalped,  and 
\vere  informed  that  this  was  tlie  penalty  inflicted  upon 
adulteresses.  '     '  ' 

They  also  heard  of"  another  warlike  nation  who,  with 
their  bows  and  arrows,  have  rendered  themselves  as 
formidable  to  the  upper  Algonquins  as  the  Iroquois  have 
to  the  lower.  They  bear  the  name  of  Poualak  (Assine- 
boine),  that  is  to  say,  the  waiTiors."  Continues  the  rela- 
tion : — "*  As  wood  is  scarce  and  very  small  with  them, 
nature  has  taught  them  to  burn  stones  in  place  of  it, 
and  to  cover  their  wigwams  with  skins.  Some  of  the 
most  industrious  among  them  have  built  mud  cabins 
nearly  in  the  same  manner  that  swallows  build  their 
nests ;  nor  would  they  sleep  less  sweetly  beneath  these 
skins,  or  under  this  clay,  than  the  great  ones  of  earth 
Ixmeath  their  golden  canopies,  was  it  not  for  the  fear  of 
the  Iroquois,  who  come  here  in  search  of  them  from  a 
distance  of  five  or  six  hundred  leagues." 

On  the  early  French  maps  of  Lake  Superior,  a  tribu- 
tary from  Minnesota  is  called  the  River  Grosellier.*  It 
I-  i  ■  ^■ 

'     '  Grosellier  was  a  native  of  Tou-  Quebec.     Returning  by  Lake  Sup«- 

raine,  and  married  Helen,  daughter  rior,  he  offered  to  carry  French  ships 

of  Abraham  Martin,  King's   Pilot,  to  Hudson's  Bay.     Rejected  by  th<» 

who  has  left  his  name  to  the  cele-  court,  he  crossed  over  to  Englaor) 

brated    plains   of   Abraham,    r.car  where  his  offers  were  accepted.  With 


Ini 


•»  k, ;  . 


If  iim 
luVW 


104 


HISTORY  Of  MINNESOTA. 


i,T:»KOi?:0 


appears;  to  have  been  named  af*er  a  French  pilot  who, 
about  this  time,  roamed  into  the  Assiniboine  country,  in 
the  region  of  Lake  Superior,  and  was  conducted  by 
them  to  the  shores  of  Hudson's  Bay. 

During  the  summer  of  1660  the  traders  of  the  far 
West  re  turned  to  Quebec  with  sixty  canoes,  manned  by 
Algonquins,  and  biden  with  fox,  beaver,  and  buffalo  skins. 
The  narrative  of  these  men  increased  the  existing  enthu- 
siasm of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  Superior  at  Quebec  had  a 
zeal  which  "  caused  him  to  wish  that  he  might  be  an 
angel  of  glad  tidings  to  the  far  nations;  and,  at  the 
expense  of  a  thcasand  lives,  to  go  and  search  in  the 
depths  of  the  forest  the  lost  sheep  tor  whose  welfare  hi." 
had  crossed  the  sea."  :,  .■   u;-<^i   -'rJj.i;  ir;-. 

The  murder  of  Garreau,  four  years  before,  did  not 
intimidate,  but  his  blood  increased  the  courage  of  the 
church,  and  Rene  Menar  nas  the  o?ie  selected  to  be 
the  cross-bearer  to  the  barbarians  in  the  regions  round 
about  Lake  Superior  toward  the  Mississippi  River. 
.  His  hair  whitened  by  age,  his  mind  ripened  by  long 
experience,  and  acquainted  with  the  peculiarities  of 
Indian  character,  he  seemed  the  man  for  the  mission. 

The  night  before  he  started,  the  eyes  of  th-j  venerable 
priest  w  eve  not  closed.  He  thought  much  of  his  friends, 
and,  knowing  that  he  was  about  to  go  into  a  land  of 
barbarians,  two  hours  after  midnight  he  penned  a  letter, 


RaddisscD,  another  Frenchmen,  he 
piloted  an  English  vessel,  command- 
ed by  (Juptain  Qillain,  a  Yankee,  to 
the  River  Noniiscau,  un  the  east  side 
of  James  Bay,  where  Fort  Rupert 
was  built.  See  O'Callaghan's  note, 
vol.  ix.  p.  797,  Paris  Doe. :  Col.  Ilis- 
t<jry  of  NiJw  York.  .:iV,v  .  ■{■ 


•  Mv  Reverend  Father— The  Peace 

or  Christ  be  with  you  : 

I  write  to  you  probably  the  last 
word,  which  I  hope  will  be  the  seal 
of  our  friendship  until  eternity. 
Love  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  did  not 
disdain  to  love,  though  the  greatest 
of  ginners,  for  he  loves  whom  he 


MENARD  AT  LAKE  SUPERIOR. 


105 


touching  ill  its  simplicity,  and  which  will  be  embalmed 
in  the  literature  of  the  future  dwellers  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Superior. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  August,  1660, 
he,  in  company  with  eight  Frenchmen,  departed  with 
the  Ottawa  convoy  from  "  Three  Rivers."  After  much 
ridicule  from  the  wild  companions  of  his  voyage,  he 
arri\ed  at  a  bay  on  Lake  Superior,  on  the  15th  of 
October,  St.  Theresa's  day,  on  which  account  he  so 
designated  the  sheet  of  water. 

During  the  following  winter  they  remained  at  this 
point.  Their  supply  of  provisions  being  exhausted, 
they  nearly  starved.  "  At  times  they  scraped  up  a  mess 
of  the  '  tripe  de  roche,'  which  slightly  thickened  their 
water,  foaming  upon  it  a  kind  of  foam  or  slime,  similar 
to  that  of  snails,  and  which  served  rather  to  nourish 
tlieir  imagination  than  their  bodies :"  at  other  times  they 


loads  with  his  cross.  Let  your 
friendship,  my  ^ood  father,  be  use- 
ful to  me  by  the  desirable  fruits  of 
your  daily  Haorifioc.  In  three  or 
fou  r  months,  you  iwxj  remember  me 
at  the  memento  for  tlie  dead,  on  ac- 
count of  my  old  age,  my  weak  "jon- 
stitution,  and  the  hardships  I  lay 
under  amongHt  those  tribes.  Never- 
thele.  s,  I  am  in  peace,  for  I  have 
not  been  led  to  this  mission  by  any 
temporal  motive,  but  I  think  it  was 
by  the  ■"oice  of  God.  I  was  afraid, 
by  not  coming  here,  to  resist  the 
grace  of  God.  Erornal  remorse  would 
have  tormented  me,  had  I  not  come 
when  I  had  the  opportunity.    We 


V'rom  the  Three  Rivers,  this ") 
27th  August,  2  o'clock  [• 
after  midnight,  1660.  J 


have  been  a  little  surprised,  not  be- 
ing able  to  provide  ourselves  with 
vestments  aud  other  tilings  ;  but  he 
who  feeds  the  little  birds  and  clothes 
the  lilies  of  the  fields,  will  take  care 
of  his  servants ;  and  though  it  should 
happen  wo  should  die  with  want,  we 
would  esteem  ourselves  happy.  I 
am  loaded  with  affairs.  What  I  can 
do  is  to  recommend  our  journey  to 
your  daily  sacrifices,  and  to  embrace 
you  V.  ith  the  same  sentimonts  of 
heart,  as  I  hope  to  do  in  eternity. 

My  reverend  father,  your  most 
humble  and  affectionate  servant  in 
•Jesus  Christ, 

K.  Menard. 


(il 


!W! 


M'     \ilii 


106 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


m 


wmy 


S,,At 


^'&# 

•^^'i' 


i4':: 


'If     ^^Srj* 


i 


5  -U  t  ■>■ 


subsisted  on  pounded  fish-bones  and  acorns.  When 
the  vernal  breezes  began  to  blow,  ducks,  geese,  and 
wild  pigeons  made  their  appearance,  and  their  bodies 
strengthened. 

The  refugee  Hurons,  and  Ottawas  hearing  that  a 
"  black  gown"  was  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  invited 
him  to  visit  them, 

Menard  appointed  three  young  Frenchmen  to  act 
as  pioneers,  and  reconnoitre  the  country  and  make 
presents.  Cn  their  journey  their  canoe  was  stolen, 
and  after  many  difficulties  they  returned.  Thtir 
report  was  discouraging,  but  did  not  deter  the  aged 
enthusiast.  His  last  written  sentences,  peimed  in  July, 
1661,  are : — 

"  I  hear  every  day  four  populous  nations  spoken  of, 
that  are  distant  from  here  about  two  or  three  hundred 
leagues.  I  expect  to  die  on  my  way  to  them ;  but  as  I 
am  so  far  advanced,  and  in  health,  I  shall  do  all  that  is 
possii>'  to  reach  them.  The  route,  most  of  the  way, 
lie^i  across  swamps,  through  which  it  is  necessary  to  feel 
your  way  in  passing,  and  to  be  in  danger  every  moment 
of  sinking  too  deep  to  extricate  yourself;  provisions 
which  can  only  be  obtained  by  carrying  them  with  you, 
and  the  mosquitoes,  whose  luimbers  are  frightful,  are 
the  three  great  obstacles  which  render  it  difficult  for  me 
to  obtain  a  companion." 

Some  Hurons  having  come  to  treat  with  the  Ojibways, 
agreed  to  act  as  guides.  Selecting  John  Guerin,  a  faith- 
ful man,  a  his  companion,  he  started,  with  some  dried 
fish  and  smoked  meat  for  provisions.  The  Indians,  full 
of  caprice,  soon  moved  off,  and  left  the  priest  and  his 
friend  in  an  unknown  country.  Bruised  in  hmb,  and 
faint  in  body,  on  the  10th  of  August,  Menard,  while 


DISAPPEARANCE  OF  MENARD. 


107 


following  his  companion,  lost  himself  in  Wisconsin  near 
the  sources  of  Black  River.*  '  -    "  ' 

The  agony  of  Guerin  is  great  when  he  looks  behind 
and  beholds  not  the  aged  traveller.  He  ca!ls  at  the  top 
of  his  voice,  but  he  onlv  hears  the  echo.  He  fires  his 
gun  repeatedly,  to  lead  him  to  the  right  path ;  at  last 
he  wanders  to  a  Huron  village,  and,  by  gestures  and 
tears,  and  the  promise  of  reward,  induced  a  youth  to  go 
in  search.  He  soon  returned,  weary ;  and  from  that 
day  there  have  been  no  traces  of  his  body. 

His  camp  kettle  was  found  in  a  Sauk's  hand,  and 
Bome  years  after  his  disappearance,  his  robe  and  prayer 
book  were  found  in  a  Dahkotah  lodge,  and  were  looked 
upon  as  "  wawkawn  "  oi-  supernatural. 

In  the  summer  of  1663  the  mournful  intelligence  of 
the  loss  of  Menard  reached  Quebec,  and  one  was  soon 
found  to  be  his  successor — Father  Claude  Allouez,  who 
anxiously  awaited  the  means  of  conveyance  to  his  scene 
of  labour.  In  the  year  1665  a  hundred  canoes,  laden 
with  Indians  and  peltries,  arrived  at  Montreal  from 
Lake  Superior,  A  Frenchman,  who  accompanied  them,^ 
reported  that  the  Outaouaks  (Ojibways)  were  attacked 
on  one  side  by  the  Iroquois,  and  on  the  other  by  the 
Niidouessioux  (Dahkotahs),  a  warlike  people,  who 
carry  on  cruel  wars  with  nations  still  more  distant. 
Allouez  rejoiced  at  the  sight  of  the  frail  barks,  and 
greeted  the  besmeared  savages  as  if  they  were  visitants 
from  a  better  land.  In  a  letter  written  at  the  time,  his 
full  heart  thus  speaks :  "  At  last  it  has  pleased  God  to 
send  us  the  angels  of  the  Upper  Algonquins  to  conduct 
us  to  their  country." 

On  the  (Sth  of  August,  1665,  with  six  Frenchmen 

*  Appendix  B 


'Hi  iii, 


■I'K'^ 


..■*''l 


■/'  ;■:''»■•*» 


108 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


and  four  hundred  savages,  returning  fro;n  their  trading 
expedition,  he  embarked.    •  ^ . »";  i    ;     in  'V,,    .        .  \■i'^ 

Having  made  a  portage  at  Sault  St.  Marie,  on  the  2d 
of  September  their  birch  canoes  glided  on  the  waters  of 
Lake  Superior.  On  the  1st  of  October  they  arrived  at 
the  Chegoimegon,  a  beautiful  bay  (Bayfield,  Wisconsin), 
where  were  two  large  villages,  one  of  which  was  occupied 
by  the  Hurons,  who  had  been  driven  from  the  Dahkotah 
country  under  the  following  circumstances: —     i,-.;    ,,; 

Having  claimed  superiority,  on  account  of  the  pos- 
session of  fire-arms,  they  taunted  the  Dahkotahs,  who 
had  received  them  when  they  were  outcasts  and  flying 
from  the  Iroquois,  on  account  of  their  simplicity.  At 
last,  provoked  beyond  endurance,  they  decoyed  a  num- 
ber of  Hurons  into  a  wild  rice  marsh,  and  killed  many 
Avith  their  primitive,  but  not  to  be  despised,  stone-tipped 
arrows,  and  drove  the  remnant  to  Chegoimegon. 

The  second  village  was  composed  of  several  bands  of 
Ojibways,  whose  ancestors  had,  a  long  time  before,  lived 
east  of  Lake  Michigan,  but  had  been  driven  westward 
by  the  L'oquois.  .    .         .'=    i-        :  '      , 

This  point  was  a  centre  of  trade  for  many  nations. 
Even  the  Illinois  came  here  to  fish  and  exchange  com- 
modities. 

Allouez,  when  he  landed  at  La  Pointe,  Uc  the  French 
named  the  place,  in  consequence  of  a  tongue-like  pro- 
jection of  land,  found  a  scene  of  great  confusion.  In 
the  language  of  Bancroft,  "  It  was  at  a  moment  when 
the  young  warriors  were  bent  on  a  strife  with  the  war- 
like Sioux,  A  grand  council  of  ten  or  twelve  neigh- 
bouring nations  was  held  to  wrest  the  hatchet  from  the 
hands  of  the  rash  braves,  and  Allouez  was  admitted  to 
an  audience  before  the  vast  assembly.    In  the  name  of 


.VLLO'JEZ  AT  LA  POINTE 


109 


Louis  XIV.  and  his  viceroy,  he  commanded  peace,  and 
offered  commerce  and  alliance  against  the  Iroquois — 
the  soldiers  of  France  would  smooth  the  path  between 
the  Chippewas  and  Quebec — would  brush  the  pirate 
canoes  from  the  rivers — would  leave  to  the  Five  Nations 
no  choice,  but  between  tranquillity  ;md  destruction.  On 
the  shore  of  the  bay  to  which  the  abundant  fisheries  at- 
tracted crowds,  a  chapel  soon  rose,  and  the  mission  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  founded.  There  admiring  throngs,  who 
had  never  seen  an  European,  came  to  gaze  on  the  white 
man,  and  on  the  pictures  which  he  displayed  of  the 
realms  of  hell,  and  of  the  last  judgment.  There  a 
choir  of  Chippewas  were  taught  to  chant  the  pater  and 
the  ave.  *  *  *  *  fhe  Sacs  and  Foxes  travelled 
on  foot  from  their  country,  which  abounded  in  deer, 
l)eaver,  and  buflfalo.  The  Illinois  also,  a  hospitable 
race,  unaccustomed  to  canoes,  having  no  weajxtn  but 
the  bow  and  arrow,  came  to  rehearse  their  sorrows. 
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  Curiosity  was  roused  by  their 
tale  of  the  noble  river  on  which  they  dwelt,  and  which 
flowed  toward  the  south.  Then,  too,  at  the  very  extre- 
mity of  the  lake,  the  missionary  met  the  wild  and 
impassioned  Sioux,  who  dwelt  to  the  west  of  Lake 
Superior,  in  a  land  of  prairies,  with  wild  rice  for  food, 
and  skins  of  beasts  instead  of  bark  for  roofs  to  their 
cabins,  on  the  bank  of  tlie  great  river,  of  which  AUouez 
reported  the  name  to  be  Messipi." 

While  on  an  excursloii  to  Lake  Alempigon  (Saint 
Anne),  he  met,  at  Fond  du  Lax;,  in  Minnesota,  some 
Dahkotah  warriors ;  and,  in  describing  them,  he  is  the 
first  to  give  the  name  of  the  great  river  of  which  the 
fndians  had  told  so  many  wonderful  stories.        .  =^(^4 


tio 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


m>m 


i  ^    M 


VM':^ 


.)  I  if:;;,,*, 


I   !1 


^n 


In  the  relations  of  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
tlie  following  remarks  are  made  of  the  Dahkotahs  : — 

"  This  is  a  tribe  that  dwells  to  the  west  of  this  (Fond 
du  Lac),  toward  the  great  river  called  Messipi.  They 
are  forty  or  fifty  leagues  from  here,  in  a  country  of 
prairies,  abounding  in  all  kinds  of  game.  They  have 
fields  in  which  they  do  not  sow  Indian  com,  but  only 
tobacco.  Providence  has  provided  them  with  a  species 
of  marsh  rice,  which,  toward  the  end  of  summer,  they 
go  to  collect  in  certain  small  lakes  that  are  covered  with 
it.  The^  know  how  to  prepare  it  so  well  that  it  is 
quite  agreeable  to  the  taste  and  nutritive.  They  pre- 
sented me  with  some  when  I  was  at  the  extremity  of 
Lake  Tracy  (Superior),  where  I  saw  them.  They  do 
not  use  the  gun,  but  only  the  bow  and  arrow,  which 
they  use  with  great  dexterity.  Their  cabins  are  not 
covered  with  bark,  but  with  deerskins  well  dried,  and 
stitched  together  so  well  that  the  cold  does  not  enter. 
These  people  are,  above  all  other,  savage  and  warlike. 
In  our  presence  they  seemed  abashed,  and  were  motion- 
less as  statues.  They  speak  a  language  entirely  unknown 
to  us,  and  the  savages  about  here  do  not  understand 
them." 

After  two  years  passed  among  the  Algonquins  at  La 
Pointe  and  vicinity,  AUouez  was  convinced  that  his 
mission  would  not  prosper,  unless  he  had  some  assists 
ance.  He  determined  to  go  in  person  to  Quebec,  and 
implore  labourers  for  the  field.  Arriving  there  on  the 
3d  day  of  August,  1667,  he  worked  night  and  day ;  and, 
after  two  days,  the  bow  of  his  canoe  was  again  turned 
towards  the  far  West.  His  party  consisted  at  first  of 
Father  Louis  Nicholas,  and  another  Jesuit,  with  four 
labourers;    but,  when   they  came   to   the  canoes,  the 


MARQUETTE'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  D/VHKOTAHS. 


Ill 


whimsical  savages  only  allowed  Alloue/,  Nicholas,  and 
one  of  their  men,  to  enter.  But,  notwithstanding  the 
help  obtained,  tne  savage  hearts  could  not  be  subdued ; 
and,  "  weary  of  their  obstinate  unbelief,"  he  resolved  to 
leave  La  Pointe.  On  the  13th  of  September,  1669,  the 
renowned  Marquette  took  his  place ;  and,  writing  to  his 
Superior,  describes  the  Dahkotahs  in  these  words : — 

"  The  Nadouessi  are  the  Iroquois  of  this  country,  be- 
yond La  Pointe,  but  less  faithless,  and  never  attack  till 
attacked. 

"  They  lie  south-west  of  the  mission  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  we  have  not  yet  visited  them,  having  con- 
fined ourselves  to  the  conversion  of  the  Ottawas. 

"  Their  language  is  entirely  different  from  the  Huron 
and  Algonquin ;  they  have  many  villages,  but  are 
widely  scattered;  they  have  very  extraordinary  cus- 
toms; they  principally  use  the  calumet;  they  do  not 
speak  at  great  feasts,  and  when  a  stranger  arrives  give 
him  to  eat  of  a  wooden  fork,  as  we  would  a  child. 

"  All  the  lake  tribes  make  war  on  them,  but  with 
small  success.  They  have  false  oats  (wild  rice),  use 
little  canoes,  and  keep  their  word  strictly.  I  sent 
them  a  present  by  an  interpreter,  to  tell  them  to  recog- 
nise the  Frenchman  everywhere,  and  not  to  kill  him  or 
the  Indians  in  his  company ;  that  the  black  gown  wishes 
to  pass  to  the  country  of  the  Assinipouars  (Assineboines), 
and  to  that  of  the  Kilistinaux  (Cnistineaux) ;  that  he 
was  already  with  the  Outagamis  (Foxes),  and  that  I 
was  going  this  fall  to  the  Illinois,  to  whom  they  should 
leave  a  free  passage.  v.^.. 

"  They  agreed ;  but  as  for  my  present  waited  till  all 
came  from  the  chase,  promising  to  come  to  La  Pointe 


112 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


■:>,>>>!  If 


m 


I 


in  the  fall,  to  hold  a  council  with  the  Illinois  and  speaK 
with  me.  Would  that  all  these  nations  loved  God  as 
they  feared  the  French."     • »-    K-  '^'    "^<  limmmv  wi  mt 

The  relations  of  the  Jesuits  for  1670-71,  allude  to 
the  Dahkotahs,  and  their  attax;k  on  the  Hurons  and 
Ojibways  of  La  Pointe : — 

"  There  are  certain  people,  called  Nadouessi,  dreaded 
by  their  neighbours,  and  although  they  only  use  the 
bow  and  arrow,  they  use  it  with  so  much  skill  and  so 
much  dexterity  that,  in  a  moment,  they  fill  the  air.  In 
the  Parthian  mode,  they  turn  their  heads  in  flight,  and 
discharge  their  arrows  so  rapidly,  that  they  are  no  less 
to  be  feared  in  their  retreat  than  in  their  attack. 

"  They  dwell  on  the  shores  of,  and  around  the  great 
river,  Messipi,  of  which  we  shall  speak.  They  number 
no  less  than  fifteen  poptilous  towns,  and  yet  they  know 
not  how  to  cultivate  the  earth  by  seeding  it,  contenting 
themselves  with  a  species  of  marsh  rye,  which  we  call 
wild  oats. 

"  For  sixty  leagues,  from  the  extremity  of  the  upper 
lakes  towards  sunset>  and,  as  it  were,  in  the  centre  of 
the  western  nations,  th'^  have  all  united  their  force^  by 
a  general  league,  which  has  been  made  against  them, 
as  against  a  common  enemy. 

"  They  speak  a  peculiar  language,  entirely  distinct 
from  that  of  the  Algonquins  and  Hurons,  whom  they 
generally  surpass  in  generosity,  since  they  often  content 
themselves  with  the  glory  of  having  obtained  the  vic- 
tory, and  freely  release  the  prisoners  they  have  taken 
in  batMe. 

"Our  Outaouacs  and  Hurons,  of  the  Point  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  had,  to  the  present  time,  kept  up  a  kind 


LA  POTNTE  MISSION  ABANDONED— OJIBW AYR  DIVIDED.    113 

of  peace  with  them,  but  aifairs  having  become  embroiled 
during  last  winter,  and  some  murders  having  been  com- 
mitted on  both  sides,  our  savages  had  reason  to  appre- 
liend  that  the  storm  would  soon  burst  upon  them,  and 
judged  that  it  was  safer  for  them  to  leave  the  place, 
which  in  fact  they  did  in  the  spring." 

La  Pointe  being  abandoned,  the  nearest  French  set- 
tlement is  Sault  St.  Marie,  at  the  foot  of  the  lake.  In 
the  year  1674  a  party  of  Dahkotahs  arrived  there  to 
make  an  alliance  with  the  French,  having  been  defeated 
in  recent  engagements  with  their  foes.  They  visited 
the  mission-house  of  Father  Dreuilletes,  where  some  of 
their  nation  were  under  religious  instruction;  and  a 
council  of  the  neighbouring  tribes  was  called  to  delibe- 
rate on  the  proposed  peace.  A  Cree  Indian  insulted 
a  Dahkotah  chief  by  brandishing  his  knife  in  his  face. 
Fired  at  the  indignity,  he  drew  his  own  stone  kr/"e 
from  his  belt,  and  shouted  the  war  cry.  A  fierce  con- 
flict now  took  place,  in  which  the  ten  Dahkotah  envoys 
were  scalped  and  the  mission-house  burned. 

The  Saulteurs'  or  Ojibways  divided  into  two  bands, 
not  far  from  this  period.  One  remained  at  the  Falls 
of  Saint  Mary,  and  subsisted  on  the  delicious  white  fish, 
the  other  retired  towards  the  extremity  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior, and  settled  at  two  places,  making  an  alliance  with 
the  Dahkotahs,  who  were  anxious  for  French  goods, 
which  they  strengthened  by  intermarriages.  The  Dah- 
kotahs, who  had  their  villages  near  the  Mississippi, 


'  Nainc  applied  because  they  lived  called  them  Pauotig-oueieuhak,  In- 

at  Sault  St.  Marie.    The  Dahkotahs  habitunts  of  the  Falls,  or  Pahoui- 

call  them  Ha-ha-twawns,  Dweller  at  tingdachirini,  Men  of  the  Shallow 

the  Falls.      The  Algonquin   tribes  Cataract. 


f?*!.  ' 


WW!i 


si  H. 


'W 


114 


HISTOKY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


about  the  forty-sixth  degree  of  latitude,  shared  their 
country  with  their  new  allies.  During  the  winter,  the 
Ojibways  hunted,  and  in  the  spring  they  returned  to 
the  shores  of  Lake  Superior.  While  in  the  land  of  the 
.Dahkotahs,  they  took  care  not  to  assist  them  in  their 
wars,  lest  they  should  be  embroiled  with  surrounding 
nations.' 


'  In  1864,  Tailhan,  a  Jesuit,  pub- 
lished at  Lcipsic  and  Paris,  for  the 
first  time,  the  narrative  of  Nicolas 
Perrot.  It  states  tliat  the  Hurons, 
flying  from  the  Iroquois  of  New 
York,  reached  the  Mississippi, 
crossed  and  a-scended  the  Upper 
Iowa  River.  Retracing  their  steps, 
they  entered  theScioux  country,  and 
lived  for  a  time  m  tlie  prairie  island 


a  few  mile?  above  Lake  Pepin. 
Having  quarrelled  with  the  Sioux, 
tli«y  migrated  to  the  head-waters 
of  the  Black  River. 

In  1659  the  trader  Grosellier 
visited  the  Sioux,  and  found  the 
Hurons  in  the  Black  River  Valley. 
After  this  they  again  moved,  and 
joined  the  Hurons  at  La  Pointe. 


i''r 


j  -m 


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,1 

■''. ' 

1^- 

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]i 

■*ii 

:iJ::iii 


•■>!  'I 


■!    M 


■•■      ;:,".   ,:<i  L\ 


THE  FUR  TRADB 

n 

5 

■■'.     :  'I  ■■■■■.-■ 

.,  '■'. 

•i  ;■> 

'-■•■■■■■.       •  ,    , 

■  ■ ....  1  ■  . . 

'    r  • 

.    \    t      V 

«,  1 ' 

CHAPTER  V. 


The  trade  in  furs  has  produced  a  class  of  men  of 
marked  peculiarities.  Under  the  French  dominion, 
military  officers,  and  the  descendants  of  a  decayed 
nol'ility,  were  licensed,  by  authority,  to  trade  in  a 
particular  district.  These  men  were  well  educated, 
polished  in  their  manijers,  and  fond  of  control.  Living 
in  a  savage  land,  surrounded  by  a  few  dependents,  they 
acted  as  monarchs  of  all  they  surveyed.  The  freedom 
from  the  restraints  of  civilized  life,  and  the  adulation 
received  from  the  barbarians,  who  are  so  easily  im- 
pressed by  tinsel  and  glare,  had  a  wonderful  fascina- 
tion, so  that  a  "  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness"  became 
preferable  to  the  drawing-rooms  of  ancient  France,  and 
the  gay  assemblies  of  Quebec. 

These  licensed  officers  did  not  harass  themselves  with 
the  minutiae  of  the  Indian  trade.  In  their  employ  were 
a  few  clerks,  chiefly  natives  of  Canada,  who  had  re- 
ceived the  rudiments  of  an  education.  Upon  these 
devolved  the  task  of  conducting  European  articles  of 
merchandise,  to  the  tribes  on  the  various  watercourses 
that  radiated  from  the  centre  of  trade,  with  whom  they 
wintered,  and  then  returned  in  the  spring  or  summer 
Avith  the  peltries  that  had  been  obtained  in  exchange 
for  powder,  lead,  rum,  and  tobacco. 


w  ■  -  - , 


no 


HISTORY  OF  MINNK80TA. 


'|WM' 


H 


I  la; 


Under  ( ach  clerk  were  a  few  men  of  no  cultivation, 
the  children  of  poverty  or  shame,  who  from  their 
earliest  youth  had  led  a  roving  life,  and  who  acted  as 
canoe  men,  hewers  of  wood,  and  drawers  of  water. 

Mercurial  in  temperament,  and  with  no  sense  of 
responsibility,  they  were  a  "jolly  set"  of  fellows,  in 
their  habits  approximating  to  the  savage,  rather  than 
the  European. 

The  labours  of  the  day  finished,  they  danced  around 
the  camp-fire  to  the  sound  of  the  viol,  or  they  purchased 
the  virtue  of  some  Indian  maiden,  and  engaged  in 
debauch  as  disgusting  as  that  ui'  sailors  sojourning  in 
the  isles  of  the  South  Sea,  or 

"  Worn  with  tlie  long  day's  inftrch,  and  the  chase  > 

of  the  (leer,  and  the  bison, 
Stretoiicd  tlieuiHclves  un  the  K^'f'und  and  slept 
'  wiitTL' tiie  quivering  fire-light  ,-; 

Fiiiehod  un  their  swartiij  checks,  and  their  .      -, 

forms  wni;jpe<l  up  in  tlieir  blankets."* 

Inured  to  toil,  ihey  arose  in  the  morning  "when  it 
was  yet  dark,"  and  pushing  the  prow  of  their  light 
canoes  into  the  water,  swiftly  they  glided  away  "  like 
thn  shade  of  a  cloud  on  the  prairie,"  and  did  not  break 
fast  until  the  sun  had  been  above  the  horuon  for  several 
hours. 

Halting  for  a  short  period  they  partook  of  their  coarse 
fare,  and  sang  their  rude  songs;  then  re-embarking, 
they  pursued  their  course  to  the  land  of  the  beaver  and 
the  buflfalo,  until  the  "  shades  of  night  began  to  fall." 

From  early  youth  accustomed  to  descend  rapids,  and 
ascend   lofty  'fluffs  with   heavy  burdens,  they  guided 

'Evangeline.  \  .  .    •  /V'-u.i 


IIAIUTS  OF  THK  VDYAOEUKS. 


117 


in 


"  like 


tlu'ir  canoes,  and  carried  their  packs  tlirough  places 
tiiat  would  have  been  impassable  to  any  but  the  "cou- 
reurs  des  bois.'"  When  old  age  rehixed  their  sinewy 
joints,  they  returned  to  Mackinaw,  or  some  other 
entrepot,  and  with  an  Indian  woman  obtained,  after 
tlie  manner  of  the  country,  to  mend  their  moccaains 
and  hoe  their  gardens,  passed  the  remainder  of  life  in 
whiffing  the  pipe  and  recounting  hair-breadth  escapes. 

The  "  bois  brul^"'  offspring  naturally  became  enam- 
oured with  the  rover's  life,  a  retrosj)ect  of  which  infused 
fire  into  the  dim  eyes  of  the  old  man,  and  as  soon  as 
employment  could  be  obtained  they  left  the  homestead 
to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  iheir  (I'vestors. 

The  voyageur  seldom  remains  in  a  settled  country. 
As  civilization  advances  he  feels  cramped  and  uncom- 
fortalile,  and  follows  the  Indian  in  his  retreat.  On  the 
confines  of  Minnesota  are  many  of  this  class,  whose 
fathers,  a  generation  ago,  dwelt  at  La  Pointo,  Green 
Bay,  or  Prairie  du  Chien.  Before  France  had  taken 
formal  possession  of  the  region  of  the  Lakes,  hundi'eds 
of  "  coureurs  des  bois"  had  ventured  into  the  distant 
North- West.  The  absence  of  so  many  from  regular 
pursuits,  was  supposed  to  be  disastrous  to  the  interests 
of  the  colony,  and  measures  were  taken  by  the  French 
government  to  compel  them  to  return,  which  resulted 
in  only  partial  success. 

Du  Chesneau,  Intendant  of  Canada,  was  worried  by 
the  lawlessness  of  the  rovers,  and  writes  to  the  Minister 
of  Marine' and  Colonies  of  France  : —    •"  ,-    ■.>,.      «    o,- 


'  So  called  because  they  wandered  wood,"   applied   to  half-breeds  be- 
through  the  woods,  to  obtain  peltries  cause  of  their  dark  complexions, 
from  the  savages.  '  Nov.  10,  1679,  Paris  Documents, 

'This    term,    meaning    "burnt  11.     Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.  vol.  ix.  p.  133. 


nil-      ■' 


118 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


;    i^ 


"  Be  pleased  to  bear  in  mind,  my  loi'd,  that  there  wa» 
I.,  general  complaint,  the  year  previous  to  ray  arrival  in 
this  country,  that  the  great  quantity  of  people  who 
went  to  trade  for  peltries  to  +he  Indian  country,  rumed 
the  colony,  because  those  who  alone  could  improve  it, 
being  young  and  strong  for  work,  abandoned  their 
wives  and  children,  the  cultivation  of  lands,  and  rear- 
ing of  cattle ;  that  they  became  dissipated ;  that  their 
absence  gave  rise  to  licentiousness  among  their  wives, 
as  has  often  been  the  case,  and  is  still  of  daily  occur- 
rence ;  that  they  accustomed  themselves  to  a  loafing 
and  ^'agabond  life,  ^vhich  it  was  beyond  their  power  to 
quit;  that  they  derived  little  benefit  from  their  labours, 
because  they  were  induced  to  waste  in  drunkenness  and 
fine  clothes  the  little  they  earned,  which  was  very 
trifling,  those  vv^ho  gave  them  licenses  having  the  larger 
part,  besides  the  price  of  the  goods,  which  they  sold 
them  very  dear,  and  that  the  Indians  would  no  longer 
bring  them  peltries  in  such  abundance  to  sell  to  thf. 
honest  people,  if  so  great  a  number  of  young  men  went 
in  search  of  them  to  those  very  barbarians,  who  despised 
us  on  account  of  the  great  cupidity  we  manifested." 

At  one  period,  three-fourths  jf  the  revenue  of  Canada 
was  derived  from  the  fur  trade. 

Only  twenty-five  licenses  were  granted  each  year; 
and  wlien  a  "  poor  gentleman"  or  "  old  ofiicer"  did  not 
wish  to  go  West,  he  disposed  of  Ins  permit,  which  was 
valued  at  six  hundred  crowns,  to  the  merchants  of 
Quebec  or  Montreal.  Each  license  allowed  the  pos- 
sessor to  send  two  canoes  into  the  Indian  country.  Six 
■  voyageurs"  were  employed  for  the  canoes,  and  were 
furnished  with  goods  valued  at  one  thousand  crowns, 
with  an  addition  of  fifteen  per  cent.     The  losses  and 


PROFITS  OF  FUIv  TaADE.— PERROT. 


119 


risk  were  great,  but  when  a  venture  was  successful  the 
profits  were  enormous. 

The  two  canoes  sometimes  brcuglit  to  Montreal 
beautiful  furs  valued  at  eight  thousand  crown?.  Tho 
merchants  received  from  the  "coureurs  des  bois"  six 
hundred  crowns  for  the  license,  one  thousand  for  the 
goods,  and  forty  per  cent,  on  the  balance  of  sales ;  the 
residue  was  divided  among  the  "coureurs,"  giving  to 
each  five  or  six  hundred  crov.us,  which  was  disposed  of 
as  quickly,  and  much  in  the  same  w^ay,  as  mariners  dis- 
charged from  f ,  ship  of  war  spend  their  wages. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  name  of  Nicholas  Perrot  was  ""^miliar,  not  only  to 
the  men  of  business,  and  officers  of  government  at 
Montreal  and  Quebec,  but  around  the  council  fires  of 
the  Hurons,  Ottawas,  Otchagras,  Ojibways,  Pottawota- 
mies,  Miamies,  and  Dabkotahs.  A  trader  of  Canada, 
accustomed  from  childhood  to  the  excitement  and  in- 
cidents of  border  life,  he  was  to  a  certain  extent  nre- 
pared  for  the  wild  scenes  witnessed  in  after  days. 

If  the  name  of  Joliet  is  worthy  of  preservation,  the 
citizens  of  the  North- West  ought  not  to  be  willing  to  let 
the  name  of  that  man  die,  who  was  the  first  of  whom 
we  have  any  account  that  erected  a  trading  post  on  the 
upper  Mississippi.        v-i      .*'   V    i'.      ;  :    ■    '    ;.:f;> 

Perrot  was  a  man  of  good  famil}',  and  in  his  youth 
applied  himself  to  study,  and,  being  for  a  time  in  the 
service  of  the  Jesuits,  became  familiar  with  the  customs 
iind  languages  of  most  of  the  tribes  upon  the  borders  of 
our  lakes. 

Some  years  before  La  Salle  had  launched  the  '*  Griffin" 
on  Lake  Erie,  and  commenced  his  career  of  discovery, 
Perrot,  at  the  request  of  the  authorities  in  Canada,  who 


iim 


'fH||f, 


120 


/t      HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA.  -;i'Ji'.* 


looked  upon  him  as  a  man  of  great  tact,  visited  the 
various  nations  of  the  North- West,  and  invited  them  to 
a  grand  council  at  Sault  St.  Marie,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  p  treaty  with  France.  Of  mercurial  tempera- 
ment, he  performed  the  journey  with  great  speed,  goi'i'^ 
as  far  south  as  Chicago,  the  site  of  the  present  city. 

On  the  3d  of  September,  1670,  Talon,  the  Intendant 
of  Canada,  ordered  Sieur  de  St.  Lusson  to  proceed  to 
the  "countries  of  the  Outaouais,  Nez  Perces,  Illinois, 
and  other  nations  discovered"  near  Lake  Superior  or 
the  Fresh  Sea,  and  search  for  mines,  particularly  cop- 
per. He  was  also  delegated  to  take  possession  of  all 
the  countries  through  which  he  passed,  planting  the 
cross  and  the  arms  of  France.  ■,  f 

In  May,  1671,  there  was  seen  at  the  Falls  of  St. 
Mary,  what  has  been  of  late,  a  frequent  occurrence. 
Here  was  the  first  convocation  of  civilized  men,  with 
the  aborigines  of  tlie  North- West,  for  the  formation  of 
a  compact,  for  the  purposes  of  trade  and  mutual  assist- 
ance.* .     :    ,;     :    .     ■:^ln^*'^    '  1,1- ./■■■■  i:i.v,  .    ;U:  ''<*i  t-';U4i!| 

It  was  not  only  the  custom  but  policy  of  the  court 
of  France  to  make  a  great  display  upon  such  an  occa- 
sion. It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  we 
sliould  see  the  ecclesiastic  and  military  officers,  sur- 
rounded "with  all  of  the  pomp  and  circumstance" 
peculiar  to  their  profession  in  that  age  of  extravagance 
in  externals. 

AUouez,  the  first  ecclesiastic  who  saw  the  Dahkotaha 

'  The  Europeans  present,  besides  a  soldier  of  the  castle  of  Quebec ; 

De  Lusson  and  Perrot,  were  the  Je-  Dennis  Musse  ;  Chavigny ;  Chevriot- 

snits,  Andr6,  DreuillcTis,   Allouez,  tiere;  Lagillier;  Muyser^ ;  Dupuis ; 

and   Dablon  ;    also  Joiiet,   the  ex-  Bidaad  Jouiel ;  Pc^cet ;  Du  Prat ; 

plorer  of  the  Mississippi ;   Mogras.  Vital  Oriol ;  Guillauine. 
of  Three  Rivers,  Canada  ;  Touppine,  ;  J" }.''' :> 


1^^ 


TAKING  POSSESSION  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST. 


i2i 


face  to  face,  and  the  founder  of  the  mission  among  the 
Ojibways  at  La  Pointe,  opened  ouncil  by  detailing  to 
the  painted,  grotesque  assemblage,  enveloped  in  the 
robes  of  the  beaver  and  buffalo,  the  great  power  of  his 
monarch  who  lived  beyond  the  seas. 

Two  holes  were  then  dug,  in  one  of  which  was 
planted  a  cedar  column,  and  in  the  other  a  cross  of  the 
same  material.  After  this  the  European  portion  of  the 
assemblage  chanted  the  hymn  which  was  so  often  heard 
in  the  olden  time  from  Lake  Superior  to  Lake  Pont- 
chartrain  : —    '  j^tr-^'  '-thhi:*i1i>h  'umV'  :: 

,.,:..,    !  .,  "Vesilla  regis  prodount    .iT*'"   ''^.'^'^■• 

•'^vll^-;  ,;Hl:Uiylw«      Fulget  crucis  mysterium,        ,;,,j|. 


ii> 


tifUi: 


Qua  vita  mortem  pertulit, 
Et  morte,  vitam  pertulit." 


Ill  J 


The  arms  of  France,  probably  engraved  on  leaden 
plates,  were  then  attached  to  both  column  and  cross, 
and  again  the  whole  company  sang  together  the  "  Exau- 
diat,"  of  the  Roman  Catholic  service,  the  same  as  the 
20th  Psalm,  of  the  King  James'  version  of  the  Bible. 
The  delegates  from  the  different  tribes  having  signified 
their  approval  of  what  Perrot  had  interpreted  of  the 
speech  of  the  French  Envoy,  St.  Lusson,  there  was  a 
grand  discharge  of  musketry,  and  the  chanting  of  the 
noble  "  Te  Deum  Laudumus." 

After  this  alliance  was  concluded,  Perrot,  in  a  spirit 
of  enterprise,  opened  the  trade  with  some  of  the  more 
remote  tribes. 

The  first  trading  posts  on  Lake  Superior,  beyond 
Sault  St.  Marie,  were  built  of  pine  logs,  by  Daniel 
Greysolon  du  Lutli,  a  native  of  L^ons,  at  Kamanisti- 
goya,    north  east    of  Pigeon  river,  Minnesota.     On  the 

-  ..,  *  Appendux  C 


1:^2 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


I  I'm 


Ist  of  September,  1678,  he  left  Quebec,  to  explore  the 
country  of  the  Dahkotahs  and  Assineboines. 

-^"ixt  year,  on  the  2d  of  July,  he  caused  the 
king .  is  to  be  planted  "  in  the  great  village  of  the 
Nadoue^isioux  (Dahkotahs),  called  Kathio,  where  no 
Frenchman  had  ever  been,  also  at  Songaskicons,  and 
Houetbatons,'  one  hundred  and  twenty  leagues  distant 
from  the  former." 

On  the  15th  of  September,  he  met  the  Assineboines 
and  other  nations,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  for  the 
purpose  of  settling  their  difficulties  with  the  Dahkotahs, 
and  was  successful. 

On  this  tour  he  visited  Mille  Lac,  which  he  called 
Lake  Buade,  the  family  name  of  Frontenac,  governor  of 
Canada.'' 

Du  Chesneau,  the  intendant  of  Canada,  appears  to 
have  been  hostile  to  Du  Luth,  and  wrote  to  Seignelay, 
Minister  of  the  Colonies,  that  he  and  Governor  Fronte- 
nac were  in  correspondence,  and  enriching  themselves 
by  the  fur  trade.  He  also  intimated  that  the  governor 
clandestinely  encouraged  Du  Luth  to  sell  his  peltries 
to  the  English.  From  the  tone  of  the  correspondence, 
Du  Chesneau  was  excitable  and  prejudiced.* 


'  The  Chongasketons  and  Ouade- 
liatons  of  the  early  French  maps. 
The  former  were  the  same  as  the 
Sissetoans. 

'^  Coronellis'  map,  corrected  by 
Tillemon,  published  at  Paris,  1688. 

•  "  The  man  named  La  Taupine, 
n  famous  '  coureur  de  bois,'  who 
set  out  in  the  month  of  September 
of  lasi  far,  1678,  to  go  to  the  Ou- 
tawacs,  with  good-i,  and  who  has 
always  been  interestud  with  tlie  go- 


vernor, having  returned  this  year, 
and  I  being  advised  that  he  had 
traded  in  two  days,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  beaver  robes  in  a  single  village 
of  this  tribe,  amounting  in  all  to 
nearly  nine  hundred  beavers,  which 
is  a  maHer  of  public  notoriety,  and 
that  he  left  with  Du  Luth,  two  men, 
whom  he  had  with  him,  considered 
myself  bound  to  have  him  arrested 
and  to  question  him,  but  having  pre- 
sented a  license  from  the  governoi 


DU  LUTH'S  UNCLE. 


12a 


and 


He  attempted  to  imprison  several  of  Du  Luth's  friends, 
among  others  his  uncle,  named  Patron,  who  was  a  mer- 
chant, and  his  agent  for  the  sale  of  furs. 

The  account  that  Perrot  gave  of  his  explorations  be- 
yond Lake  Michigan,  attracted  the  attention  of  La  Salle, 
and  induced  him  to  project  those  enterprises  which  have 
given  distinction  to  his  name. 


permitting  him  and  his  comrades, 
Lamonde,  and  Dupuy,  to  repair  to 
the  Outawao  nation  to  execute  his 
Beoret  orders,  I  had  him  set  at  li- 
berty. Immediately  on  his  going 
out,  Sieur  Prevost,  Town-Mayor  of 
Quebec,  came  at  the  head  of  some 
Boldiers,  to  force  the  prison,  with 
written  orders  in  these  terms  from 
the  governor: —  ■..,,,      ■,:■»./    ■■ 

"  '  Count  de  Frontenao,  Councillor 
of  the  King  in  his  Council,  Oovernor 


and  Lieutenant-General  of  His  Ma- 
jesty in  New  Prance : 

"Sieur  Prevost,  Mayor  of  Quebec, 
is  ordered,  in  case  the  Intendant  ar- 
rest Pierre  Moreau,  alias  La  Tau 
pine,  whom  we  have  sent  to  Quebec 
as  bearer  of  despatches,  upon  pre- 
text of  his  having  been  in  the  bush, 
to  set  him  forthwith  at  liberty,  ano 
employ  every  means  for  this  purpose 
at  his  peril.  Done  at  Montreal,  5tb 
September,  1679. 

FlONTBNAC'  " 


,{/.■■ 


L    lt,r^r.-^I^J^ 


>l(!V' 


*  >  t'     i^"'  ^''•f'*''-*  - 


ihL 


!<  'v  'n 


h 


Ji 


i'l.'i 


H'i-l^ 


U/fl 


'li  »v (    !')   nil.- 


■i;i      iJ 


ill  n'ivC 


.- -iiH. 


Ml'  t  ) 


f^M, 


■kw  h 


\l 


-jjni'.b 


P'H 


a  h'-iO''    ;:>•;■ 


% 


124 


BISTORT  OF  MINNESOTA. 


I* 


i\*mf 


\m 


'  !':lt(;:  =:U 


'I  ..'  iK;  'v;  .):i.> ; 


■  ■      '  -i.    i:  ■■r-'   fi'i-    iv;t-    .  !:;.;.!.>',• 


CHAPTER    VI. 


>ii'! 


TuE  same  autumn  that  Du  Luth  left  Montreal  for 
the  region  west  of  Lake  Superior,  La  Salle  was  at  Fort 
Frontenac,  the  modem  Kingston,  busily  engaged  in 
maturing  his  plans  for  an  occupation  of  the  Mississippi 
valle}'.  During  the  winter  and  the  following  spring  his 
employees  were  occupied  in  building  a  vessel  to  navi- 
gate the  lakes.  Among  those  who  were  to  accompany 
him  on  the  voyage  was  Louis  Hennepin,  'V  Franciscan 
priest,  of  the  Recollect  order. 

Among  the  first  to  explore  the  Mississippi  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin;  the  first  to  name  and 
describe  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony ;  the  first  to  pre- 
sent an  engraving  of  the  Falls  of  Niagara  to  the  literary 
world ;  the  Minnesotian  will  desire  to  know  something 
of  the  antecedents  and  subsequent  life  of  this  individual. 

The  account  of  Hennepin's  early  life  is  chiefly  ob- 
tained from  the  introductio;^  to  the  Amsterdam  edition 
of  his  book  of  travels.  He  was  born  in  Ath,  an  inland 
town  of  the  Netherlands.  From  boyhood  he  longed 
to  visit  foreign  countries,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  he  assumed  the  priestly  office,  for  next  to  the 
army,  it  was  the  road,  in  that  age,  to  distinction.  For 
several  years  he  led  quite  a  wandering  life.    A  member 


HENNEPIN'S  FONDNESS  OF  ADVENTURE. 


12^ 


of  the  Recollect  branch  of  the  Franciscans,  at  one  time 
he  is  on  a  begging  expedition  to  some  of  the  towns  on 
the  sea  coast.  In  a  few  months  he  occupies  the  post  of 
chaplain  at  an  hospital,  where  he  shrives  the  dying  and 
administers  extreme  unction.  From  the  quiet  of  the  hos- 
pital he  proceeds  to  the  camp,  and  is  present  at  the  battle 
of  Seneffe,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1674. 

His  whole  mind,  from  the  time  that  he  became  a 
priest,  appears  to  have  been  on  "  things  seen  and  tem- 
poral," rather  than  on  those  that  are  "  unseen  and 
eternal."  While  on  duty  at  some  of  the  ports  on  the 
Straits  of  Dover,  he  exhibited  the  characteristic  of  an 
ancient  Athenian  more  than  that  of  a  professed  successor 
of  the  Apostles.  He  sought  out  the  society  of  strangers 
•'  who  spent  their  time  in  nothing  else  but  either  to  tell 
or  to  hear  some  new  thing."  With  perfect  nonchalance 
he  confesses  that  notwithstanding  the  nauseating  fumes 
of  tobacco,  he  used  to  slip  behind  the  doors  of  sailors' . 
taverns,  and  spend  days,  without  regard  to  the  loss  of 
his  meals,  listening  to  the  adventures  and  hair-breadth 
escapes  of  the  mariners  in  lands  beyond  the  sea. 

In  the  year  1676  he  received  a  welcome  order  from 
his  Superior,  requiring  him  to  embark  for  Canada.  Un- 
accustomed to  the  world,  and  arbitrary  in  his  disposi- 
tion, he  rendered  the  cabin  of  the  ship  in  which  he 
sailed  anything  but  heavenly.  As  in  modern  days,  the 
passengers  in  a  vessel  to  the  new  world  were  composed 
of  heterogeneous  materials.  There  were  young  women 
going  out  in  search  for  brothers  or  husbands,  ecclesias- 
tics, and  those  engaged  in  the  then  new,  but  profitable, 
commerce  in  furs.  One  of  his  fellow  passengers  was  the 
talented  and  enterprising,  though  unfortunate.  La  Salle, 
with  whom  he  afterwards  associated.     If  he  is  to  be 


lll'f** 


AfV 


««p^« 


126 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


credited,  his  intercourse  with  La  Salle  was  not  very- 
pleasant  on  ship-boavrl.  The  young  women,  tired  of 
being  cooped  up  in  the  narrow  accommodations  of  the 
ship,  when  the  evening  was  fair  sought  the  deck,  and 
engaged  in  the  rude  dances  of  the  French  peasantry  of 
that  age.  Hennepin,  feeling  that  it  was  improper, 
began  to  assume  the  air  of  the  priest,  and  forbade  the 
sport.  La  Salle,  feeling  that  his  interference  was  un- 
called for,  called  him  a  pedant,  and  took  the  side  of  the 
girls,  and  during  the  voyage  there  were  stormy  discus- 
sions. 

Good  humour  appears  to  have  been  restored  when 
they  left  the  ship,  for  Hennepin  would  otherwise  have 
not  been  the  companion  of  La  Salle  in  his  great  Western 
journey. 

Sojourning  for  a  short  period  at  Quebec,  the  adven- 
ture-loving Franciscan  is  permitted  to  go  to  a  mission 
station  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Kings- 
ton, Canada  West. 

Here  there  was  much  to  gratify  his  love  of  novelty, 
and  he  passed  considerable  time  in  rambling  among 
the  Iroquois  of  New  York,  who  hunted  as  lar 
eastward  as  the  Dutch  Fort  Orange,  now  the  city  of 
Albany. 

In  1678  he  returned  to  Quebec,  and  was  ordered  to 
join  the  expedition  of  Robert  La  Salle. 

On  the  6th  of  December  Father  Hennepin  and  a  por- 
tion of  the  exploring  party  had  entered  the  Niagara 
river.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  Falls,  the  winter  was 
passed,  and  while  the  artisans  were  preparing  a  ship 
above  the  Falls,  to  navigate  the  great  lakes,  the  Recol- 
lect Aviled  away  the  hours  in  studying  the  manners  and 


THE  SHIP  GRIFFIN— HENNEPIN. 


127 


customs  of  the  Seneca  Indians,  and  in  admiring  the 
sublimest  handiwork  of  God  on  the  globe. 

On  the  7th  of  August,  1679,  the  ship  being  com- 
pletely rigged,  unfurled  its  sails  to  the  breezes  of  Lake 
Erie.  The  vessel  was  named  the  "Griffni,"  in  honour 
of  the  arms  of  Frontenac,  Governor  of  Canada,  the  first 
sliip  of  European  construction  that  had  ever  ploughed 
the  waters  of  the  great  inland  seas  of  North  America. 

After  encountering  a  violent  and  dangerous  storm  on 
one  of  the  lakes,  during  which  they  had  given  up  all 
hopes  of  escaping  shipwreck,  on  the  27tli  of  the  month, 
they  were  safely  moored  in  the  harbour  of  "  Missili- 
mackinack."  From  thence  the  party  proceeded  to 
Green  Bay,  where  they  left  the  ship,  procured  canoes, 
and  continued  along  the  coast  of  Lake  Michigan.  By 
the  middle  of  January,  1680,  La  Salle  had  conducted 
his  expedition  to  the  Illinois  river,  and  on  an  eminence 
near  Lake  Peoria,  he  commenced,  with  much  heaviness 
of  heart,  the  erection  of  a  fort,  which  he  called  Creve- 
coeur,  on  account  of  the  many  disappointments  he  had 
experienced. 

La  Salle,  in  the  month  of  February,  selected  Henne- 
pin and  two  traders  for  the  arduous  and  dangerous 
undertaking  of  exploring  the  unknown  regions  of  the 
upper  Mississippi.  -''  •:••!',*:'*'■';  i- li.   ur'.''-^ 

Daring  and  ambitious  of  distinction  as  a  discoverer, 
he  was  not  averse  to  such  a  commission,  though  per- 
haps he  may  have  shrunk  from  the  undertaking  at  so 
inclement  a  sea?on  as  the  last  of  February  is,  in  this 
portion  of  North  America. 

On  the  29th  of  February,  1680,  with  two  voyageura, 
named  Picard  du  Gay  and  Michael  Ako,  Hennepin  em- 
barked in  a  canoe  on  the  voyage  of  discovery  »       -.    ■ 

^Appendix  D 


if 

1 

:'*' 

U- 

5' Ml 


ij  i.:'^i 


128 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


The  venerable  Ribourde,  a  member  of  a  Burgunilian 
family  of  high  rank,  and  a  fellow  Franciscan,  came 
down  to  the  river  bank  to  see  him  off,  and,  in  bidding 
him  farewell,  told  him  to  acquit  himself  like  a  man,  and 
be  of  good  courage.  Ilis  words  were,  "  Viriliter  age  et 
confortetur  cor  tuum."  .     ,    .,;   i         — .•    ,, 

The  canoe  was  loaded  with  about  one  hundred  and 
lifty  dollars'  worth  of  merchandise  for  the  pmpose  of 
trade  with  the  Indians,  and  in  addition  La  Salle  pre- 
sented to  Hennepin  ten  knives,  twelve  awls  or  bodkins, 
a  parcel  of  tobacco,  a  package  of  needles,  and  a  pound 
or  two  of  white  or  black  beads.  •'  . 

The  movements  of  Hennepin,  during  the  month  of 
March,  are  not  very  clearly  related.  He  appears  to 
have  been  detained  at  the  junction  of  the  Illinois  with 
the  Mississippi  by  the  tioating  ice,  until  near  the  mid- 
dle of  that  month,  lie  then  commenced  the  ascent  o" 
the  river  for  the  first  time  by  civilized  man,  though 
Marquette  had,  seven  years  before,  descended  from  the 

Wisconsin.  ^  ,,   .,,  fin,...,.;^  *»,.■,,;  ,r, 

Surrounded  by  hostile  and  unknown  natives,  they 
•autiously  proceeded.  On  the  11th  of  April,  1680, 
vhirty-three  bark  canoes,  containing  a  Dahkotah  war 
party  against  the  Illinois  and  Miami  nations,  hove  in 
.sight,  and  commenced  discharging  their  arrows  at  the 
canoe  of  the  Frenchmen.  Perceiving  the  calumet  of 
peace,  they  ceased  their  hostile  demonstrations  and  ap- 
proached. The  first  night  that  Hennepin  and  his  com- 
panions passed  with  the  Dahkotah  party  was  one  of 
anxiety.  The  next  morning,  a  chief  named  Narrhetoba 
asked  for  the  peace  calumet,  filled  it  with  willov^  bark 
and  all  smoked.  It  was  then  signified  that  the  white 
p'.en  were  to  return  with  them  to  their  villages. 


!W 


FRANCISCAN'S  ATTEMPT  TO  PRAY. 


12a 


In  his  narrative  the  Franciscan  remarks  : — "  I  found 
it  difficult  to  say  my  office  before  these  Indians.  Many 
seeing  me  move  my  lips,  said  in  a  fierce  tone, '  Ouak- 
anche.'  Michael,  all  out  of  countenance,  told  me,  that 
if  I  continued  to  say  my  breviary,  we  should  all  three 
be  killed,  and  the  Picard  begged  me  at  least  to  pray 
apart,  so  as  not  to  provoke  them.  I  followed  the 
hitter's  advice,  but  the  more  I  concealed  myself,  the 
more  I  had  the  Indians  at  my  heels,  for  when  I  entered 
the  wood,  they  thought  I  was  going  to  hide  some  goods 
under  ground,  so  that  I  knew  not  on  what  side  to  turn 


to   pray,  for   they  never  let  me  out  of 


sight. 


This 


obliged  me  to  beg  pardon  of  my  canoe-men,  assuring 
them  I  could  not  dispense  with  saying  my  office.  By 
the  word  '  Ouakanche,'  the  Indians  meant  that  the 
book  I  was  reading  wiis  a  spirit,  but  by  their  gesture 
they  nevertheless  showed  a  kind  of  aversion,  so  that  to 
accustom  them  to  it,  I  chanted  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  in  the  canoe,  with  my  book  opened.  They 
thought  that  the  breviary  v/as  a  spirit  which  taught  me 
to  sing  for  their  diversion,  for  these  people  are  naturally 
fond  of  singing." 

This  is  the  first  mention  of  a  Dahkotah  word  in  a 
European  book.  The  savages  were  annoyed  rather 
than  enraged,  at  seeing  the  white  man  reading  a  book, 
iind  exclaimed  "  Wakan-de  !"  this  is  wonderful  or  super- 
natural. The  war  party  Avas  composed  of  several  bands 
of  the  M'dewakantonwan  Dahkotah  s,  and  there  was  a 
diversity  of  opinion  in  relation  to  the  disposition  that 
should  be  made  of  the  white  men.  The  relatives  of 
those  who  had  been  killed  by  the  Miamis.  were  in 
favour  of  taking  their  scalps,  but  others  were  anxious 


VIM'), 


■  '"•%;. 


l-t  *-* 


't  rsfi 


l^-'L, 


■sAnti. 


180 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


to  retain  the  favour  of  the  French,  and  open  a  trading 
intercourse.  .  ;; 

Perceiving  one  of  the  eanoe-men  shoot  a  wild  turkey, 
the}'  called  the  gun  Manza  Ouackange — iron  that  has 
understanding;  more  correctly,  Maza  Wakande,  this  is 
the  supernatural  metal. 

A(iuipaguatin,  one  of  the  head  men,  resorted  to  the 
following  device  to  obtain  merchandise.  Says  the 
Father,  "  this  wily  savage  had  the  bones  of  some  ('' 
tinguished  relative,  which  he  preserved  with  great  r 
in  some  skins  dressed  and  adorned  with  several  rows  of 
Dlack  and  red  porcupine  quills.  From  time  to  tinie  he 
assembled  his  men  to  give  it  a  smoke,  and  made  us 
come  several  days  to  cover  the  bones  with  goods,  and 
by  a  present  wipe  away  the  tears  lie  had  shed  for  him, 
and  for  his  own  son  killed  by  the  Miamis.  To  appease 
this  captious  man,  we  threw  on  the  bones  several 
fathoms  of  tobacco,  axes,  knives,  beads,  and  some  black 
and  white  wampum  bracelets.  ******* 
We  slept  at  the  point  of  the  Lake  of  Tears,*  which  we 
so  called  from  the  tears  which  this  chief  shed  all  night 
long,  or  by  one  of  his  sons  whom  he  caused  to  weep 
when  he  grew  tired." 

The  next  day,  after  four  or  five  leagues'  sail,  a  chief 
came,  and  telling  them  io  leave  their  canoes,  he  pulled 
up  three  piles  of  grass  for  seats.  Then  taking  a  piece 
of  cedar,  full  of  little  holes,  he  placed  a  stick  into  one, 
which  he  revolved  between  the  palms  of  his  hands, 
until  he  kindled  a  fire,  and  informed  the  Frenchmen 
that  they  would  be  at  Mille  Lac  in  six  days.  On  the 
iiinetoenth  day  after  their  captivity,  they  arri  /ed  in  the 

,  ,,.  ■■-.■■'■ ,  ■  '  '!  ■  'r?rtA/|i> 

'  Lake  Pepin. 


HENNEIMN  NEAU  ST.   PAUL.— MILLE  LAC. 


181 


vicinity  of  Saint  Paul,  not  far,  it  is  probable,  from  the 
niarsliy  ground  on  which  the  Kaposia  band  once  lived, 
and  now  called  ''  Pig's  Eye." 

The  journal  renuirks,  "  Having  arrived,  on  the  nine- 
teenth day  of  our  navigation,  five  leagues  below  St. 
Anthony's  Falls,  these  Indians  landed  us  in  a  bay, 
broke  our  canoe  to  pieces,  and  secreted  their  own  in 
the  reeds." 

They  then  followed  the  trail  to  Mille  Lac,  sixty 
leagues  distant.  Ah  they  approached  their  villages,  the 
various  bands  began  to  show  their  spoils.  The  tobacco 
was  highly  prized,  and  led  to  some  contention.  The 
chalice  of  the  B'ather,  whicli  glistened  in  the  sun,  they 
were  alVaid  to  touch,  supposing  it  was  "  wakan."'  After 
five  days'  walk  tae_y  reached  the  Issati  (Dahkotah) 
settlements  in  the  valley  of  the  Hum  river.  The  dif- 
ferent bands  each  conducted  a  Frenchman  to  their 
village,  the  chief  Aquipaguetin  taking  charge  of  Hen- 
nepin. After  nuirching  through  the  marshes  towards 
the  sources  of  Rum  river,  live  wives  of  the  chief,  in 
three  bark  canoes,  met  them  and  took  them  a  short 
league  to  an  island  where  their  cabins  were. 

An  aged  Indian  kindly  rubbed  down  the  way-worn 
Franciscan — placing  him  on  a  bear-skin  near  the  fire, 
he  anointed  his  legs  and  the  soles  of  his  feet  with  wild- 
cat oil. 

The  son  of  the  chief  took  great  pleasure  in  carrying 
upon  his  bare  back  the  priest's  robe  with  dead  men's 
bones  enveloped.  It  was  called  P^re  Louis  Chinnien — 
in  the  Dahkotah  language  Shinna  or  Shinnan  signifies 


'  Tlie  word  for  supernatural,  in     ed,   but   pronounced   "  wakon,"   or 
'the  Pahkotah  Lexicon,  is  thus  spell-     "  wawkawn." 


152 


HlfelORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


a  buffalo  robe.     Heiinepin's  description  of  his  life  on 
the  island  is  in  these  words  : — 

"The  day  after  our  arrival,  Aquipaguetin,  who  was 
the  head  of  a  large  family,  covered  me  with  a  robe  made 
of  ten  lai'ge  dressed  beaver  skins,  trimmed  with  porcu- 
pine quills.  This  Indian  showed  me  five  or  six  of  his 
wives,  telling  them,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  that  they 
should  in  future  r'^-gard  me  as  one  of  their  children. 

*'  He  set  before  me  a  bark  dish  full  of  fish,  and,  seeing 
that  I  could  not  rise  from  the  ground,  he  had  a  small 
sweating-cabin  made,  in  which  he  made  me  enter  naked 
with  four  Indians.  This  cabin  he  covered  with  buflfalo 
skins,  and  inside  he  put  stones  red-hot.  He  made  me 
a  sign  to  do  as  the  others  before  beginning  to  sweat,  but 
I  merely  cuiicealed  my  nakedness  with  a  handkerchief. 
As  soon  as  these  Indians  had  several  times  breathed 
out  quite  violently,  he  began  to  sing  vociferously,  the 
others  putting  their  hands  on  me  and  rubbing  me  while 
they  wept  bitterly.  I  began  to  faint,  but  I  came  out 
and  could  scarcely  take  my  habit  to  put  on.  When  he 
made  me  sweat  thus  three  times  a  week,  1  felt  as  strong 
as  ever." 

The  mariner's  compass  was  a  constant  source  of 
wonder  and  amazement.  Aquipaguetin  having  assem- 
bled the  braves,  would  ask  Hennepin  to  show  his  com- 
pass. Perceiving  that  the  needle  turned,  the  chief 
harangued  his  men,  and  told  them  that  the  Europeans 
were  spirits,  capable  of  doing  anything. 

In  the  Franciscan's  pop«ession  was  an  iron  pot  with 
lion  paw  feet,  which  the  Indians  would  not  touch  unlees 
their  hands  were  wrapped  in  buffalo  skins. 

The  women  looked  upon  it  as  "  wakan,"  and  would 
not  enter  the  cabin  where  i^  was. 


QUERIES  OF  THE  DAHKOTAIIS. 


133 


"  The  chiefs  of  these  savages,  seeing  that  1  was  de- 
sirous to  learn,  frequently  made  me  write,  naming  all 
tlie  parts  of  the  human  body ;  and  as  I  would  not  put 
on  paper  certain  indelicate  words,  at  which  they  do  not 
blush,  they  were  heartily  amused."  » 

They  often  asked  the  Franciscan  questions,  to  answer 
which  it  was  necessary  to  refer  to  his  lexicon.  This 
appeared  very  strange,  and,  as  they  had  no  word  for 
liaper,  they  said,  "  That  white  thing  must  be  a  spirit 
which  tells  Pe^e  Louis  all  we  say." 

Hennepin  remarks  :  "  These  Indians  often  asked  mo 
how  many  wives  and  children  I  had,  and  how  old  I  was, 
that  is,  how  many  winters ;  for  so  these  natives  alwaj's 
count.  Never  illumined  by  the  light  of  faith,  they  were 
surprised  at  my  answer.  Pointing  to  our  two  French- 
men, whom  I  was  then  visiting,  at  a  2)oint  three  leagues 
from  our  village,  I  told  them  that  a  man  among  us 
could  only  liave  one  wife ;  that,  as  for  me,  I  had  pro- 
mised the  Master  of  life  to  live  as  the^-  saw  me,  and  to 
come  and  live  with  them  to  teach  them  to  be  like  the 
French. 

"  But  that  gross  people,  till  then  lawljs?'  and  faithless, 
turned  all  I  said  into  ridicule.  ' How,'  iaid  they,  'would 
you  have  these  two  men  with  thee  have  wives  ?  Ours 
^vould  not  live  with  them,  for  they  have  hair  all  over 
their  face,  and  we  have  none  there  or  elsewhere.'  In 
llict  they  were  never  better  pleased  with  me  than  when 
I  was  shaved,  and  from  a  complaisance,  certainly  not 
criminal,  I  shaved  every  week. 

"As  I  often  went  to  visit  the  cabins,  I  found  a  sick 
ohild,  whose  father's  name  was  Mamenisi.  Michael 
Ako  would  not  accompany  me ;  the  Picard  du  Gay  alone 


y 


184 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


followed  me  to  act  as  sponsor,  or  rather  to  witness  the 
baptism. 

"  I  christened  the  child  Antoinette,  in  honour  of  St. 
Anthony  of  Padua,  as  well  as  for  the  Picard's  name, 
which  was  Anthony  Auguelle.  He  was  a  native  of 
.Vniiens,  and  nephew  of  the  Procurator-General  of  the 
Premonstratonsians  both  now  at  Paris.  Having  poured 
natural  water  on  the  head  imd  uttered  these  words : — 
'Creature,  of  God,  I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  I  took 
half  an  altar  cloth  which  I  had  wrested  from  the  hands 
of  an  Indian  who  had  stolen  it  from  me,  and  put  it  on 
the  body  of  the  baptized  child ;  for  as  I  could  not  say 
mass  for  want  of  wine  and  vestments,  this  piece  of  linen 
could  not  be  put  to  better  use,  than  to  enshroud  the 
first  Christian  child  among  these  tribes.  I  do  not  know 
whether  the  softness  of  the  linen  had  refreshed  her,  but 
she  was  the  next  day  smiling  in  her  mother's  arms,  who 
believed  that  I  had  cured  the  child — but  she  died  soon 
after,  to  my  great  consolation. 

"  Dui'ing  my  stay  among  them,  there  arrived  four 
savages,  who  said  they  were  coin*^  vAone  five  hundred 
leagues  from  the  west,  and  had  been  four  months  upon 
the  way.  They  assured  us  there  was  no  such  place  .is 
the  Straits  of  Anian,  and  that  they  had  travelled  with- 
out resting,  except  to  sleep,  and  had  not  seen  or  passed 
over  any  great  lake,  by  which  phrase  they  always  mean 
the  sea. 

"  They  further  informed  us  that  the  nation  of  the 
Assenipoulacs  (Assiniboines)  who  lie  north-east  of  Issati, 
was  not  above  six  or  seven  days'  journey ;  that  none  of 
the  nations,  within  their  knowledge,  who  lie  to  the  east 


FALSEHOODS  OF  HENNEPIN. 


135 


or  north-west,  had  any  great  hike  about  their  countries, 
which  were  very  large,  but  only  rivers  which  came 
from  the  north.  They  further  assured  us  that  there 
were  very  few  forests  in  the  countries  through  which 
they  passed,  insomuch  that  now  and  then  they  were 
fiirced  to  make  fires  of  buffaloes'  dung  to  boil  their  food. 
All  these  circumstances  make  it  appear  that  there  is  no 
such  place  as  the  Straits  of  Anian,  as  we  usually  see 
them  set  down  on  the  maps.  And  whatever  efforts 
have  been  made  for  many  years  past  by  the  English 
and  Dutch,  to  find  out  a  passage  to  the  Frozen  Sea,  they 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  effect  it.  But  by  the  help  of 
my  discovery,  and  the  assistance  of  God.  T  doubt  not 
but  a  passage  may  still  be  found,  and  that  an  easy  one 
too. 

"  For  example,  we  may  be  transportt'd  into  tho  Paci- 
fic Sea,  by  rivers  which  are  large  and  capuble  of  carry- 
ing great  vessels,  and  from  thence  it  is  very  ea<)y  to  go  to 
China  and  Japan,  without  crossing  the  equinoctial  line, 
and,,  in  nil  probahility,  Japan  is  on  the  same  continent  as 
America." 

It  is  painful  to  witness  a  member  of  the  sacred  pro- 
fession so  mendacioii::  '.s  Hennepin.  After  publishing 
a  tolerably  correct  account  of  his  adventures  in  Minne- 
sota, in  1683,  at  Paris,  fifteen  years  after  he  issued 
another  edition  greatly  enlarged,  in  which  he  claims  to 
have  descended  the  Mississippi  towards  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  as  well  as  discovered  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 
As  the  reader  notes  his  glaring  contradictions  in  this 
last  work,  he  is  surprised  that  the  author  should  liave 
been  bold  enough  to  contend,  that  the  statements  were 
reliable.     Though  a  large  portion  was  plagiarized  from 


1! 


U6 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA, 


P'\i 


liKI 


lit  f  ^**i. 


H 


ipr 


'    I 


the  acojiints  of  other  travellers,  it  had  a  rapid  sale,  and 
was  translated  into  several  languages.* 


•  The  following  will  give  some 
idea  of  the  popularity  of  Hennepin's 
narrative.  It  was  prepared  bj'  Dr. 
O'Callajjliau,  for  the  Historical  Ma- 
gazine, Jan.  1858,  and  is  believed  to 
be  nearly  a  complete  list  of  the  seve- 
ral editions  of  Hennepin's  books  : 

No,  1.  Description  de  laLouisiane. 
12mo.  Paris,  1683.  Meusel.  Ter- 
iiuux.  No.  985. 

2.  The  same.  12mo.  Paris,  1684. 
Rich.,  in  No.  403..riG83. 

3.  Descrizione  dclla  Luisiana. 
12mo.  Bologna,  1686.  Rili.  Belg. 
Meusel  Ternaux,  No.  1012.  Trans- 
Intoil  by  Casiniir  Frescot. 

4.  Description  de  la  Louisiane. 
12mo.  Paris,  1688.  Richarderie 
Fariljault. 

5.  Boschryving  van  Louisiana. 
4to.  Amsterdam,  1688,  Harv, 
Cat. 

6.  Beschroibung,  &c.  1"ino. 
Nurnlierg,  1689.  Mental.  Tern  ,ii\-, 
No.  1041. 

7.  Nouvelle  D^'oouverte.  ]2ino. 
Utrecht,  1697.  Ternaux,  1095. 
"  Nouvelle  Description,"  Meusel. 
Faribault. 

8.  The  same.  12mo.  Amsterdam, 
1698.     Ternaux,  No.  1110. 

9.  New  Discovery.  London,  1098. 
Ternaux,  No.  1119,  who  calls  it  a 
4tpu. ;  all  the  other  catalogues  an  Svo. 
J.  R.  B.  says  2v. ;  but  see  Rich. 

10.  Another,  same  title.  Svo. 
London,  1698,     J,  R.  B. 

11.  Nouveau  Voyage.  12ino. 
Utrecht,  1698.     Ternaux,  No.  1111. 


his  third  vol. :  No.  1  stip.,  being  his 
first,  and  No.  7  au}).  his  second. 
Rich. 

12.  An  edition  in  Dutch.  4to. 
Utrecht,  1698.     J.  R.  B. 

13.  Nouveau  Voyage.  Amster- 
dam, 1698.     Faribault. 

14.  A  New  Discovery  of  a  Vast 
Country,  &c.  Svo.  London,  Bon- 
wick,  1699.  t.  f.  Ded.  4ff.  Pref. 
2ff.  Cont.  3ff.  Text,  pp.  240  and 
216,  with  tit.,  pref.  and  cont.  to  part 
II. ;  two  maps,  six  plates.  [Not  in 
any  catalogue.] 

15.  Relation,  de  un  Pays,  &c. 
12mo.  Brusselas,  1699,  Ternaux, 
1126.  A  translation  into  Spanish 
by  Seb.  Fern,  de  Medrano. 

16.  Neue  Entdekungen  vieler 
grossen  Landschaften  in  Amerika. 
12mo.  Bremen,  1699,  Ternaux, 
1049,  who  gives  the  date  incorrectly, 
1690.  Translated  by  Langen.  Meu- 
sel, No.  6  of  .f.  R.  B.,  and  an  edition 
in  German  of  No.  7.     Siipra. 

17.  Voyage  ou  Nouvelle  Decou- 
verte.  Svo.  Amsterdam,  1704. 
Meusel,  Rich.,  No.  8. 

18.  The  samp.  8vo.  Amsterdam, 
1711.  Meusel,  Faribault  says 
"Nouvelle  Description." 

19.  The  same.  12mo.  Amster- 
dam, 1712.     J.  R.  B. 

20.  A  '  'iscovery  of  a  large,  rich, 
&c.  Svo,  London,  1720.  Rich., 
No.  12. 

21.  Ninvelle   Description, 
sterdam,  1720.    Faribault. 

22.  Nouvelle    Decouverte. 


Am 


4to. 


2v.  Bib.  Belg.     Hennepin  calls  this    Amsterdam,  1737.    Richarderie.    In 


KINO  OF  FRANCE  DISSATISFIED  WITH  HENNEPIN. 


137 


No  doubt  much  of  the  information  which  the  author 
obtained  in  relation  to  Minnesota,  was  obtained  from 
Du  Luth,  whom  he  met  in  the  Dahkotah  country,  t  i 
with  whom  he  descended  the  Mississippi  on  his  retujii 
to  Canada.      u^,,.,.  ...,u  >,  ,*,    .v,., ,,„„,; ...^     ..,»; 

Having  made  a  favourable  acquaintance  with  English 
gentlemen,  he  dedicated  the  edition  of  his  work,  pub- 
lished at  Utrecht,  in  1698,  to  King  William,  and  the 
contents  induced  the  British  to  send  vessels  to  enter 
the  Mississippi  river.  Callieres,  Governor  of  Canada, 
writing  to  Pontchartrain,'  the  Minister,  says,  "I  have 
learned  that  they  are  preparing  vessels  in  England  and 
Holland  to  take  possession  of  Louisiana,  upon  the  rela- 
tion of  P^re  Louis  Hennepin,  a  Recollect  who  has  made 
a  book  and  dedicated  it  to  King  William." 

After  he  had  earned  a  reputation,  not  to  be  coveted, 
he  desired  to  return  to  America,  and  Louis  XIV,,  in  a 
despatch  to  Callieres,  writes,  '*  His  majesty  has  "been 
informed  that  Father  Hennepin,  a  Dutch  Franciscan, 
who  has  formerly  been  in  Canada,  i»  desirous  of  return- 
ing thither.  As  his  majesty  is  not  satisfied  with  the 
conduct  of  the  friar,  it  is  his  pleasure,  if  he  rctm-n 
thither,  that  they  arrest  and  send  him  to  the  Int3vi'3sut 
of  Rochefort."      ,  .^...,..  ..  ,^i       .  ,  s  \       .     .„      >k      t       > 

In  the  year  1701  he  was  still  in  Europe,  attacheo  to 
a  Convent  in  Italy.  ^  He  appears  to  have  died  i; 
obscurity,  unwept  and  unhonoured ,,  ,,, . 


Ilistoire  des  Incas.  A  translation  of 
GarcUasso  de  la  Vega  by  Rousseler. 
23.  Neue  Entdekungen,  &c.  Bre- 
men, 1742.  The  same  as  No.  15, 
with  a  new  title  page. 


>  May  12,  WOO.  See  Smith's  Hist 
Wisconsin,  vol.  i.,  p.  318 

'  Historical  M^^M^nr,  Rostoa,  p. 
316,  vol.  i. 


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HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


•>.-wl 


'  Du  Luth  and  not  Hennepin  was  considered  the  real 
discoverer  of  Minnesota.  Le  Clercq  remarks,  that  "  in 
the  last  year  of  M.  de  Frontenac's  first  administration, 
Sieiir  du  Luth,  a  man  of  talent  and  experience,  opened 
a  way  to  the  missionaries  and  the  gospel  in  many  dif- 
ferent nations,  turning  toward  the  north  of  that  lake 
(Superior),  where  he  even  built  a  fort.  He  advanced 
as  far  as  the  Lake  of  the  Issati  (Mille  Lac),  called  Lake 
Buade,  from  the  ftimily  name  of  M.  de  Fronteuac." 

In  the  month  of  June,  1680,  he  left  his  post  on  Lake 
Superior,  and  with  two  canoes,  an  Indian,  and  four 
Frenchmen,  entered  a  river,  eight  leagues  below,  ascend- 
ing to  the  sources  of  which,  he  made  a  portage  to  a  lake, 
which  is  the  head  of  a  river  that  entered  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Proceeding  toward  the  Dahkotah  villages  he 
met  Hennepin,  with  a  party  of  Indians. 

Returning  to  Quebec,  Du  Luth  visited  France,  and 
conferred  with  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies,  but  in 
1G83,  he  was  at  Mackinaw  fortifying  the  post  against 
a  threatened  attack  by  the  savages,  and  sending  ex- 
presses to  the  Indians  north  and  west  of  Lake  Superior, 
who  traded  at  Hudson's  Bay  wiili  the  English,  to  come 
and  traffic  with  the  French. 

In  the  spring  of  1685,  Governor  De  La  Barre  sent 
twenty  men,  under  the  command  of  Nicholas  Perrot,  to 
establish  friendly  alliances  with  the  loways  and  Dah- 
kotahs.  Proceeding  to  the  Mississippi,  he  established  a 
post  near  the  mouth  of  Lake  Pepin  in  Minnesota,  which 
was  known  as  Fort  Perrot. 

He  found  the  Miamies,  Foxes,  and  Maskoutens,  at  war 


TERROT'S  INTERVIEW  WITH  DAHKOTAHS.— LEAD  MINES.   139- 


real 
"in 


with  the  Dahkotahs,  who  were  at  that  time  in  alliance 
with  their  old  foes,  the  Ojibways.* 

Frenchmen  visited  the  Dahkotahs  during  the  winter ; 
and,  at  the  opening  of  navigation,  a  deputation  of  them 
came  down  to  the  post,  and  carried  Perrot  with  great 
parade,  on  a  robe  of  beavers,  to  the  lodge  of  their  chief, 
chanting  songs,  and  weeping  over  his  head  according  to 
custom. 

He  learned  from  the  Dahkotahs  a  droll  adventure. 
The  Hurons,  who  had  fled  to  them  for  refuge,  at  length 
excited  them  to  war.  The  Hurons  secreted  themselves 
in  marshes,  keeping  their  heads  only  out  of  water.  The 
Dahkotahs,  knowing  that  thej  would  travel  in  the  night, 
devised  an  ingenious  stratagem.  Cutting  up  beaver-skins 
into  cords,  they  stretched  them  around  the  marshes,  and 
suspended  bells  on  them  which  they  had  obtained  from 
the  French.  When  night  came  the  Hurons  marched, 
and,  stumbling  over  the  unseen  cords,  they  rung  the 
bells,  which  was  a  signal  for  the  attack  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs, who  killed  the  whole  pr.rty  with  one  exception. 

While  they  were  in  the  neighbourhood,  they  pillaged 
the  goods  of  some  Frenchmen ;  but,  under  the  threats 
of  Perrot,  they  were  brought  back. 

The  Miamies  brought  to  Perrot  lumps  of  lead,  which 
they  said  were  found  between  the  rocks,  on  the  banks  of 
a  small  stream  which  flowed  into  the  Mississippi,  about 
two  days'  journey  below  that  point.  These  were  pro- 
l)ably  the  mines  of  Galena,  which  are  marked  on  De 
risle's  maps  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1684,  notwithstanding  all 
the  attempts  of  the  French  to  keep  the  peace,  a  band 
of  Seneca  and  Cayuga  warriors,  having  met  seven  canoes 

*  Axjpeudix  E 


140 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


•i*  8 -. *'■«  >- '     ''■ 


maDned  by  fourteen  Frenchmen,  with  fifteen  or  sixteen 
thousand  pounds  of  merchandise,  who  were  going  to 
trade  with  the  "  Scioux,"  pilhiged  and  made  them 
prisoners  J  and,  after  detaining  them  nine  days,  sent 
them  away  without  arms,  food,  or  canoes.  This  attack 
caused  much  alann  in  Canada;  and  Du  Luth,  who 
appeared  to  have  been  at  Fort  Kamanatekwoya  was 
ordered  by  the  Governor  of  Canada  to  come  and  state 
the  immber  of  allies  he  could  bring. 

Perrot,  who  happened  to  be  engaged  in  trade  among 
the  Outagamis  (Foxes),  not  very  far  distant  from  tlie 
bay,  rendered  him  great  tissistance  in  collecting  allies. 

With  great  expedition  he  came  to  Niagara,  the  place 
of  rendezvous,  with  a  band  of  Indians,  and  would  alone 
have  attacked  the  8enecas,  had  it  not  been  for  an 
express  order  from  De  La  Barre,  the  governor,  to 
desist. 

When  Louis  XIV.  heard  of  this  outbreak  of  the  L'o- 
quois,  he  felt,  to  use  his  words,  "  that  it  was  a  grave 
misfortune  for  the  colony  of  New  France,"  and  then,  in 
his  letter  to  the  governor,  he  adds :  "  It  appears  to  me 
that  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  war  arises  from 
one  Du  LutJi  having  caused  two  Iroi^uois  to  be  killed 
who  had  assassinated  two  Frenchmen  in  Lake  Superior, 
and  you  sufficiently  see  how  much  this  man's  voyage, 
which  cannot  produce  any  advantage  to  the  colony, 
and  which  was  permitted  only  in  the  interest  of  some 
private  persons,  has  contributed  to  dis^^ract  the  repose 
of  the  colony." 

The  English  of  New  York,  knowing  the  ho^stility  of 
the  Iroquois  to  the  French,  used  the  opportunity  to  trade 
with  the  distant  Indians.   In  168&,  one  Roseboom,  with 


DU  LUTH.— ENGLISH  CAPTUUED. 


141 


some  young  men,  had  traded  with  the  Ottawas  in  Michi- 


gan. 


In  the  year  1686,  an  old  Frenchman,  who  had  lived 
among  the  Dutch  and  English  in  New  York,  came  to 
Montreal,  to  visit  a  child  at  the  Jesuit  boarding-school ; 
and  he  stated  that  a  Major  McGregwy,  of  Albany,  was 
contemplating  an  expedition  to  Mackinac. 

Denon\ille  having  declared  Avar  in  1687,  most  of  the 
French  left  the  region  of  the  Mississippi.  Perrot  and 
Boisguillot,  at  the  time  trading  near  the  Wisconsin, 
leaving  a  few  "  coureurs  des  bois"  to  protect  their  goods 
from  the  Dahkotahs,  joined  Du  Luth  and  Duran  tflve 
at    Mackinaw  .  j;  >    -   ^ 

The  Governor  of  Canada  ordered  Dii  Luth  to  proceed 
to  the  pi-esent  Detroit  river,  and  watch  whether  the  Eng- 
lish passed  into  Lake  St.  Clair.  In  accoi'dance  with  the 
order,  he  left  Mackinaw.  Being  provided  with  fifty 
armed  men,  he  established  a  post  called  Fort  St.  Joseph, 
some  thirty  miles  above  Detroit.  .,  ..,■■.  .^ 

In  the  year  1687,  on  the  19th  of  May,  the  brave  and 
distinguished  Tonty,  who  was  a  couinn  of  Du  Luth, 
arrived  at  Detroit,  from  his  fort  on  the  Illinois.  Duran- 
taye  and  Du  Luth,  knowing  that  he  had  arrived,  came 
down  from  Fort  St.  Joseph  with  thirty  captive  English. 
Here  Tonty  and  Du  Luth  joined  forces  and  proceeded 
toward  the  Ii'oquois  country.  As  they  were  coasting 
Lake  Erie,  they  met  and  captured  Major  McGregory,  of 
Albany,  then  on  his  way  with  thirty  Englishmen,  to 
trade  with  the  Indians  at  Mackinac. 

Du  Luth  having  reached  Lake  Ontario,  we  find  him 
engaged  in  that  conflict  with  the  Senecas  of  the  Gene- 
see valley,  when  Father  Angleran,  the  superintendent 
of  the  Mackinac  mission,  was  severely  but  not  mortally 


142 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


wounded.*   After  this  battle,  he  returned,  in  company 
with  Tonty,  to  his  post  on  the  Detroit  river.'  ,, 


■^^tf 


'  Baron  La  Hon  tan  speaks  of 
Grisolon  do  la  Tourette  being  at 
Niagara  in  August,  1G87,  and  calls 
him  u  l)rotlior  of  Du  Luth. 

In  1689,  immediately  previous  to 
the  burning  of  Schenectady,  wo  find 
him  fighting  the  Iroquois  in  the 
neigiilxMirhood,  and  there  is  reason 
to  suppose  that  ho  was  engaged  in 
the  midnight  sack  of  that  town. 
As  late  as  the  year  1696,  he  is  on 
duty  at  Port  Frontenac ;  but  after 
the  peace  of  Ilyswick,  which  occa- 
eioned  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  we 
hear  but  little  more  of  this  man, 
who  was  the  first  of  whom  we  have 
any  account,  who  camo  tiy  way  of 
Lake  Superior  to  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi. 

The  letter  of  one  of  the  Jesuit 
fathers,  shows  that  in  some  things 
he  was  as  superstitious  as  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  with  whom  he  once  traded. 
While  in  coramtind  of  Fort  Fronte- 
nac, in  1696,  he  gave  the  following 
certificate : 

"  I,  the  subscriber,  certify  to  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  that  having 


been  tormented  by  the  gout  for  the 
space  of  twenty-three  years,  and 
with  such  severe  pains  that  it  gave 
nie  no  rest  for  the  space  of  throe 
months  at  a  time,  I  addressed  myself 
to  Catlierine  Tcgahkouita,  an  Iro- 
quois virgin,  deceased  at  the  Sault 
Saint  Louis,  in  the  reputation  of 
sanctity,  and  I  promised  her  to  visit 
her  tomb  if  God  should  give  me 
health  through  her  intercession.  I 
have  been  so  perfectly  cured  at  the 
end  of  one  novena  which  I  made  in 
her  honour,  that  after  five  months  I 
have  not  perceived  the  slightest 
touch  of  my  gout. 

"  Given  at  Fort  Frontenac,  this 
18th  day  of  August,  1696. 

"J.  De  Lutu,  Capt.  of  the  Marine 
Corps,  Commander  Fort  Frontenac." 

He  died  in  1710.  The  despatch 
announcing  the  fact  to  the  Home 
Gorornuieiit,  is  expressive  in  its  sim- 
plicity: Capt.  Du  Luth  is  dead,  "he 
was  an  honest  man."  Who  would 
wisii  more  said  of  him  ?  His  name 
is  spelled  Du  Luth,  Du  Lut,  Dulhut, 
and  De  Luth,  in  the  old  documents. 


*  Appendix  F 


:      -    ■-.i!,i,| 

;:.l 

' 

ii 

i^-.   1  i'      lii  W 

m 

• 
■ 

■'-      .    ■'      ■i~     -■ 

li'^^ 

iiil 

- 

FORMAL  OCCUPANCY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


148 


( (.1  ■'■■■'>  •>-'■  i 


•  H  k 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Eaely  in  1689,  Perrot,  with  a  party  of  forty  men, 
returned  to  his  j)Ost  at  the  Lake  Pepin,  and  resumed 
trade  with  the  Dahkotahs.  Tlie  same  year  he  formally 
claimed  the  country  for  France. 

The  first  official  document  pertaining  to  Minnesota  is 
worthy  of  pro^'-^rvation,  and  thus  reads : — 

"  Nicholas  Perrot,  commanding  for  the  King,  at  the 
post  of  the  Nadouessioux,  commissioned  by  the  Marquis 
Denonv^ille,  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  all 
New  France,  to  manage  the  interests  of  commerce 
among  all  the  Indian  tribes,  and  people  of  the  Bay  dea 
Puants,*  Nadouessioux,^  Mascoutins,  and  other  western 
nations  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  to  take  possession 
in  the  King's  name  of  all  the  places  where  he  has  here- 
tofore been,  and  whither  he  will  go.  '  ,     , ,    ' 

"  We,  this  day,  the  eighth  of  May,  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  eighty-nine,  do,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Reverend  Father  Marest  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  mis- 
sionary among  the  Nadouessioux ;  of  Monsieur  de  Borie- 


Green  Bay,  Wisconsin. 


Dahkotahs. 


f   ^-^r 


IM 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


un.- 


,!        ,  .  .1  A 


guillot,'  commanding  the  French  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Ouiskoncho'  on  the  Mississippi ;  Augustin  Legur- 
deur,  Esquire,  Sieur  de  Caumont,  and  of  Messieurs  Le 
Sueur,  Ilebert,  Lemire,  and  Blein  : 

"Declare  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that,  being 
come  from  the  Bay  des  Puants,  and  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Ouiskonches,  and  to  the  river  Mississippi,  we  did  trans- 
port ourselves  to  the  country  of  the  Nadouessioux,  on 
the  border  of  the  river  St.  Croix,'  and  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  St.  Pierre,"*  on  the  bank  of  which  were  the 
Mantantans;'  and,  farther  up  to  the  interior  to  the 
north-east  of  the  Mississippi,  as  far  as  the  Menchoka- 
tonx,"  with  whom  dwell  the  majority  of  the  Songes- 
kitons,  and  other  Nadouessioux,  who  are  to  the  north- 
east of  the  Mississippi,  to  take  possession  for,  and  in  the 
name  of  the  King,  of  the  countries  and  rivers  inhabited 


'  Charlevoix  writes  Boisguillot. 

'  Wisconsin,  (Fort  St.  Aicliolus,) 
Oiiiskonohe,  Mesconsing,  Ouiscou- 
sing,  Wiskonsan,  are  some  of  the 
former  spellings  of  this  word. 

'  This  is  not  eoolesiasticul  in  its 
associations,  but  named  after  Mons. 
Saint  Croix,  who  was  drowned  at  its 
mouth. — Tm  Harpe'a  Lmtisiana. 

*  Nicollet  supposes  that  this  river 
bore  the  name  of  Capt.  St.  Pierre. 

'  The  Dahkotahs  have  a  tradition, 
that  a  tribe  called  Onktokadan,  who 
lived  on  the  St.  Croix  just  above  the 
lake,  was  exterminated  by  the  Foxes. 

At  an  early  date  the  Mde-wa-kan- 
ton-wan  division  of  the  Pahkotah 
tribe  split  into  two  parties,  one  of 
which  was  denominated  Wa-kpa-a- 
ton-we-dan,  and  the  other  Ma-tan- 
ton-wan.  The  former  name  signifies, 
— Those-who-dwell-on-the-creek,  be- 


cause they  had  their  village  on  Riod 
Creek,  a  stream  which  empties  into 
the  Mississippi  seven  miles  above 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  The  sig- 
nification  of  the  latter  name  is  un- 
known. It  is  said  that  To-te-psin, 
Wa-su-wi-ctt-xta-xni,  Ta-can-rpi-sa- 
pa,  A-nog-i-na  jin,  Ru-ya-pa,  and  Ta- 
can-ku-wa-xte,  whose  names  signify, 
respectively,  Bounding-Wind,  Bad- 
Hail,  Black-Tomahawk,  Ile-stands- 
both-sides,  Eagle-Head,  and  Good- 
Road,  are  descendants  of  the  Wa-kpa- 
a-ton-we-dan. — Wa-ku-te,  Ta-o-ya-t6- 
du-tu,  Ma-za-ro-tu,  Ma-rpi-ya-ma-za, 
Ma-rpi-wi-ca-xta,  and  Xa-kpe-dan, 
are  said  to  be  Ma-tan-ton-wans.  The 
respective  signification  of  their  names 
is  as  follows :  Shooter,  His-scarlet- 
people,  Grey-Iron,  Iron-Cloud,  Sky- 
Man,  and  Little-six. 
•  M'daywawkawntwawns. 


FORT  AT  LAKE  PEPIN. 


145 


by  the  said  tribes,  and  of  which  they  are  proprietors. 
The  present  act  done  in  our  presence,  signed  witli  our 
hand  and  su))scril)ed. "' 

The  fii-st  French  establishment  in  Minnesota  was  on 
the  Mississippi  river,  above  the  entrance  of  Lake 
I'opin^  On  a  map  of  the  year  1700,  it  was 
called  Fort  liou  Secours ;  three  years  later  it  was  marked 
Fort  Le  Sueur,  and  abandoned ;'  but  in  a  miicli  later 
map  it  is  correctly  called  Fort  Perrot/ 

The  year  that  Perrot  visited  Minnesota,  Frontenac, 
who  had  been  recalled  seven  years  l)efore,  was  recorn- 
missioned  as  Governor  of  Canada.  He  issued  orders 
that  the  Frenchmen  in  the  upper  Mississippi  country 
should  return  to  Mackinaw. 

Frontenac  was  dogmatic  and  overbearing,  though 
deeply  interested  in  the  extension  of  the  power  of 
France.  During  the  first  term  of  office  he  had  opposed 
the  ecclesiastics,  who  deplored  the  ill  effects  of  rum 
and  licentious  "  coureurs  des  bois"  upon  the  morals  of 
the  savages,  and  desired  both  excluded  from  the  country. 
He  had  no  interest  in  Christianity,  and  still  less  confi- 
dence in  the  Jesuits.  In  a  communication  to  the 
government  he  bluntly  said,  to  Colbert  the  minister, 
"  To  speak  frankly  to  you,  they  think  as  much  about 
the  conversion  of  beavers  as  of  souls.  The  majority  of 
their  missions  are  mere  mockeries." 

Learning  that  Durantaye,  the  Commandant  at  Macki- 


'  Then  are  given  the  names  of 
those  already  mentioned.     This  re- 
cord was  drawn  up  at       Fort  St. 
Antolne  Lake  Pepin 


'  Bellin's  description  of  Map  of 
North  America. 

'  De  I'Isle'a  Maps  1700,  and  1703 
This  Inst  name  appears  incorrect 

♦  See  Jeffery's  Map,  1762.     :  <  >i 


10 


146 


HISTOHj-  of  MINNESOTA. 


ii/ii\*''«« 


'i'#|.^ 


i  ■•■;^^*:■ 


i  4     ih 


naw,  was  disposed  to  be  friendly  to  missionary  schetnea, 
he  superseded  hiiu  by  th«^  appointment  of  Louvigny. 

Perrot,  who  m'us  on  a  visit  to  Montreal,  conducted 
the  new  commander  to  his  post,  where  he  found  tlie 
Ottawas  wavering,  and  ab'^ut  to  carry  their  peltries  to. 
the  English;  but  by  hi.^  uncommon  tact  he  regained 
their  confidence,  and  a  flotilla  of  one  hundred  canoes, 
with  furs  valued  at  one  hundred  thousand  crowns, 
started  towards  Montreal. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  August,  1690,  the  citizens  of  that 
city  perceived  the  waters  of  the  Saint  l4awrence  dark- 
ened by  descending  canoes,  and  supposing  that  they 
were  filled  by  the  dreaded  Iroquois,  alarm-guns  were 
fired  to  call  in  the  citizens  from  the  country ;  but  this 
terror  was  soon  turned  to  joy,  by  a  messenger  arriving 
with  the  intelligence  tliat  it  was  a  party  of  five  hundred 
Indians,  of  various  tribes  near  Mackinaw,  who  had 
come  to  the  city  to  exchange  their  peltries.  So  large 
a  number  from  the  North- West  had  not  appeared  foi 
years  ;  and,  on  the  twenty-fifth.  Count  Frontenac  gave 
them  a  grand  feast  of  two  oxen,  six  large  dogs,  two 
barrels  of  wine,  and  some  prunes,  with  a  plentiful 
supply  of  tobacco. 

The  Ottawas  in  council  demanded  the  meaning  of  the 
hatehet  Perrot  had  hung  in  their  cabin. 

Frontenac  told  them  that  they  were  aware  of  the 
tidings  he  had  received,  that  a  powerful  army  was  com- 
ing to  ravage  his  country ;  that  all  that  was  necessary 
to  conclude  was  the  mode  of  proceeding,  whether  to  go 
and  meet  this  army,  or  to  wait  for  it  with  a  firm  foot ; 
that  he  put  into  their  hands  the  hatchet  which  had  been 
formerly  given  them,  and  hart  since  been  kept  suspended 


LONG  DESIRED  PELTRIES  ARRIVE  AT  MONTREAL. 


147 


for  iheni,  and  he  doubted  not  they  would  make  good 
use  of  it.  '    ■  ,  -     : 

He  then,  hatchet  in  hand,  sung  tlie  war  song,  in 
which  the  Indians  joined. 

The  increasing  Iroquois  and  English  hostility  made 
it  a  dangerous  undertaking  to  transport  in  canoes  to  or 
from  Mackinaw. 

Lieutenant  D'Argenteuil  was  despatched  by  Frontenac 
in  1692,  with  eighteen  Canadians  on  increased  pay  to 
Mackinaw,  with  an  order  to  Louvigny,  the  commander, 
to  send  down  all  the  Frenchmen  that  could  be  spared 
from  the  North- West,  and  the  large  amount  of  peltries 
that  had  accumuh.ted  at  his  post. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  August  two  hundred  canoes 
filled  with  Frenchmen  and  Ottawas  arrived  from  the 
upper  country  at  Montreal  with  the  long-detained  furs. 

"  The  merchant,  the  farmer,  and  other  individuals  who 
might  have  some  peltries  there,  were  dying  of  hunger, 
with  property  they  could  not  enjoy.  Credit  was  ex- 
hausted, and  the  apprehension  universal  that  the  Eng- 
lish might  seize  this  last  resource  of  the  country  while 
it  was  on  the  way.  Terms  sufficiently  strong  were  ncl 
to  be  found  to  praise  and  bless  him  by  whose  care  so 
much  property  had  arrived.'" 

The  Indians  were  entertained  at  the  governor's  table, 
and  on  Sunday,  the  sixth  of  September,  there  was  a 
grand  war  dance.  The  next  day  they  received  presents, 
and  during  the  .v^eek  returned  to  their  own  countiy. 

The  French  soon  followed  under  the  direction  of 
Tonty,  Commandant  of  the  Illinois.  La  Motte  Cadil- 
lac, and  D'Argenteuil  shortly  after  were  ordered  to 
Mackinaw,  Louvigny  being  recalled.     Perrot  was  sta- 

•  Pari»  Doc.  vol.  ix.     N,  Y.  Col.  Hist. 


Fi  il 


"■'I'Wfiu't'i' 


if ')f.U*:fj''' 


148 


■  ■■  i    V T*      HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


tioned  among  the  Miamis,  at  a  place  called  "  Malamek,** 
in  Michigan ;  and  Le  Sueur  was  sent  to  La  Pointe  of 
Lake  Superior  to  maintain  the  peace  that  had  just  been 
concluded  between  the  Ojibvvays  and  Dahkotahs.         ,, 

The  mission  of  Le  Sueur  was  important.  As  the 
Foxes  and  Mascoutins  had  become  inimical,  the  north- 
ern route  to'the  Dahkotahs  was  the  only  one  that  could 
be  used  in  transporting  goods. 

!  In  the  year  1695,  the  second  post  in  Minnesota  was 
built  by  Le  Sueur.  Above  Lake  Pepin,  and  below  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Croix,  there  are  many  islands,  and  the 
largest  of  these  was  selected  as  the  site.'  The  object 
of  the  establishment  was  to  interpose  a  barrier  between 
the  Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways,  and  maintain  the  peaceful 
relations  which  had  been  created.  Ch  4evoix  speaks 
of  the  island  as  having  a  very  beautiful  prairie,  and 
remarks  that  "  the  French  of  Canada  have  made  it  a 
centre  of  commerce  for  the  western  parts,  and  many 
pass  the  winter  here,  because  it  is  a  good  country  for 
hunting." 

On  the  fifteenth  of  July,  Le  Sueur  arrived  at  Mon- 
treal with  a  party  of  Ojibways,  and  the  first  Dahkotah 
brave  that  had  ever  visited  Canada.  ;  ,  ^ . 

The  Indians  were  much  impressed  with  the  power 
of  France  by  the  marching  of  a  detachment  of  seven 
hundred  picked  men,  under  Chevalier  Cresafi,  who  were 
on  their  way  to  La  Chine. 

On  the  eighteenth,  Frontenac,  in  the  presence  of 
Callieres  and  other  persons  of  distinction,  gave  them  an 
audience. 

The  first  speaker  was  the  chief  of  the  Ojibway  band 
at  La  Pointe,  Shingowahbay,  who  said  : — 

'  Bellin  in  his  description  of  the  Cliart  of  North  America. 


O.IIBWAY  AND  DAHKOTAH  CHIEFS'  SPEECH. 


149 


"  That  he  was  come  to  pay  his  respects  to  Onontio,' 
In  the  nanie  of  the  young  warriors  of  Point  Chagoua 
migon,  and  to  thank  him  for  having  given  them  some 
Frenchmen  to  dwell  with  them ;  to  testify  their  sorrow 
for  one  Jobin,  a  Frenchman,  who  was  killed  at  a  feast 
accidentally,  and  not  maliciously.  We  come  to  ask  a 
favour  of  you,  which  is  to  let  us  act.  We  are  allies  of 
the  Sciou.  Some  Outagamies  or  Mascoutins  have  been 
killed.  The  Sciou  came  to  mourn  with  us.  Let  us  act, 
Father ;  let  us  take  revenge. 

''  Le  Sueur  alone,  who  is  acquainted  with  the  lan- 
guage of  the  one  and  the  other,  can  serve  us.  We  ask 
that  he  return  with  us."    '  '^^     '      '     '         -        '    *  >     ' 

Another  speaker  of  the  Ojibways  was  Le  Brochet.     ; 

Teeoskahtay,  the  Dahkotah  chief,  before  he  spoke, 
spread  out  a  beaver  robe,  and  laying  another  with  a 
tobacco  pouch  and  otter  skin,  began  to  weep  bitterly. 
After  drying  his  tears  he  said  : — 

"  All  of  the  nations  had  a  father  who  afforded  them 
protection  ;  all  of  them  have  iron.  But  he  was  a  bas- 
tard in  quest  of  a  father ;  he  was  come  to  see  him,  and 
begs  that  he  will  take  pity  on  him." 

He  then  placed  upon  the  beaver  robe  twenty-two 
arrows,  at  each  arrow  naming  a  Dahkotah  village  that 
desired  Frontenac's  protection.  Resuming  his  speech, 
he  remarked : —  b  usir,  ,.i..ii;   jI 

"  Tt  is  not  on  account  of  what  I  bring  that  I  hope  he 
who  rules  this  earth  will  have  pity  on  me.  I  learned 
from  the  Sauteurs  that  he  wanted  nothing ;  that  he  was 
the  Master  of  the  Iron ;  that  he  had  a  big  heart,  into 
which   he   could    receive    all   the   nations.     This   has 


'  The  title  the  Indiuiis  ulwnys  gave  to  the  Governor. 


i  . 


.a*^ 


1^  *'^-*l:^rt'fr.j 


?  7 


■^!vi; 


■J  v;#. 


150 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


induce(i  me  to  abandon  my  people  to  come  to  seek  hifr 
protection,  and  to  beseech  him  to  receive  me  among  the 
number  of  his  children.  Take  courage,  Great  Captain, 
and  reject  me  not;  despise  me  not  though  I  appear  poor 
in  your  eyes.  All  the  nations  here  present  know  that 
I  am  rich,  and  the  little  they  offer  here  is  taken  from 
my  lands.'" 

Coint  Frontenac  in  reply  told  the  chief  that  he  would 
receive  the  Dahkotahs  as  his  children,  on  condition  that 
they  would  be  obedient,  and  that  he  would  send  back 
Le  Sueur  with  him.  i 

Teeoskahtay,  taking  hold  of  the  governor's  knees, 
wept,  and  said  : — *'  Take  pity  on  us ;  we  are  well  aware 
that  we  are  not  able  to  speak,  being  children ;  but  Le 
Sueur,  who  understands  our  language,  and  has  seen  all 
our  villages,  will  next  year  inform  you  what  will  have 
been  achieved  by  the  Sioux  nations,  represented  by 
those  arrows  before  you." 

Having  finished,  a  Dahkotah  woman,  the  wife  of  a 
great  chief  whom  Le  Sueur  had  purchased  from  captivity 
at  Mackinaw,  approached  those  in  authority,  and  with 
downcast  eyes  embraced  their  knees,  weeping  and  say- 


nig; 


"  I  thank  thee,  Father ;  it  is  by  thy  means  I  have 
been  liberated,  and  am  no  longer  captive." 

Then  Teeoskahtay  resumed  : — 

"  I  speak  like  a  man  penetrated  with  joy.  The  Great 
Captain ;  he  who  i.s  the  Master  of  the  Iron,  assures  me 
of  his  protection,  and  I  promise  him  that  if  he  conde- 
scends to  restore  my  children,  now  prisoners  among  the 
Foxes,  Ottawas,  and  Hurons,  1  will  return  hither,  and 
bring  with  me  the  twenty-two  villages  whom  he  has  just 
restored  to  life  by  promising  to  send  them  Iron." 


DAHKOTAH  CHIEF  DIES  IN  CANADA. 


151 


On  the  14  til  of  August,  two  weeks  after  the  Ojibway 
chief  left  for  his  home  on  Lake  Superior,  Nicholas  Per- 
rot  arrived  with  a  deputation  of  Sauks,  Foxes,  Meno- 
monees,  Miamis  of  Maaraniek,  and  Pottowattamies. 

Two  days  after,  they  had  a  council  with  the  governor, 
who  thus  spoke  to  a  Fox  brave : — 

"  1  see  that  you  are  a  young  man ;  your  nation  hoA 
quite  turned  away  from  my  wishes;  it  has  pillaged 
some  of  my  young  men,  whom  it  has  treated  as  slaves. 
I  know  that  your  father,  who  loved  the  French,  had  no 
hand  in  the  indignity.  You  only  imitate  the  example 
of  your  father,  who  had  sense,  when  you  do  not  co- 
operate with  those  of  your  tribe  who  are  wishing  to  go 
over  to  ray  enemies,  after  they  grossly  insulted  me,  and 
defeated  the  Sioux,  whom  I  now  consider  my  son.  I 
pity  the  Sioux ;  I  pity  the  dead  whose  loss  I  deplore. 
Perrot  goes  up  there,  and  he  will  speak  to  your  nation 
from  me,  for  the  release  of  their  prisoners ;  let  them 
attend  to  him." 

Teeoskahtav  never  returned  to  his  native  land. 
While  in  Montreal  he  '^as  taken  sick,  and  in  thirty- 
three  days  he  ceased  to  breathe;  and,  followed  by  white 
men,  his  body  was  interred  in  the  white  man's  grave. 

Le  Sueur,  instead  of  going  back  to  Minnesota  that 
year,  as  was  expected,  went  to  France,  and  received 
a  license,  in  1697,  to  open  certain  mines  supposed 
to  exist  in  Minnesota.  The  ship  in  which  he  was 
returning,  was  captured  by  the  English,  and  he  was 
taken  to  England.  After  his  release,  he  went  back  to 
France,  and,  in  1698,  obtained  a  new  commission  for 


mining. 


While    Le   Sueur  was   in   Europe,    the   Dahkotahs 
waged  war  against  the  Foxes  and  Miamis.     In  retaliar 


III  Kli. 


[■■*^«•frirt■Jt■^ 


I'^ii 


,»«« 


152 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


I  J/ 


tion,  the  latter  raised  a,  war  party,  and  entered  the  land 
of  the  Dahkotahs.  Finding  their  foes  intrenched,  and 
assisted  by  ''  coureurs  des  bois,"  they  were  indignant ; 
and  on  their  return  they  had  a  skirmish  with  some 
Fren'^hmen,  who  were  carrying  goods  to  the  Dahko- 
tahs. 

Shortly  after,  they  met  Perrot,  and  were  about  to 
burn  him  to  death,  when  prevented  by  some  friendly 
Foxes.  The  Miamis,  after  this,  were  disposed  to  be 
friendly  to  the  Iroquois.  In  1696,  the  year  previous, 
the  authorities  at  Quebec  decided  that  it  was  expedient 
to  abandon  all  the  posts  west  of  Mackinaw,  and  with- 
draw the  French  from  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota. 

The  "  voyageurs"  were  not  disposed  to  leave  the 
country,  and  the  governor  wrote  to  Pontohartrain  for 
instructions,  in  October,  1698.  In  his  despatch  he 
remarks : — 

"  In  this  conjuncture,  and  under  all  these  circum- 
stances, we  consider  it  our  duty  to  postpone,  until  new 
instructions  from  the  court,  the  execition  of  Sieur  Le 
Sueur's  enterprise  for  the  mines,  though  the  promise 
had  already  been  given  him  to  send  two  canoes  in 
advance  to  Missilimackinac,  for  the  purpose  of  pur- 
chasing there  some  provisions  and  other  necessaries  for 
his  v^oyage,  and  that  he  would  be  permitted  to  go  and 
join  them  early  in  the  spring  with  the  rest  of  his  hands. 
Wliat  led  us  to  adopt  this  resolution  has  been,  that  the 
French  who  remained  to  trade  oJ0F  with  the  Five  Nar 
tions  the  remainder  of  their  merchandise,  might,  on 
seeing  entirely  new  comers  arriving  there,  consider 
themselves  entitled  to  dispense  with  coming  down,  and 
perhaps  adopt  the  resolution  to  settle  there ;  whilst, 
seeing  nc>  arrival  there,  with  permission  to  do  what  is 


LE  SUEUR'S  LICENSE  TO  MINE  REVOKED. 


H6 


forbidden,  the  reflection  they  will  be  able  to  make 
during  the  winter,  and  the  apprehension  of  being  guilty 
of  crime,  may  oblige  them  to  return  in  the  spring. 

"  This  would  be  very  desirable,  in  consequence  of  the 
great  difficulty  there  will  be  in  constraining  them  to  it, 
should  they  be  inclined  to  lift  the  mask  altogether  and 
become  buccaneers;  or  should  Sieur  Le  Sueur,  as  he 
easily  could  do,  furnish  them  with  goods  for  their 
beaver  and  smaller  peltry,  which  he  might  send  down 
by  the  return  of  othci'  Frenchmen,  whose  sole  desire  is 
to  obey,  and  who  have  lemained  only  because  of  the 
impossibility  of  getting  their  effects  down.  This  would 
rather  induce  those  who  would  continue  to  lead  a  vaga- 
bond life  to  remain  there,  as  the  goods  they  would 
obtain  from  Le  Sueur's  people  would  afford  them  the 
means  of  doing  so." 

In  reply  to  this  communication,  Louis  XIV.  answered 


that — 


it!} 


\\d 


a;f: 


"  His  majesty  has  approved  that  the  late  Sieur  de 
Frontenac  and  De  Champigny,  suspended  the  execution 
of  the  license  granted  to  the  man  named  Le  Sueur  to 
pxoceed,  with  fifty  men,  to  explore  some  mines  on  the 
bfuks  of  the  Mississippi.  He  has  revoked  said  license, 
ai  id  desires  that  the  said  Le  Sueur,  or  any  other  person, 
b«!  prevented  from  leaving  the  colony  on  pretence  of 
g<  ting  in  search  of  mines,  without  his  majesty's  express 
p>irmission." 

Le  Sueur,  undaunted  by  these  drawbacks  to  the  pro- 
3tJCution  of  a  favourite  project,  again  visited  France,  but 
in  December,  1699,  he  returned  to  Louisiana.  ^    ';     rs  ;, 


'i  irm'^' 


.  H 


'<- 


f   '•        {  1     ,       ■ 


164 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOT* 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Governor  of 
Louisiana,  Le  Sueur,  with  Penicaut,  an  intelligent  ship- 
carpenter,  and  about  twenty  others,  went  to  search  for 
copper  alleged  to  be  in  the  Sioux  country.* 

On  the  thirteenth  of  July,  1700,  with  a  felucca,  twa 
canoes,  and  nineteen  men,  having  ascended  the  Missis- 
sippi, he  had  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and 
six  leagues  above  this  he  passed  the  Illinois.  He  there 
met  three  Canadians,  who  came  to  join  him,  with  a 
letter  from  Father  Marest,  who  had  once  attempted  a 
mission  among  the  Dahkotahd,  dated  July  13,  Mission 
Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  in  Illinois. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  write,  in  order  to  inform  you 
that  the  Saugiestas  have  been  defeated  by  the  Scioux  and 
Ay avois  (lowas) .  The'  people  have  formed  an  alliance 
with  the  Quincapous  (Kickapoos),  so'.ne  of  the  Mecou- 
tins,  Renards  (Foxes),  and  Metesi^amias,  and  gone  to 
revenge  themselves,  not  on  the  Sci  nix,  for  they  are  too 
much  afraid  of  them,  but  perhaps  on  the  Ayavois,  or 
very  likely  upon  the  Paoutees,  or  more  probably  upon 

*  Appendix  G 


LK  SUEUR  MEETS  A  WAR  PARTY. 


155- 


the  Osagc's,  for  these  suspect  nothing,  and  the  others 
are  on  their  guard. 

''  As  you  will  probably  meet  these  allied  nations,  you 
ought  to  take  precaution  against  their  plans,  and  not 
allow  them  to  Iward  your  vessel,  since  ihei/  are  traitorsy 
and  utterly  faithless.  I  pray  God  to  a(!coinpany  you  in 
all  your  designs." 

Twenty-two  leagues  above  the  Illinois,  he  passed  a 
small  stream  which  he  called  the  River  of  Oxen,  and 
nine  leagues  beyond  this  he  passed  a  small  river  on  the 
west  side,  where  he  met  four  Canadians  descending  the 
Mississippi,  on  their  way  to  the  Illinois.  On  the  30th 
of  July,  nine  leagues  above  the  last-named  river,  he 
met  seventeen  Scioux,  in  seven  canoes,  who  were  going 
to  revenge  the  death  of  three  Scioux,  one  of  whom  had 
been  burned,  and  the  othv;rs  killed,  at  Tamarois,  a  few 
days  before  his  arrival  in  that  village.  As  he  had  pro- 
mised the  chief  of  the  Illinois  to  appease  the  Scioux,  who 
should  go  to  war  against  his  nation,  he  made  a  present 
to  the  chief  of  the  party  to  engage  him  to  turn  back. 
He  told  them  the  King  of  France  did  not  wish  them  to 
make  this  river  more  bloody,  and  that  he  was  sent  to 
tell  them  that,  if  they  obeyed  the  king's  word,  they 
would  receive  in  future  all  things  necessary  for  tliem. 
The  chief  answered  that  he  accepted  the  present,  that 
is  to  say,  that  he  would  do  as  had  been  told  him. 

From  the  30th  of  July  to  the  25th  of  August,  Le 
Sueur  advanced  fifty-three  and  one-fourth  leagues  to  a 
small  river  which  he  called  the  River  of  the  Mine.'  At 
the  mouth  it  runs  from  the  north,  but  it  turns  to  tlie 
norih-east.     On  the  right  seven  leagues,  there  is  a  lead 


'  This  is  the  first  mention  of  tlie  Galena  mines. 


fi:Mt; 


1S6 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


J    -,■*,!.>-': 


i 


mine  in  a  prairie,  one  and  a  half  leagnes;  the  river  is 
only  navigable  in  high  water,  that  is  to  say,  from  early 
spring  till  the  month  of  Jnne. 

From  the  25th  to  the  27th  he  made  ten  leagues, 
passed  two  small  rivers,  and  made  himself  aequainted 
with  a  mine  of  lead,  from  wl'di  he  took  a  supply. 
From  the  27th  to  the  30th  In  .ade  eleven  and  a  half 
leagues,  and  met  five  Canadians,  one  of  whom  had 
been  dangerously  wounded  in  the  head.  They  were 
naked,  and  had  no  aunnunition  except  a  miserable  gun, 
with  li\e  or  six  loads  of  powder  and  balls.  They  said 
they  were  descending  from  the  8cioux  to  go  to  Tania- 
rois ;  and,  when  seventy  leagnies  above,  they  perceived 
nine  canoes  in  the  Mississippi,  in  which  were  nhiety 
savages,  who  robbed  and  cruell}-  beat  them.  This  party 
were  going  to  war  against  the  Scioux,  and  were  com- 
posed of  four  different  nations,  the  Outagamis  (Foxes), 
Sacjuis  (Sauks),  Poutouwatamis  ( Potto wattamies),  and 
Pauns  (Winnebagoes),  who  dwell  in  a  country  eighty 
leagues  east  of  the  Mississippi  from  where  Le  Sueur 
then  was.  ; 

The  Canadians  determined  to  follow  the  detachment, 
which  was  composed  of  twenty -eight  men.  This  day 
they  made  seven  and  a  half  leagues.  On  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember, he  passed  the  Wisconsin  river.  It  runs  into  the 
Mississippi  from  the  north-east.  It  is  nearly  one  and 
a  half  miles  wide.  At  about  seventy-five  leagues  up 
this  river,  on  the  right,  ascending,  there  is  a  portage  of 
more  than  a  league.  The  half  of  this  portage  is  shaking 
ground,  and  at  the  end  of  it  is  a  small  river  which 
descends  into  a  bay  called  Winnebago  Bay.  It  is  in- 
habited by  a  great  number  of  nations  who  carry  their 
furs  to  Canada.     Monsieur  Le  Sueur  came  by  the  Wia- 


UAIIKOTAIIS  UOUBED  CANADIANS. 


157 


coiiHiii  viver  to  the  Mississippi,  for  tlie  first  time,  iii 
1683,  OH  his  way  to  the  Scioux  country,  where  ho  had 
aheady  passed  seven  years  at  diflerent  periods.  The 
Mississii)pi,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  is  less 
than  a  half  mile  wide.  From  the  1st  of  Septemlx;r  to 
the  5th,  our  voyageur  advanced  fourteen  leagues.  lie 
passed  the  river  "  Aux  Canof^,"  which  comes  from  the 
nortli-east,  and  then  the  Quincapous,  named  from  a 
nation  which  once  dwelt  upon  its  banks. 

From  the  5th  to  the  9tli,  he  made  ten  and  a  half 
k'agues,  and  passed  the  Ri\ers  Cachee  and  Aux  Ailes. 
The  same  day  he  perceived  canrtos,  filled  with  savages, 
descending  the  river,  and  the  five  Canadians  recognised 
them  as  the  party  who  had  robbed  them.  They  placed 
sentinels  in  the  wood,  for  fear  of  being  surprised  by 
land ;  and,  when  they  had  approached  within  heai'ing, 
they  cried  to  them  that  if  they  approached  farther 
they  would  fire.  They  then  drew  up  by  an  island,  at 
half  the  distance  of  a  gun  shot.  Soon,  lour  of  the 
principal  men  of  the  band  approached  in  a  canoe,  and 
asked  if  it  was  forgotten  that  they  were  our  brethren, 
and  with  what  design  we  had  taken  arms  when  we 
perceived  them.  Le  Sueur  replied  that  he  had  cause 
to  distrust  them,  since  they  had  robbed  five  of  his 
party.  Nevertheless,  for  the  surety  of  his  trade,  being 
forced  to  be  at  peace  with  all  the  tribes,  he  demanded 
no  redress  for  the  robbery,  but  added  merely  that  the 
king,  their  niaster  and  his,  wished  that  his  subjects 
should  navigate  that  river  without  insult,  and  that 
they  had  better  beware  hovv  they  acted. 

The  Indian  who  had  spoken  was  silent,  but  another 
said  they  had  been  attacked  by  the  Scioux,  and  that  if 
they  did  not  have  pity  on  them,  and  give  them  a  little 


"I.      '**!:,  .:ir 


i'  ■«"■« 


^     i'J^^ 


■r     ■   r^ 


;  1 


t-l';si , 


168 


HISTOKV  OF  MliNNESOTA. 


powder,  they  should  not  ha  able  to  reach  their  village. 
The  consideration  of  a  missionary,  who  was  to  go  up 
among  the  Soioux,  and  whom  these  savages  might  meet, 
induced  them  to  give  two  pounds  of  powder. 

M.  Le  Sueur  made  the  same  day  three  leagues;  passed 
a  stream  on  the  west,  and  afterwards  another  river  on 
the  east,  which  is  navigable  at  all  times,  and  which  the 
Indians  call  Red  river. 

On  the  10th,  at  daybreak,  they  heard  an  elk  whistle, 
on  the  oth(!r  side  of  the  river.  A  Canadian  crossed  in 
a  small  Scioux  canoe,  which  they  had  found,  and  shortly 
returned  with  the  body  of  the  animal,  which  was  very 
easily  killed,  "  quand  il  est  en  rut,"  that  is  from  the  be- 
ginning of  September  imtil  the  end  of  October.  The 
hunters  at  this  time  make  a  whistle  of  a  piece  of  wood, 
or  reed,  and  when  they  hear  an  elk  whistle,  they  answer 
it.  The  animal,  believing  it  to  be  another  elk,  ap- 
proaches, and  is  killed  with  ease. 

From  the  10th  to  the  14th,  M.  Le  Sueur  made  seven- 
teen and  a  half  leagues,  passing  the  rivers  Raisin  and 
Pa([uilenetteo,  (perhaps  the  Wazi  Ozu  and  Buffalo.) 
The  same  day  he  left,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, a  beautiful  and  large  river,  which  descends  from 
the  very  far  north,  aid  called  Bon  Secours  (Chippeway), 
on  account  of  the  great  quantity  of  buffalo,  elk,  bears, 
and  deers,  which  are  found  there.  Three  leagues  up 
this  river  there  is  a  mine  of  lead,  and  seven  leagues 
above,  on  the  same  side,  they  found  another  long  river, 
in  the  vicinity  of  which  there  is  a  copper  mine,  from 
which  he  had  taken  a  lump  of  sixty  pounds,  in  a  former 
voyage.  In  order  to  lOake  these  mines  of  any  account, 
peace  must  be  obtained  between  the  Scioux  and  Outa- 
gamis  (Foxes),  because  the  latte'    who  dwell  on  the 


M;i=ll 


LAKK  PEPIN-CANNON  RIVER. 


169 


east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  pass  this  road  continually 
when  going  to  war  against  the  Scioux. 

In  this  region,  at  one  and  a  half  leagues  on  the  north- 
west side,  commenced  a  lake,  which  is  six  leagues  long 
and  more  than  one  broad,  called  Lake  Pepin.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  west  by  a  chain  of  mountains ;  on  the 
east  is  seen  a  prairie;  and  on  the  north-west  of  the 
lake  there  is  another  prairie  two  leagues  long  and  one 
wide.  In  the  neighbourhood  is  a  chain  of  mountains 
quite  two  hundred  feet  high,  and  more  than  one  and  a 
half  miles  long.  In  the.se  are  found  several  caves,  to 
which  the  bears  retire  in  winter.  Most  of  the  caverns 
are  more  than  seventy  feet  in  extent,  and  three  or  four 
feet  high.  There  are  several  of  which  tlie  entrance  is 
very  narrow,  and  quite  closed  up  with  saltpetre.  It 
would  be  dangerous  to  enter  them  in  summer,  for  they 
are  filled  with  rattlesnakes,  the  bite  of  which  is  very 
dangerous.  Le  Sueur  saw  some  of  these  snakes  which 
were  six  feet  in  length,  but  generally  they  are  about 
four  feet.  They  have  teeth  resembling  those  of  the 
pike,  and  their  gums  are  full  of  small  vessels  in  which 
their  poison  is  placed.  The  Scioux  say  they  take  it 
every  morning,  and  cast  it  away  at  night.  They  have 
at  the  tail  a  kind  of  scale  which  makes  a  noise,  and  this 
is  called  the  rattle. 

Le  Sueur  made  on  this  day  seven  and  a  half  leagues, 
and  passed  another  river  called  Hiambouxecate  O.iataba, 
or  the  River  of  Flat  Rock.' 

On  the  loth  he  crossed  a  small  river,  and  saw,  in 
the  neighbourhood,  several  canoes  filled  with  Indians, 
descending  the  Mississippi.     He  supposed  they  were 


'  This  is  evidently  the  iDyanhosndata,  or  Cannon  river. 


t60 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


I'*"'  " 


I   '  '"fif/ 


ii*'S*' 


♦  H"^  ...J 


i  ixfkrf" 


'-■4 

-i 

■ 

;    I  >| 

Scioux  because  he  could  not  distinguish  whether  thei,' 
canoes  vere  hirge  or  small.  The  arms  were  placed  in 
readinv  5s,  and  soon  they  heard  the  cry  of  the  savages, 
which  they  are  accustomed  to  raise  when  thej'  rush 
upon  t  leir  enemies.  He  caused  them  to  be  answered 
ill  the  same  manner;  and,  after  having  placed  all  the 
men  b  ihind  the  trees,  he  ordered  them  not  to  fire  until 
they  ^Yere  commajided.  He  remained  on  shore  to  see 
what  /novement  the  savages  would  make,  and  perceiving 
that  tliey  placed  two  on  shore,  on  the  other  side,  where 
from  an  eminence  they  could  ascert.ain  the  strength  of 
his  ii»rces,  he  caused  the  men  to  pass  and  repass  from 
the  shore  to  the  wood,  in  order  to  make  them  believe 
that  they  were  numerous.  This  ruse  succeeded,  for  as 
soon  {IS  the  two  descended  from  the  eminence,  the  chief 
of  the  party  came,  bearing  the  calumet,  which  is  a  signal 
of  peace  among  the  Indians. 

They  said,  that  never  having  seen  the  French  navi- 
gate the  river  with  boats  like  the  felucca,'  they  had 
supposed  them  to  be  English,  and  for  that  reason  they 
had  raised  the  war  cry,  and  arranged  themselves  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Mississippi;  but,  having  recognised 
their  tlag,  they  had  come  without  fear  to  inform  them, 
that  one  of  their  number,  who  was  crazy,  had  acci- 
dentally killed  a  Frenchman,  and  that  they  would  go 
and  bring  his  comrade,  who  would  tell  how  the  mischief 
had  happened. 

The  Frenchman  they  brought  was  Denis,  a  Canadian, 
and  he  reported  that  his  companion  was  accidentally 
killed.  His  name  was  Laplace,  a  deserting  soldier  from 
Canada,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  this  country. 

'  The  felucca  is  a  small  vessel  had  iipvnr  before  been  seen  on  the 
pri  pelled  both  by  oars  and  Haila,  and    waiers  of  the  Upper  MisMissippi. 


ST.  CROIX  DROWNED —RIVER  ST.  PIERRE. 


161 


Le  Sueur  replied,  that  Onontio  (ihe  name  they  give 
to  all  the  governors  of  Canada),  being  their  father  and 
his,  they  ought  not  to  seek  justification  elsewhere  than 
before  him ;  and  he  advised  them  to  go  and  see  him  tis 
soon  as  possible,  and  beg  him  to  wipe  off  the  ))lood  of 
this  Frenchman  from  their  faces. 

The  party  was  composed  of  forty-seven  men  of  dif- 
ferent nations,  who  dwell  far  to  the  east,  about  the 
forty-fou:  'h  degree  of  latitude.  Le  Sueur,  discovering 
who  the  chiefs  were,  said  the  king  whom  they  had 
spoken  of  in  Canada,  had  sent  him  to  take  possession 
of  the  north  of  the  river;  and  that  he  wished  the 
nations  who  dwell  on  it,  as  well  as  those  under  his  pro- 
tection, to  live  in  peace. 

He  made  this  day  three  and  three-fourth  leagues; 
and,  on  the  ICth  of  September,  ;^e  left  a  large  river  on 
the  east  side,  named  St.  Croix,  because  a  Frenchman  of 
that  name  loas  shipuorecked  at  its  month.  It  oomes  from 
the  north-north-west.  Four  leagues  higher,  in  going 
up,  is  found  a  small  lake,  at  the  mouth  of  which  i.s  a 
very  large  mass  of  copper.  It  is  on  the  edge  of  tiie 
water,  in  a  small  ridge  of  si.ndy  earth,  on  the  west  of 
this  lake. 

From  the  16th  to  the  19th,  he  advanced  thirteen  and 
three-fourth  leagues.  After  ha-\  ing  made  from  Tamarois 
two  hundred  and  nine  and  a  half  leagues,  he  left  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  to  enter  the  river  St. 
Pierre,'  on  the  west  side.     By  the  1st  of  October,  he 

'  The  Saint  Pierre,  like  tlie  Saint  and  prominent  in  the  Indian  affairs 

Croix,  just  below  it,  was    possibly  in  that  age.     Carver,  in    1770,  on 

.named  after  p  Frenchman.     Oliarle-  the  shores  uf  Lake  Pepin,  diseuvereJ 

7oix   speaks  of  an   oificer   by  that  tlie  ruins   of    un   extensive   trading 

name,  who  was  at  Mackinaw  in  1692,  po^t,  tb:»c  had  been  under  the  control 
11 


M  .'SM 


'^. 


'-^..\ 


1#*^' 


*»^. 


!'..4iti^ff 


T^' 


i    .  ...;■... 


162 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


*it|;f''' 


...*..  .i. 


^     '^^'^t:!,;: 


had  made  in  this  river  forty-four  and  one-fourth  leagues. 
After  he  entered  into  Bhie  river,  thus  named  on  account 
of  the  mines  of  blue  earth  found  at  its  mouth,  he  founded 
his  post,  situated  in  forty-four  degrees,  thirteen  minutes, 
north  latitude.  He  met  at  this  place  nine  Scioux,*  who 
told  him  that  the  river  belonged  to  the  Scioux  of  the 
West,  the  Ayavois  (lowas),  and  Otoctatas  (Ottoes),  who 
lived  a  little  farther  off;  that  it  was  not  their  custom  to 
hunt  on  ground  belonging  to  others,  unless  invited  to 
do  so  ]jy  the  owners,  and  that  when  they  would  conie 
to  the  fort  to  ol)tain  provisions,  they  would  be  in  danger 
of  being  killed  in  ascending  or  descending  the  rivers, 
which  were  narrow,  and  that  if  they  would  show  their 
])ity,  Jie  must  esfahlisJi  himfielf  on  the  Mississippi,  tiear  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Pierre,^  whei-e  the  Ayavois,  the  Otocta- 
tas. and  the  other  Scioux,  could  go  as  well  as  thej. 

Having  fi:  ',.iied  then'  speech,  they  leaned  over  the 
head  of  Le  Sueur,  according  to  their  custom,  crying  out, 
*'  Ouaechissou  ouaepanimanabo,"  that  is  to  say,  "  Have 
pity  upon  us."  Le  Sueur  had  foreseen  that  the  estar 
blishment  of  Blue  Earth  river,  would  not  please  the 
Scioux  of  the  East,  who  were,  so  to  speak,  masters  of  the 
other  Scioux,  and  of  the  nations  wliich  will  be  hereafter 
me.itioned,  because  they  jvere  the  first  ivith  whom  trade 
teas  commenced,  anr!  in  consequence  of  which  they  had 
already  quite  a  number  of  guns. 

As  he  had  commenced  his  operations,  not  only 
with  a  view  to  the  trade  of  beaver,  but  also  to  gain  a 


of  a  Captain  Saint  Pierre,  and  some 

have  iic^erted  that  Le  Sueur 

named  thi  Minnesota  river  in  honour 

of  Lis  felliiw  explorer  and  trader. 

'  Sciout,  in  tb«  orthography  of 


Lahontan,  Le  Sueur,  and  the  Jesuits 
of  that  period  in  their  relations,  and 
it  has  not  been  altered  to  Dahkotr.h 
in  this  chi'pter. 
'  Neighbourhood  of  Mendotn. 


DAHKOTAHS  OF  THE  PLAINS. 


]68 


knowledge  of  the  mines,  which  he  had  previously  dis- 
covered, he  told  them  he  was  sorry  that  he  had  not 
kno\m  their  intentions  sooner;  and  that  it  was  just, 
since  he  came  expressly  for  them,  that  he  should  estar 
})lish  himself  on  their  land,  but  that  tl  t  season  was  too 
far  advanced  for  him  to  return.  He  +  len  made  them  a 
J) resent  of  powder,  balls,  and  knives,  ca.l  an  armful  of 
toltacco,  to  entice  them  to  assemble  as  soon  as  possible, 
near  the  fort  which  ho  was  about  to  construct,  that 
wlicn  they  should  be  all  assembled  he  might  tell  them 
the  intention  of  the  king,  their  and  his  sovereign. 

The  Scioux  of  the  West,  according  to  the  statement 
of  the  Eastern  Scioux,  have  more  than  a  thousand 
lodges.  They  do  not  use  canoes,  nor  cultivate  the 
earth,  nor  gather  wild  rice.  They  remain  generally  in 
the  prairies,  which  are  between  the  Upper  Mississippi 
and  Missouri  I'ivers,  and  live  entirely  by  the  chase. 
The  Scioux  generally  say  they  have  three  souls,  and 
that  after  death,  that  which  has  done  well  goes  to  the 
Avarm  countrj',  that  which  has  done  evil  to  the  cold 
regions,  and  the  other  guards  the  body.  Polygamy  is 
coTiunon  among  them.  They  are  very  jealous,  and 
suhictimes  fight  in  duel  for  their  wives.  They  numage 
the  bow  admirably,  and  have  been  seen  several  times  to 
kill  ducks  on  the  wing.  They  make  their  lodges  of  a 
number  of  buftalo  skins  interlaced  and  sewed,  and  carry 
them  wherever  they  go.  They  are  all  great  smokers, 
but  their  manner  of  smoking  differs  from  that  of  other 
Indians.  There  are  some  Scioux  who  swallow  all  the 
smoke  of  the  toljacco,  and  others  who,  after  having  kept 
i\  some  time  in  their  mouth,  cause  it  to  issue  from  the 
nose.  In  each  lodge  there  are  usually  two  or  three 
men  with  their  families. 


M''m 


M 


;/-::f 


St^Sl, 


^■^ 


1*4; 


*  'i-iir- 


164 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


On  the  third  of  October,  they  received  at  the  fort 
several  Scioux,  among  whom  was  Wahkantape,  chief 
of  the  village.  Soon  two  Canadians  arrived  who  had 
been  hunting,  and  had  been  robbed  by  the  Scioux  of 
the  Eiist,  who  had  raised  their  guns  against  the  esta- 
blishment which  M.  Le  Sueur  had  made  on  Blue  Earth 
river. 

On  the  fourteenth  the  fort  was  finished  and  named 
Fort  L'Huillier/  and  on  the  twenty-second  two  Cana- 
dians were  sent  out  to  invite  the  Ayavois  and  Otoctatas 
to  (^>ome  and  establish  a  village  near  the  fort,  because 
these  Indians  are  industrious  and  accustomed  to  culti- 
vate the  earth,  and  they  hoped  to  get  provisions  from 
them,  and  to  make  them  work  in  the  mines. 

On  the  twenty-fourth,  six  Scioux  Oujalespoitons 
wished  to  go  into  the  fort,  but  were  told  that  they  did 
not  receive  men  who  had  killed  Frenchmen.  This  is 
the  term  used  Avhen  they  have  insulted  tliom.  The 
next  day  they  came  to  the  lodge  of  Le  Sueur  to  bog 
him  to  have  pity  on  them.  They  wished  according  to 
custom,  to  Aveep  over  his  head  and  make  him  a  preisent 
of  packs  of  beavers,  Avhich  he  refused.  He  told  them 
he  was  surprised  that  people  Avho  had  robbed  should 
come  t«  him  ;  to  which  they  replied  that  they  had  heard 
it  siiid  that  two  Frenchmen  hud  been  robbed,  but  none 
from  their  village  had  been  present  at  that  wicked 
action. 

Le  Sueur  answered,  that  he  knew  it  was  the  Men- 
deoucantons  and  not  tlie  Oujalespoitons;  "but,"  con- 
tinued he,  "  you  are  Scioux ;  it  is  the  Scioux  who  have 
robbed  me,  and  if  I  were  to  follow  your  manner  ol 

'  The  fanner  general  at  Paris  ■^vho  hiul  encouraged  Le  Sueur  in  his  pro- 
jects. 


'^  SIOUX  Of  L'OUE^-^    "^ 


r*^ 


s,  ;? 


,  -'     ^  ^^-'Oi  0  of  t,    ..^  _  '  ><^i« — 

WILLIAM   DE  I/ISLE,      ~ 

Ro\-ui  hcadeu))-  of  Sciences . 


■■•1 

u 

t  ..I 


■'N 


1 


■   ■ 

♦  ' 

y 

LE  SUEUR  FILLS  CANOES  WITH  BLUE  EARTH. 


165 


acting,  I  should  break  your  heads ;  for  is  it  not  true, 
that  when  a  stranger  (it  is  thus  they  call  the  Indians 
wlio  are  not  Scioux)  has  insulted  a  iScioux,  Mendeou- 
canton,  Oujalespoitons,  or  others — all  the  villages  re- 
venge upon  the  first  one  they  meet  ?" 

As  they  had  nothing  to  answer  to  what  he  said  to 
them,  they  wept  and  repeated,  according  to  custom, 
"  Ouaechissou !  ouaepanimanabo !"  Le  Sueur  told  them 
to  cease  crying,  and  added,  that  the  French  had  good 
hearts,  and  that  they  had  come  into  the  country  to  have 
pity  on  them.  At  the  same  time  he  made  them  a  pre- 
seut,  saying  to  them,  "Carry  back  your  beavers  and 
say  to  all  the  Scioux,  that  they  will  have  from  me  no 
more  powder  or  lead,  and  they  will  no  lonaer  smoke 
any  long  pipe  until  they  have  made  satisfaction  for  rob- 
bing the  Frenchman." 

The  same  day  the  Canadians,  who  had  been  sent  off 
on  the  22d,  arrived  without  having  found  the  road 
which  led  to  the  Ayavois  and  Otoctatiis.  On  the  25th 
Le  Siieur  went  to  the  river  with  three  canoes,  which 
he  iiBed  with  green  and  blue  earth.'  It  is  taken  from 
the  hills  next  which  are  very  abundant  mines  of  '//pper, 
msne  of  which  was  Wi>rked  at  Pans  in  1696  by  L'/fi/il- 
lier,  one  of  the  chief  colkctori  of  the  king.  Stones  ^\ «  le 
also  found  there,  which  would  be  curiDus,  if  work'?<l. 

On  the  9th  of  November,  v^i  Mantuhujn  St  oux 
arrived,  who  had  been  -  •  by  heir  uiefs  to  say  that 
the  Metidei'i-  •>itmi  «>  ',  ^till  ai  tk«i0-  iake  <w<  the  east  of 
'he  MiMiKsipj^,!,  iind  thf^y  could  not  rawne  far  a  long  time ; 
and  that,  for  a  single  village  which  had  n')  good  ,s<'nse, 

'  The  locality  was  a  branch  of  the    river,  and  on  a  map  published  in 
Blue  Earth,  about  a  mile  above  the     1773,  the  river  St.  Remi. 
furt,  called    by  Nicollet  Le  Sueur 


^■^ 


iffi 


9     ' 


166 


niSTOIlY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  others  ought  not  to  bear  the  punislnnent ;  and  that 
they  were  willing  to  make  reparation  if  they  knew  how. 
Le  Sueur  replied  that  he  was  glad  that  they  had  a  dis- 
position to  do  so. 

On  the  15th  the  two  Mantanton  Scioux,  who  had 
been  sent  expressly  to  say  that  all  of  the  Scioux  of  the 
east,  and  part  of  those  of  the  west,  were  joined  together 
to  come  t«  the  French,  l)ecause  they  had  heard  tliat  the 
Christianaux  and  the  Assinipoils  were  making  war  on 
them.  These  two  nations  d^vell  above  the  fort  on  the 
east  side,  more  than  eighty  leagues  on  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi. 

The  Assmipoils  speak  Scioux,  and  are  certainly  of 
that  nation.  It  is  only  a  few  years  since  that  they  be- 
came enemies.  The  enmity  thus  originated :  The  Chris- 
tianaux, having  the  use  of  arms  before  the  Scioux,. 
through  the  English  at  Hudson's  Bay,  they  constantly 
wafred  upon  the  Assinipoils,  who  were  their  neai'est 
neigh})oui-s.  The  latter,  being  weak,  sued  for  peace, 
and  to  render  it  more  lasting,  married  the  Christianaux 
women.  The  other  Scioux,  who  had  not  made  the  com- 
pact, continued  the  war ;  and,  seeing  some  Christianaux 
with  the  Assinipoils,  broke  their  heads.  The  Chri.s- 
tianaux  furnished  the  Assinipoils  with  arms  and  mer- 
chandise. 

On  the  16th  the  Scioux  returned  to  their  village,  and 
it  was  reported  that  the  Ayavois  and  Otoctatas  were 
gone  to  establish  themselves  towards  the  Missouri  river, 
near  the  Maha,  who  dwell  in  that  region.  On  the  26th 
the  Mantantons  and  Oujalespoitons  arrived  at  the  fort; 
and,  after  they  luul  encamped  in  the  woods,  Wahkan- 
tape*  came  to  beg  Le  Sueur  to  go  to  his  lodge.     He 

'  Wakaiidapi  or  Esteemed  Sacred,  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  head  men 
at  Hod  Wins;,  in  1850, 


WREP  OVER  THE  DEATH  OF  TEEOSKAUTAV. 


107 


there  ibuud  sixteen  men  with  women  and  eh  .ren, 
with  their  faces  daubed  with  black.  In  tlie  middle  ot 
the  lodge  were  several  buffalo  skins,  which  were  sewed 
for  a  carpet.  After  motioning  hi:a  to  sit  down,  they 
wept  for  the  fourth  of  an  hour,  and  the  chief  gave  him 
some  wild  rice  to  eat  (as  was  their  custom),  putting  the 
first  three  spoonsful  to  his  mouth.  After  which,  he  said 
all  present  were  relatives  of  Tioscate,'  whom  Le  Sueur 
took  to  Canada  in  1695,  and  who  died  there  in  1G96. 

At  the  mention  of  Tioscate  they  began  to  weep  again, 
and  wipe  their  tears  and  heads  upon  the  shoulders  of 
Le  Sueur.  Then  Wahkantape  again  spoke,  and  said  that 
Tioscate  begged  him  to  forget  the  insult  done  to  the 
Frenchmen  by  the  Mendeoucantons,  and  take  pity  on 
his  brethren  by  giving  them  powder  and  balls  whereby 
they  could  defend  themselves,  and  gain  a  living  fur  their 
wives  and  children,  who  languish  in  a  country,  full  of 
game,  because  they  had  not  the  means  of  killing  them. 
''  Look,"  added  the  chief,  ■•  Behold  thy  children,  thy 
brethren,  and  thy  sisters ;  it  is  to  thee  to  see  whether 
thou  wishestthem  to  die.  They  will  live  if  thou  givest 
them  powder  and  l)all ;  they  will  die  if  thou  refusest." 

Le  Sueur  granted  them  their  request,  but  as  the 
Scioux  never  answer  on  the  spot,  especially  in  matters 
of  importance,  and  as  he  had  to  speak  to  them  alx)ut 
his  establishment,  he  went  out  of  the  odge  without 
saying  a  word.  The  chief  and  all  those  \  ithin  followed 
him  as  far  as  the  door  of  the  fort ;  and  when  he  had 
gone  in,  they  went  around  it  three  times,  crying  with 
all  their  strength,  "  Atheouanan !"  that  is  to  say, 
"  Father,  have  pity  on  us,"  (Ate  unyanpi,  means  Our 
Father.) 

*  Teeoskahtoy. 


m:.  -J-fW^.-l 


b***  * 


I'Wf ' 


Mi 


^M 


■^^ 


.  ti 


I'    i}  ■« 


■  i 


;  3  X  ..t^j'- iifi' 


:,S  t?--' 


168 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


The  next  day,  he  assembled  in  the  fort  the  principal 
men  of  both  villages ;  and  as  it  is  not  possible  to  subdue 
the  Scioux  or  to  hinder  them  from  going  to  war,  unless 
it  ))e  by  inducing  them  to  cultivate  the  earth,  he  said  to 
thein  that  if  they  wished  to  render  themselves  worthy 
of  the  protection  of  the  king,  they  must  abandon  their 
erring  life,  and  form  a  village  near  his  dwelling,  where 
they  would  be  shielded  from  the  insults  of  their  ene- 
mies ;  and  that  they  might  be  happy  and  not  hungry, 
he  would  give  them  all  the  corn  necessary  to  plant  a 
large  piece  of  ground  ;  that  the  king,  their  and  his  chief, 
in  sending  him,  had  forbidden  him  to  purchase  beaver 
skins,  knowing  that  this  kind  of  hunting  separates  them 
and  exposes  them  to  their  enemies ;  and  that  in  con  - 
quence  of  this  he  had  come  to  establish  himself  on  Blue 
river  and  vicinity,  where  they  had  many  times  assured 
him  were  many  kinds  of  beasts,  for  the  skins  of  which 
lie  would  give  them  all  things  necessary ;  that  they 
ought  to  reflect  that  they  could  not  do  without  French 
goods,  and  that  the  only  w^ay  not  to  want  them  was,  not 
to  go  to  war  with  our  allied  nations. 

As  it  is  customary  with  the  Indians  lO  accompany 
their  word  with  a  present  proportioned  to  the  affair 
treated  of,  he  gave  them  fifty  pounds  of  powaler,  as  many 
balls,  six  guns,  ten  axes,  twelve  armsful  of  tobacco,  and 
a  hatchet  pipe. 

On  the  first  of  December,  the  Mantantons  invited  Le 
Sueur  to  a  great  feast.  Of  four  of  their  lodges  they 
had  made  one,  in  which  were  one  hundred  men  seated 
around,  and  "every  one  his  dish  before  him.  After  the 
meal,  Wahkantape,  the  chief,  made  them  all  smoke  one 
after  another  in  the  hatchet  pipe  which  had  been  given 
them.     He  then  made  a  present  to  Le  Sueur  of  a  slave 


I?'!  ^^te 


III  '  >  "'fait- 


'.^•^t*     1 


M'UEWAKANTONWAN  CHIEI'S  AT  DLUE  EARTH   FOUT.       169 


•♦<I3 


and  a  sack  of  wild  rice,  and  said  to  him,  showing  him 
liis  men :  "  Behold  the  remains  of  this  great  village, 
which  thou  hast  aforetimes  seen  so  numeroi;>(  I  all  the 
others  have  been  kilU'd  in  war;  and  the  fow  men  whom 
thou  seest  in  this  lodge,  accept  the  present  thou  liast 
made  them,  and  are  resolved  to  obey  the  great  chief  of 
all  nations,  of  whom  thou  hast  spoken  to  us.  Thou 
oughtest  not  to  regard  us  as  Scioux.  but  as  French,  and 
instead  of  saying  the  Scioux  are  miserable,  and  have  no 
h,  nd,  and  are  fit  for  nothing  but  to  rob  and  steal  from 
the  French,  thou  shalt  say  my  brethren  are  miserable 
and  have  no  mind,  and  we  mii^t  try  to  procure  some  for 
them.  They  rob  U8,  but  I  will  take  care  that  they  do 
not  lack  iron,  that  i  to  say,  all  kinds  of  L:'>ods.  If 
thou  dost  this,  I  assui  thee  th  t  in  a  little  time,  the 
Mantantuns  will  become  Frenchmen,  and  they  will  have 
none  oi'  those  vices  with  which  thou  reproachest  us." 

Having  finished  his  speecii,  he  covered  his  face  with 
his  garment,  and  the  ithers  imitated  him.  They  wept 
over  their  companions  who  had  died  in  war,  aiid  chanted 
an  adieu  to  their  country  in  a  t me  so  gloomy,  tliat  one 
could  not  keep  from  partaking  of  their  sorrow. 

Wahkantape  then  made  them  smoke  again,  and  dis- 
tributed the  presents,  and  said  that  he  was  going  to  the 
MendeoKcar..x)ns,  to  inform  them  of  the  resolution,  and 
mvite  them  to  do  the  same. 

On  the  i \^  e'fth,  three  Mendeoucanton  chiefs  and  a 
large  number  of  Indians  of  the  same  village,  arrived  at 
the  fort,  and  the  next  day  gave  satisfaction  for  robbing 
the  Frenchmen.  They  brought  400  pounds  of  beaver 
skins,  and  promised  that  the  summer  following,  after 
their  canoes  were  built  and  they  had  gathered  their  wild 
rice,  that  they  would  come  and   establish  themselves 


'!-  ^^l 


f».:i|';|i^;f 


,1 


t 


"'ki'i'fVHi 


M'^U 


E'SC-' 


^"il 


^. 


.vV*.  w 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


// 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


US 


1^    1^ 
1^    12.2 


I; 


2.0 


1.8 


U     III  1.6 


y] 


<» 


^. 


-e^ 


"4'V^ 


>^ 


'■'W 


PhotDgraphic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STRSET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  MSSO 

(716)  873-4503 


,.<S'. 


lYO 


I  OS.  tJI 


HISTORr  OF  MINNESOTA. 


near  the  Freuch.     The  same  day  they  returned  to  their 
village  east  of  the  Mississippi.  > 


NAMES  OF  THE  BANDS  OF  SCIOUX  OF  THE  EAST,  WITH  THEIR 
SIGNIFICATION.       '  '     , 


4* 


Mantantons — That  is  to  say,  Village  of  the  Great 
Lake  which  empties  into  a  small  one.  .     ,1^ 

Mendeoucantons — Village  of  Spirit  Lake. 

Quiopetons — Village  of  the  Lake  with  one  River. 

Psioumanitons — Village  of  Wild  Rice  Gatherers. 

Ouadebatons. — The  River  Village.     "  .V"^ ,  "  " -V   ^r, 

Ouatemanetons. — Village  of  the  Tribe  who  dwell  on 
the  Point  of  the  Lake.  ,m      ,     1 . 

Songasquitons — The  Brave  Village.  .    ,    , 

THE  SCIOUX  OF  THE  WEST. 

ToucHOUASiNTONS — The  Village  of  the  Pcle. 

Psinchatons — Village  of  the  Red  Wild  Eice. 

OuJALESPOiTONS — Village  divided  into  many  small 
Bands. 

Psinoutanhhintons — The  Great  Wild  Rice  Village. 

Tintangaoughiatons — The  Grand  Lpdge  Village. 

OuAPETONS — Village  of  the  Leaf.  "  '"' "' '  ' 

OuGHETGEODATONS — Dung  Village. 

Ouapetontetons — Village  of  those  who  Shoot  in  the 
Large  Pine. 

Hinhanetons — Village  of  the  Red  Stone  Quarry. 

The  above  catalogue  of  villages  concludes  the  extract 
that  La  Harpe  has  made  from  Le  Sue.ir's  Journal.* 

'  The  "  History  of  Louisiana,  by  nal,  and  deposited  among  the  ar- 

La  Harpe,"  who  was  a  French  offi-  chives  of  the  American  Philoaophi- 

cer,  remaineU  in  manuscript  more  cal   Society,  from  which  a  few  ez- 

than  one  hundred  years.    In  1805,  tracts  were  published  by  Professor 

a  copy  was  talien  from  tiio  origi-  Keating,  in  hia  narrative  of  Miyor 


mm 


D'IBEBVILLE'S  MANUSCRIPT. 


ill 


In  the  narrative  of  Major  Long's  second  expedition, 
there  are  just  the  same  number  of  villages  of  the  Gens 
du  Lac  or  M'dewakantonwan  Scioux  mentioned,  though 
the  names  are  different.  After  leaving  the  Mille  Lac 
region,  the  divisions  evidently  were  different,  and  the 
villages  known  by  new  names. 

Charlevoix,  who  visited  the  valiey  of  the  Lower  Mis- 
sissippi in  1722,  says  that  Le  Sueur  spent  a  winter  in  his 
fort  on  the  banks  of  the  Blue  Earth ;  and  that  in  the 
following  April  he  went  up  to  the  mine  about  a  mile 
above.  In  twenty-two  days  they  obtained  more  than 
thirty  thousand  pounds  of  the  substance,  four  thousand 
of  which  were  selected  and  sent  to  France. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1701,  Le  Sueur  came  back 
to  the  post  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  found  D'Iberville 
absent,  who,  however,  arrived  on  the  eighteenth  of  the 
next  Feb'y ,  with  a  ship  from  France,  loaded  with  sup- 
plies. After  a  few  weeks,  the  Governor  of  Louisiana 
sailed  again  for  the  old  country,  Le  Sueur  being  a  fellow 
passenger. 

On  board  of  the  ship,  D'Iberville  wrote  a  memorial 
upon  the  Mississippi  Valley,  with  suggestions  for  carry- 
ing on  commerce  therein,  which  contains  many  facts 
furnished  by  Le  Sueur.  A  copy  of  the  manuscript  is 
in  possession  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Minnesota, 
from  which  are  the  following  extracts : — 

"  If  the  Sioux  remain  in  their  own  country  they  are 
useless  to  us,  being  too  distant.  We  could  have  no 
commerce  with  them  except  that  of  the  beaver.     M. 


Long's  expedition.   In  the  year  1831,  tion  of  that  part  whioh  pertains  to 

the  original  was  published  at  Paris,  Minnesota,  appeared  in  a  St.  Paul 

for  the  first  time,   in  the  French  newspaper  in  1850. 
languoge.    The  first  English  transia- 


172 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


he  Sueur y  who  goes  to  France  to  give  an  account  of  tins 
cmintry,  is  the  proper  person  to  make  these  taovements. 
He  estimates  the  Sioux  at  four  thousand  families,  who 
could  settle  upon  the  Missouri. 

"  He  has  spoken  to  me  of  another  which  he  calls  the 
Mahaa,  composed  of  more  than  twelve  hundred  families, 
the  Ayooues  (loways)  and  the  Octoctataa  their  neigh- 
bours, are  about  three  hundred  families.  They  occupy 
the  lands  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri, 
about  one  hundred  leagues  from  the  Illinois.  These 
savages  do  not  know  the  use  of  arms,  and  a  descent 
might  be  made  upon  them  in  a  river,  which  is  beyond 
the  Wabash  on  the  west.    ********** 

"  The  Assinibouel,  Quenistinos,  and  people  of  the 
North,  who  are  upon  the  rivers  which  fall  into  the 
Mississippi,  and  trade  at  Fort  Nelson  (Hudson  Bay), 
are  about  four  hundred  men.  We  could  prevent  them 
from  going  there  if  we  wish." 

"  In  four  or  five  years  we  can  establish  a  commerce 
with  these  iavages  of  sixty  or  eighty  thousand  buffalo 
skins ;  more  than  one  hundred  deer  skins,  which  will 
produce,  delivered  in  France,  more  than  two  million 
four  hundred  thousand  Uvres  yearly.  One  might  obtain 
for  a  buffalo  skin  four  or  five  pounds  of  wool,  which 
sells  for  twenty  sous,  two  pound  of  coarse  hair  at  ten 
sous.  i4>sy  Mi  wimt 

"  Besides,  from  smaller  peltries,  two  hundred  thou- 
sand livres  can  be  made  yearly." 

In  the  third  volume  of  the  "  History  and  Statistics 
of  the  Indian  Tribes,"  prepared  under  the  direction  of 
the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft. 
a  manuscript,  a  copy  of  which  is  in  possession"  of  General 
Cass,  is  referred  to  as  containing  the  first  en\  meration 


EARLIEST  CENSUS  OP  INDIANS  OF  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY.  178 


of  the  Indians  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.    The  following 
was  made  thirty-four  years  earlier : — .;;  .,,.,. ..„^.,. 


"The  Sioux,        .    Families,    4,000 

Mahas, 12,000 

Octata  and  Ayoues,  .  .  .  300 
Canses,  (Kansas),     .    .    .    1,500 

Missouri, 1,500 

Arkansas,  Sae.,  ....  200 
Manton,  (Mandan)  tvi^  ,■>.•  100 
Panis,  (Pawnee)  ....  2,000 
Illinois,  of  the  great  village 

andCamaroua(Tamaroa)  800 
Meosigamea,  (Metchigamias)  200 
Kikapous  and  Masooutens,        450 

Miamis,        500 

Chactas 4,000 


Chicachas, 2,000 

Mobiliens  and  Chohomes,  .  350 

Conoaquea,  (Conchas)    .    .  2,000 

Duma,  (Houmas)      .    .    .  150 

Colapissa, 250 

Bayogoula, 100 

People  of  the  Fork,   ...  200 

Counica,  fto.,  (Tonioas)      .  300 

Oaensa,  (Taensa)      .    .     .  150 

Nadcches, 1,500 

Belochy,  (Bilozi)  Pascoboula.    100 


Total, 23,850 


"  The  savage  tribes  located  in  the  places  I  have 
marked  out,  make  it  necessary  to  establish  three  posts 
on  the  Mississippi.  One  at  the  Arkansas,  another  at 
the  Wabash  (Ohio),  and  the  third  at  the  Missouri.  At 
each  post  it  would  be  proper  to  have  an  officer  with  a 
detachment  of  ten  soldiers,  with  a  sergeant  and  corporal. 
All  Frenchmen  should  be  allowed  to  settle  there  with 
their  families,  and  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  they 
might  establish  tanneries  for  properly  dressing  the 
buffalo  and  deer  skins  for  transportation.  :fnr   . 

"  No  Frenchman  shall  be  allowed  to  follow  the  Indians 
on  thmr  hunts,  as  it  tends  to  Jceep  them  hunters,  as  is  seen 
in  Canada,  and  when  they  are  in  the  woods  they  do 
not  desire  to  become  iillers  of  the  soil.  ***** 

"  I  have  said  nothing  in  this  memoir  of  which  I  have 
not  personal  knowledge  or  the  most  reliable  sources. 
The  most  of  what  I  propose  is  founded  upon  personal 
reflection,  in  relation  to  what  might  be  done  for  the 
defence  and  advancement  of  the  colony.     •     *     *     * 


174 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA.    "  ■*'*  <  fVJ    <I..V. 


*  *  *  It  will  be  absolutely  necessary  that  the  king 
should  define  the  limits  of  this  country,  iri  relation  to 
the  government  of  Canada.  It  is  important  that  the 
commandant  of  the  Mississippi  should  have  a  report  of 
those  who  inhabit  the  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Mississippi, 
and  principally  those  of  the  river  Illinois. 

"  The  Canadians  intimate  to  the  savages  that  they 
ought  not  to  listen  to  us,  but  to  the  governor  of  Canada, 
who  always  speaks  to  them  with  large  presents ;  that 
the  governor  of  the  Mississippi  is  mean,  and  never 
sends  them  anything.  This  is  true,  and  what  I  cannot 
<io.  It  is  imprudent  to  accustom  the  savages  to  be 
spoken  to  by  presents,  for,  with  so  many,  it  would  cost 
the  king  more  than  the  revenue  derived  from  the  trade. 
When  they  come  to  us.  it  will  be  necessary  to  bring 
them  in  subjection,  make  them  no  presents,  and  compel 
them  to  do  what  we  wish,  as  if  they  were  Frenchmen. 

"  The  Spaniards  have  divided  the  Indians  into  parties 
on  this  point,  and  we  can  do  the  same.  When  one 
nation  does  wrong,  we  can  cease  to  trade  with  them, 
«,nd  threaten  to  draw  down  the  hostility  of  other 
Indians.  We  rectify  the  difficulty  by  having  mission- 
aries, who  will  bring  them  into  obedience  secretly. 

"  The  Illinois  and  Mascoutens  have  detained  the 
French  canoes  they  find  upon  the  Mississippi,  saying 
that  the  governors  of  Canada  have  given  them  permis- 
sion. I  do  not  know  whether  this  is  so,  but,  if  true,  it 
follows  that  we  have  not  the  liberty  to  send  any  one 
on  the  Mississippi.  >"  ■"  ^'Mi.'-'w  "*txrt  n^mf.  t- 

"  M.  Le  Sueur  would  have  been  taken  if  he  had  not 
been  the  strongest.  Only  one  of  the  canoes  he  sent  to 
the  Sioux  was  plundered."     **«♦** 

On  the  third  of  March,  1703,  the  workmen  left  at 


RETURN  OF  WORKMEN  PROM  MAHKAHTO. 


1T5 


Mahkahto  returned  to  Mobile,  having  left  Minnesota 
on  account  of  the  hostility  of  the  Indians,  and  the  want 
'  of  means. 

Le  Sueur,       after  leaving  Mahkahto     does  not  appear 
to  have  visited  Minnesota.' 


'  Penicaut  wrote  a  journal  of  his 
voyage  to  the  Blue  Earth,  a  MS. 
which  has  recently  been  purchased 
for  the  Library  of  Congress. 

He  mentions  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  and  says  the  party  visited 
them,  and  that  their  height  was  60 
feet.  Beturning,  they  ascended  the 
Minnesota  to  the  Blue  Earth  River, 
and  a  league  up  the  latter,  on  a  point 
of  laud  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
the  woods,  they  built  the  fort.  The 
mine  they  worked  was  three-  fourths 
of  a  league  distant,  ou  the  banks 
of  the  river,  in  a  bluff.  The  green 
earth  was  a  foot  and  a  half  in 
thickness. 

In  May,  1701,  Le  Sueur  left  the 


fort  in  charge  of  D'Evaque,  a  Cana- 
dian and  twelve  Frenchmen,  and 
returned  to  Mobile. 

D'Evaque,  being  molested  by  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes,  abandoned  the 
fort  in  the  spring  of  1702.  Return- 
ing to  Louisiana,  he  met  Jnchereau, 
who  had  been  officer  of  justice  in 
Montreal,  with  thirty-five  men,  on 
his  way  to  establish  a  tannery  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio. 

Penicaut  remained  in  Louisiana 
until  1721,  when  he  went  to  France 
for  treatment  of  his  eyes,  and  there 
prepared  the  account  of  his  ad- 
ventures which  has  lately  been 
brought  to  light. 


ill'*'")  i'liJ 

■ir.        , 

o-h  \tht'. 

■;:"ivr,i{  f 

11!'/ 

■xn , 

iln/-lM-r.'  'ihtli  ■iiih 

'.::  >m  h'Vi 

!('/!•<  !; 

6'\!0'tl'>[i 

■  J... J. 

*  ^  ,  *  ( 

nrm 

«>fi.-'  ' 

,!«'iatOj';*> 

'.nh   '■,'(,'   .nkvA  tv 

■A, 

!lj  KB  m 

,p-0->:oT' 

iw,  ..... 

-^.       Aw.!,,      , 

"-■.■■"•■            .;..j.,.-.,     .*. 

#--  ,. 

.i  .  i,';- 

•  K  :tii  .uv  ,  <s.vl»  iSiiihoAv-^tfi ' 


m 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


AiJ?4*iV,   CHAPTER    IX.     ■^'^it^'itifd^'thi.Ur 

At  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  tKa 
Dahkotahs  were  still  dwelling  at  the  Spirit  Lake,  east 
of  the  Mississippi;  but  influences  were  beginning  to 
opr  rate,  which  eventually  led  to  dislodgment  from  their 
ancient  stronghold,      nu  't^i 

When  the  French  traders  first  visited  Green  Bay, 
they  found  the  Sauks  a  fierce  and  haughty  people, 
wandering  about  the  country  between  the  head  waters 
of  the  Fox  and  Chippeway  rivers.  Below  them,  and 
above  the  Illinois,  resided  the  Fox  or  Outagami  nation,' 
with  whom  they  were  closely  allied  by  intermarriage. 
The  French,  from  the  first,  seemed  to  be  unsuccessful 
in  obtaining  their  good-will,  the  early  voyageurs  having 
behaved  themselves  as  bandits  rather  than  civilized  men. 

In  the  year  1700  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  were  defeated 
in  a  contest  with  the   Dahkotahs  and  loways;   and 


'  The  Ojibways  assert  that  the 
Foxes,  before  theirincorporationwith 
the  Sauks,  spoke  a  different  lan- 
guage, and  they  called  them  "  0-dug- 
aum-eeg,"  or  people  of  the  opposite 
Bide. 

A  French  memoir  on  the  Indians 
between  Lake  Erie  and  Mississippi, 
prepared    in    1718,    confirms    this 


Btaf^ment.  "  The  Foxes  are  eighteen 
leagues  from  the  Sacs,  they  number 
five  hundred  men,  abound  in  women 
and  children,  are  as  industrious  as 
they  can  be,  and  have  a  different 
language  from  the  Ottawas.  An 
Ottawa  interpreter  would  be  of  no 
use  with  the  Foxes."  Paris  Doc. 
vii.  in  N.  Y.  C.  H.  vol.  ix. 


ATTACK  OF  FOXES  ON  DETROIT. 


177 


shortly  after  this  they  began  to  manifest  open  hostility 
against  the  French.  Under  the  direction  of  the  noted 
warriors  Lamina  and  Pemoussa,  they  marched  to  the 
post  at  Detroit,  which  was  the  key  to  the  coBimerce  of 
the  upper  lakes,  with  the  intention  of  exterminating 
the  small  garrison  of  thirty  men,  and  delivering  the 
post  to  the  English,  who,  from  the  year  1687,  had  been 
looking  wistfully  towards  the  beautiful  peninsula  which 
now  comprises  the  commonwealth  of  Michigan. 

For  days  they  prowled  around  the  rude  stockade, 
watching  every  opportunity  for  insult  and  murder. 

To  prevent  the  burning  of  the  post,  Du  Buisson,  the 
commander,  ordered  the  chapel,  storehouse,  and  other 
outbuildings  to  be  destroyed. 

After  a  few  days  De  Vincennes  and  eight  Frenchmen 
arrived,  but  brought  no  news  that  was  cheering;  and 
the  commander,  in  his  despatch  to  the  governor  of 
Canada,  admits  his  alarm,  and  writes,  "  I  did  not  know 
on  what  saint  to  call." 

The  hour  now  came  for  decided  action.  The  gates 
of  the  little  fort  were  closed ;  the  garrison  divided  into 
four  companies ;  arms  and  ammunition  duly  inspected ; 
two  swivels,  mounted  on  logs,  loaded  with  slugs;  all 
were  waiting,  with  anxious  impatience,  for  the  attack 
to  commence,  when  the  commander,  ascending  the 
bastion,  descried  a  friendly  force  uf  Osages,  Missouris, 
Illinois,  and  other  alUes,  issuing  from  the  forest.  The 
gates  being  thrown  open,  they  were  warmly  greeted. 

A  moment's  silence,  a  terrific  war-whoop,  that  made 
the  very  earth  tremble,  and  the  battle  began  in  earnest, 
and  murderous  missiles  flew  like  hail-stones.  To  pro- 
tect themselves  from  the  fire  of  the  fort,  the  Sauks  and 
Foxes  dug  holes  in  the  ground,  but  they  were  soon 

12 


178 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


besieged.  After  being  surrounded  for  nineteen  days, 
they  succeeded  in  making  their  escape,  on  a  dark  and 
rainy  night,  after  the  attacking  party  were  asleep.  The 
discovery  .was  not  made  till  morning,  when  they  were 
found  at  Presque  Isle,  near  Lake  St.  Clair.  The  fight 
was  here  renewed,  and  the  Foxes  were  thoroughly  de- 
feated, losing  about  one  thousand  men,  women,  and 
children.*  ,  •,!■//. * 

Maddened  by  their  want  of  success,  they  came  back 
with  the  portion  of  the  Sauks  who  were  their  allies  to 
their  residence  in  Wisconsin,  and  revenged  themselves 
by  scalping  every  French  trader  they  could  find,  and 
waging  war  on  the  Ojibways  and  other  tribes  who  had 
aided  the  French. 

Travel  to  Louisiana  by  way  of  the  Wisconsin  river 
was  entirely  cut  off;  and  in  1714  the  governor  of  Ca- 
nada determined  to  subdue  or  exterminate  them.  A 
force  of  eight  hundred  men  marched  to  their  villages, 
and  the  Foxes,  under  the  pressure  of  necessity,  formed 
a  friendly  alliance  with  their  old  foes,  the  Dahkotahs 
of  Minnesota.  The  invading  army  found  the  foe,  to 
the  number  of  five  hundred  men  and  three  thousand 
women,  strongly  intrenched.  De  Louvigny,  the  com- 
mander, planted  his  field  pieces  and  a  grenade  mortar, 
and  began  the  attack ;  but  the  Foxes  soon  capitulated, 
and  six  hostages  were  given  by  them  as  security  for  the 
presence  of  their  deputies  at  Montreal,  to  perfect  the 
terms  of  the  treaty.  While  at  Montreal,  Pemoussa,  the 
great  warrior,  and  others  of  the  hostages,  died  of  small- 
pox. 

Fearing  that  this  calamity  might  defeat  the  arrange- 


'  This  must  be  an  exaggeration  of  the  French  report,  from  which  the 
facts  were  obtnined. 


PREDICTION  IN  RELATION  TO  ENGLISH  MASTERY. 


179 


ments  for  the  final  treaty,  De  Louvigny  was  sent  to 
Mackinaw  with  one  of  the  hostages,  who  had  recovered 
from  the  small-pox  with  the  loss  of  one  eye.  Arriving 
in  May,  1717,  he  despatched  the  one-eyed  chief  with 
luitable  presents  to  cover  the  dead.  The  Fox  chiefs 
promised  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  original 
capitulation,  and  the  pock-marked  warrior  departed  for 
Mackinaw,  with  the  interpreter,  but  he  soon  eloped, 
and  in  a  little  while  the  truce-breaking  Foxes  were 
again  shedding  blood.  They  not  only  harassed  the 
French,  but  leagued  with  the  Chickaaaws  of  the  south, 
as  well  as  the  fierce  Dahkotahs  of  the  north. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  French  government  had 
discountenanced  traders  dwelling  with  the  Indians  west 
of  Mackinaw,  and  the  old  license  system  waa  abolished. 
But,  in  1726,  it  was  observed  that  the  English  werr; 
obtaining  such  an  influence  over  the  distant  nations, 
that,  to  counteract  it,  the  licensing  of  traders  to  dwell 
among  the  upper  tribes  was  renewed. 

A  despatch  on  this  point,  made  a  prediction,  which 
has  Ijeen  fully  verified : — 

''  From  all  that  precedes,  it  is  more  and  more  obvious, 
that  the  English  are  endeavouring  to  interlope  among 
all  the  Indian  nations,  and  to  attach  them  to  them- 
selves. They  entertain  constantly  the  idea  of  becoming 
masters  of  North  America,  persuaded  that  the  European 
nation  which  will  be  possessor  of  that  section,  will,  in 
course  of  time,  be  also  mazier  of  all  America,  because  it 
is  there  alone  that  men  live  in  healtJi,  and  produce  strong 
and  robust  children." 

V  To  thwart  them  it  was  proposed  to  restore  the  twenty- 
five  licenses  for  trading,  which  had  been  suppressed,  by 
which  seventy-five  "  coureurs  des  bois"  would  proceed 


180 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


annually  to  the  upper  tribes,  and  be  absent  eiglxteen 
months ;  olso,  to  abolish  the  prohibitory  liquor  law,  which 
had  been  enacted  through  the  influence  of  the  mission- 
aries. The  argument  in  favour  of  this  measure  was  in 
these  words : — 

"  'Tis  true,  that  the  Indians  are  crazy  when  drunk, 
and  when  they  have  once  tasted  brandy,  that  they  give 
all  they  possess  to  obtain  some  more,  and  drink  it  to 
excess. 

"  Missionaries  will  complain  that  this  permission  de- 
stroys the  Indians  and  the  religion  among  them.  But, 
apart  from  the  fact  that  they  will  always  have  rum 
from  the  English,  the  question  is,  whether  it  be  better 
that  the  English  penetrate  into  the  continent  by  favour 
of  that  rum,  which  attracts  the  Indians  to  them,  than  to 
suffer  the  French  to  furnish  them  with  liquor  in  order 
to  preserve  these  nations,  and  to  prevent  them  declaring 
eventually  in  favour  of  the  English."' 

In  view  of  the  troubles  among  the  tribes  of  the  north- 
west, in  the  month  of  September,  1718,  Captain  St. 
Pierre,  who  had  great  influence  with  the  Indians  of 
Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  was  sent  with  Ensign  Linctot 
and  some  soldiers  to  re-occupy  La  Pointe  on  Lake  Supe- 
rior, now  Bayfield,  in  the  north-western  point  of  Wis- 
consin. The  chiefs  of  the  baud  there  and  at  Keweenaw, 
had  threatened  war  against  the  Foxes,  who  had  killed 
some  of  their  number.  y  .,/^*>;y-.  ^ 

On  the  seventh  of  June,  1726,  peace  was  concluded 
by  De  Lignery  with  the  Sauks,  Foxes,  and  Winneba- 
goes,  at  Green  Bay ;  and,  Linctot,  who  had  succeeded 
Saint  Pierre  in  command  at  La  Pointe,  was  ordered,  by 


i       .5, 


Written  May  7th,  1726. 


LINCTOT  AT  LA  POINTS. 


m 


presents  and  the  promise  of  a  missionary,  to  endeavour 
to  detach  the  Dahkotahs  from  their  aUiancc  with  the 
Foxes.  At  this  tune  Linctot  made  arrangemeutH  for 
peace  between  the  Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs,  and  «<  nt 
two  Frenclimen  to  dwell  in  the  villages  of  the  latter, 
with  a  promise  that,  if  they  ceased  to  fight  the  Ojib- 
ways, they  should  have  regular  trade,  and  a  "  black 
robe"  reside  in  their  country. 

The  Ojibways,  after  the  treaty,  came  down  to  Mon- 
treal,  and  were  thus  addressed  by  Lougeuil,*  the  gover- 
nor : — 

'*  I  am  rejoiced,  my  children  of  the  Sauteurs,  at  the 
peace  which  Monsieur  De  Linctot  has  procured  for  you 
with  the  Sioux,  your  neighbours,  and  also  on  account 
of  the  prisoners  you  have  restored  to  them.  I  desire 
him,  in  the  letter  which  I  now  give  you,  my  son  Cabina, 
lor  him,  that  he  maintain  this  peace,  and  support  the 
happy  reunion  which  now  appears  to  exist  between 
the  Sioux  and  you.  I  hope  he  will  succeed  in  it,  if  you 
are  attentive  to  his  words,  and  if  you  follow  the  lights 
which  he  will  show  you. 

"  My  heart  is  sad  on  account  of  the  blows  which  the 
Foxes  of  Green  Bay  have  given  you,  of  which  you  have 
just  spoken,  and  of  which  the  commandant  has  written 
in  his  letter.  It  appears  to  me  that  Heaven  has  revenged 
you  for  your  losses,  since  it  has  given  you  the  flesh  of  a 
}oung  Fux  to  eat.  You  have  done  well  to  listen  to  the 
words  of  your  commandant  to  keep. quiet,  and  respect 
the  words  of  your  Father. 

"  It  would  not  have  been  good  to  embroil  the  whole 
land  in  order  to  revenge  a  blow  struck  by  people  with- 

'  The  Baron  Longeuil,  was  Charles  Le  Moyne,  a  native  of  Canada.     H* 
died  in  1729. 


C<tJ 


182 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


out  sense  or  reason,  who  have  no  authority  in  their  owd 

villages.         ^"'n'      ''  ^  "  ■•••;     A:^;V,;ff('■f^    :,,f)     ii^^tt^v^fV  ii^. 

"  I  invite  you  by  this  tobacco,  my  children,  to  remain 
in  tranquillity  in  your  lodges,  awaiting  the  news  of  what 
.shall  be  decided  in  Lhe  council  at  the  bay  (Green  Bay), 
by  the  commandant  of  Mackinaw. 

"  There  is  coming  from  France  a  new  Father,  who  will 
not  fail  to  inform  you,  as  soon  as  he  shall  be  able  to  take 
measures  and  stop  the  bad  affair  which  the  Foxes  wish 
to  cause  in  future. 

"  And  to  convince  you,  my  children,  of  the  interest 
I  take  in  your  loss,  here  are  two  blankets,  two  shirts, 
and  two  pairs  of  leggings,  to  cover  the  bodies  of  those 
of  your  children  who  have  been  killed,  and  to  stop  the 
blood  which  has  been  spilled  upon  your  mats.  I  add  to 
this,  four  shirts  to  staunch  the  wounds  of  those  who 
hr  ve  bt  .ju  hui't  i.:  this  miserable  affray,  with  a  package 
of  tobacco  to  comfort  tiie  minds  of  your  young  men,  and 
also  to  cause  them  to  think  hereafter  of  good  things,  and 
wholly  to  forget  bad  ones. 

"  This  is  what  I  exhort  you  all,  my  childi*en,  while 
waiting  for  news  from  your  new  Father,  and  also  to  be 
always  attentive  to  the  words  of  the  French  command- 
ant, who  now  smokes  his  pipe  in  security  among  you." 

The  Foxes  again  proved  faithless,  having  received 
belts  from  the  English,  and  determined  to  attack  the 
French.  The  authorities  at  Quebec  now  determined  to 
send  a  regular  army  into  their  country.  Their  prepara- 
tions were  kept  secret;  for,  says  Beauharnois,  "they 
already  had  an  assurance  of  a  passage  into  the  country 
of  the  Sioux  of  the  Prairies,  their  allies,  in  such  a  man- 
ner, liiat  if  chey  had  known  of  our  design  of  making 
war,  it  would  have  been  easy  to  have  withdrawn  in 


''^i^'Ji-iil 


FRENCH  RE-ESTABLISHED  AT  LAKE  PEPIN. 


183 


thej 


that  direction,  before  vte  could  block  up  the  way  and 
attack  them  in  their  towns." 

To  hem  in  the  Fox  nation  as  much  as  possible,  it  was 
determined  to  build  a  fort  on  the  point  of  land  that 
juts  into  Lake  Pepin,  in  sight  of  Maiden's  Eock, 
and  traders  and  missionaries  resolved  to  accompany  the 
expedition.  On  April  20,  1727,  the  Governor  of 
Canada  wrote  to  France,  that  the  Fathers  appointed  for 
the  projected  Sioux  mission  desired  a  case  of  mathe- 
matical instruments,  a  universal  astronomic  dial,  a  spirit- 
level,  chain  and  stakes,  and  a  telescope  of  six  or  seven 

feet  tube.  a^^-.       •■/  ''v..<;i^i:f:^^,^';A  ,;i': -',;:, ^  •</  ;,■ 

On  the  16th  of  June  the  party  left  Montreal  under 
the  command  of  De  la  Perriere  Boucher,  the  oflBcer 
who  gained  an  unenviable  notoriety  as  the  leader  of 
the  brutal  savages  who  sacked  Haverhill,  Massachusetts, 
a  few  years  before,  and  exultingly  killed  the  Puritan 
minister  of  the  town,  scalped  his  loving  wife,  and  then 
dashed  out  her  infant's  brains  against  the  rocks. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  Lake  Pepin  was  reached. 
The  stockade  whei-  completed  was  one  hundred  feet 
square,  within  which  were  three  buildings,  one,  thirty 
by  sixteen  feet,  one,  thirty-eight  by  sixteen,  and  the 
last,  twerity-five  by  sixteen  feet  in  dimensions.  There 
were  also  two  bastions,  and  the  whole  was  surrounded 
by  twelve-foot  pickets.  The  fort,  in  compliment  to  the 
Governor  of  Canada,  was  called  "  Beauharnois,"  and 
the  mission  was  known  as  thpc  of  "St.  Michael  the 
Archangel." 

Guigusf  v'tes,  "On  the  mornixig  of  the  4th  of 
Novembe"  !  1727]  we  did  iiot  forget  it  was  the  general's 
birthday,  itlass  wpis  srid  f'-r  hi^a  in  the  morning,  and 
they  were  w  .11  disposed  to  celebrate  in  the  evening,  but 

*  Appendix  H 


184 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


■h    ml', 


■A 


the  tardiness  of  the  pyrotechnist  caused  them  to  post- 
pone the  celebration  to  the  14th,  when  they  set  off  some 
very  fine  rockets,  and  made  the  air  ring  with  a  hundred 
shouts:  'Vive  le  Roy,'  and  'Vive  Charles  de  Beau- 
harnois.'  ....  What  contributed  much  to  the  amuse- 
ment was  the  terror  of  some  lodges  of  Indians  who  were 
at  that  time  around  the  fort.  When  these  poor  people 
saw  the  fireworks  in  the  air,  and  the  stars  fall  down 
from  heaven,  the  women  and  children  bega'i  to  fly,  and 
the  most  couiageous  of  the  men  to  cry  for  mercy  and 
implore  us  very  earnestly  to  stop  the  surprising  display 
of  that  wonderful  medicine." 

The  spring  of  1728  was  remarkable  for  floods,  and 
the  water  covered  the  floors  of  the  fort.  Early  in  the 
season  the  traders  and  Father  Guignas  were  obliged  to 
leave  on  account  of  the  hostility  of  the  Foxes. 

This  year  the  Governor  of  Canada  wrote  to  France 
relative  to  the  reinfoi-cemen*^  of  the  post  on  Lake 
Pepin  as  follows :  "  The  Foxes  will,  in  all  proba- 
bility, come  or  send  next  year  to  sue  for  peace; 
therefore,  if  it  be  granted  to  them  on  advanta- 
geous conditions,  there  need  be  no  apprehension  when 
going  to  the  Scioux,  and  another  company  could  be 
formed,  less  numerous  than  the  first,  through  whom,  or 
some  responsible  merchants  able  to  aftbrd  the  outfits,  a 
new  treaty  could  be  made  whereby  these  difficulties 
would  be  soon  obviated.  One  only  trouble  remains,  and 
that  is,  to  send  a  commanding  and  sub-officer,  and  some 
tfoldiei's  up  there,  which  are  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
maintenance  of  good  order  at  that  post ;  the  mission- 
aries would  not  go  there  without  a  conmiandant.  This 
article,  which  regards  the  service,  and  the  expense  of 
;;      ,     .      ,-      :  •Appendixl        ■,.,:,  v. ';? 


DE  LIGNERY'S  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  THE  FOXES. 


185 


which  must  be  on  his  majesty's  account,  obliges  them  to 
apply  for  orders.  They  will,  as  far  as  lies  in  their 
power,  induce  the  traders  to  meet  that  expense,  which 
will  possibly  amount  to  1000  livres  or  1500  livres  a  year 
for  the  commandant,  and  in  proportion  for  the  officer 
under  him ;  but,  as  in  the  beginning  of  an  establishment 
the  expenses  exceed  the  profits,  it  is  improbable  that 
any  company  of  merchants  will  assume  the  outlay,  and 
in  this  case  they  demand  orders  on  this  point,  as  w^ell  as 
his  majesty's  opinion  as  to  the  necessity  of  preservini 
so  useful  a  post,  and  a  nation  which  has  already  aflforde 
proofs  of  its  fidelity  and  attachment.       ,    itrfv^T,  «j 

"  These  orders  could  be  sent  them  by  way  of  T  . 
Royale,  or  by  the  first  merchantmen  that  will  sail  f  r 
Quebec.  The  time  required  to  receive  intelligence  of 
the  occurrences  in  the  Scioux  country,  will  admit  of 
their  waiting  for  these  orders  before  doing  anything." 

On  the  fifth  of  June,  1728,  an  army  of  four  hundred 
Frenchmen  and  eight  or  nine  hundred  savages,  em- 
barked at  Montreal,  on  an  expedition  to  destroy  the 
Fox  nation  and  their  allies,  the  Sauks.  De  Lignery* 
was  the  head  of  the  expedition — a  man  like  Braddock 
at  Fort  Duquesne,  who  moved  his  army  with  precision 
and  pomp,  as  if  the  savages  were  accustomed  to  fight  in 
platoons,  and  observe  the  laws  of  war,  i*ecognised  by  all 
civilized  nations. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  August,  in  the  dead  of  night, 
the  army  arrived  at  the  post  at  the  mouth  of  Fox  river. 
Before  dawn  the  French  crossed  over  to  the  Sauk  vil- 
lage, but  all  had  escaped  with  the  exception  of  four. 
.A.scending  the  stream  on  the  twenty-fourth,  they  came 

'  Taught  by  experience,  he  afterwards  became  an  able  officer  in  th« 
French  war.  t   nnu'y  ':'■  ' 


186 


:\«3s:ij"i 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


/v-14  sfU. 


Wf. 


lift 


;.t  i^:4 


to  a  Winnebago  village  which  was  also  deserted.  Pass- 
ing over  the  Little  Fox  Lake,  on  the  twenty-fifth,  they 
entered  a  small  river  leading  to  marshy  ground,  on  the 
borders  of  which  there  was  a  large  Fox  village.  Here 
again  was  another  disappointment,  for  the  swift-footed 
savages  had  gone  many  miles  on  their  trail  long  before 
the  army  came  in  sight. 

Orders  were  then  given  to  advance  upon  the  last 
stronghold  of  the  enemy,  near  the  portage  of  the  Wis- 
consin, and  on  their  arrival  they  found  all  as  still  as 
the  desert.  On  the  return  of  the  army  from  this  fruit- 
less expedition,  the  Lidian  villages  on  the  line  of  march 
were  devastated,  and  the  fort  at  Green  Bay  abandoned. 
The  Foxes,  having  abandoned  everything,  retired  to  the 
country  of  the  loways  and  Dahkotahs,  and  probably  at 
this  time  they  pitched  their  tents  and  hunted  in  the 
valley  of  the  Sauk  river  in  Minnesota. 

During  the  year  of  this  badly  managed  expedition, 
Father  Guignas  visited  the  Dahkotahs,  and  would  have 
remained  there  if  there  had  not  been  hostility  between 
the  Foxes  and  French.  While  travelling  to  the  Illinois 
jountry  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Kickapoos  and 
Mascoutens,  allies  of  the  Foxes,  in  the  month  of  October. 
He  was  saved  from  being  burned  to  death  by  an  aged 
man  adopting  him  as  a  son.  For  five  months  he  was 
in  captivity.  In  the  year  1736,  while  St.  Pierre  was 
the  commander  at  Lake  Pepin,  Father  Guignas  was 
also  there,  and  thought  that  th*^  Dahkotahs  were  very 
friendly.  :,  .• 

About  the  period  of  the  revival  of  the  post  on  Lake 
Pepin,  an  establishment  was  built  on  Lake  Ouinipigon, 
west  of  Lake  Superior. 

*Apendix  J  .^ 


VERANDERIE'S  TOUR  TOWARDS  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.  187 

I  \^eranderie,  a  French  officer,  was,  at  this  early  date, 
commissioned  to  open  a  northern  route  to  the  Pacific. 

Proceeding  westward  from  the  Grand  Portage  of  Lake 
Superior,  he  followed  the  chain  of  lakes  which  form  the 
lx)undary  line  of  Minnesota  and  British  America,  to 
Lake  Winnipeg.  Ascending  the  Assiniboine,  he  struck 
out  on  the  plains,  and  for  several  days  journeyed 
towards  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Kalm,  the  Swedish 
traveller,  who  saw  him  in  Canada,  says  that  he  found 
on  the  prairies  of  Rupert's  Land,  pillars  of  stone. 

At  one  place,  nine  hundred  leagues  from  Montreal^ 
he  discovered  a  stone  with  characters  inscribed,  which 
the  learned  at  Paris,  where  it  was  sent,  supposed  were 
Tartarean ;  but  probably  it  was  a  pictograph  set  up  by 
some  passing  war  or  hunting  party.' 


erre  was 


'  Stone  heaps  are  seen  on  the  prai- 
ries of  Minnesota.  Having  written 
to  a  gentleman  some  years  ago,  to  in- 
quire of  the  Dahkotahs  "  what  mean 
ye  by  these  stones  ?"  I  received  an 
interesting  reply : — 

Dear  Sir:  Tour  letter  of  the  third 
instant,  relating  to  the  stone  heaps 
Hear  Red  Wing,  was  duly  received. 

I  am  happy  to  comply  with  your 
request,  h  .ping  that  it  may  lead  to 
an  accurate  survey  of  these  mounds. 

In  1848 1  first  heard  of  stone  heaps 
on  the  liill-tops,  buck  of  Red  Wing. 
But  business,  and  the  natural  suspi- 
cion of  the  Indian,  prevented  me 
from  exploring.  The  treaty  of  Men- 
dota  emboldened  me  to  visit  the 
hills,  and  try  to  find  the  stone  heaps. 
Accordingly,  lote  last  autumn,  I 
started  on  foot  and  alone  from  Red 
Wing,  following  the  path  marked  P. 
on  the  map,  which  I  herewith  trans- 


mit. I  left  the  path  after  crossing 
the  second  stream,  and  turning  to 
the  left,  I  ascended  the  first  hill  that 
I  reached.  This  is  about  a  mile 
distant  from  the  path  that  leads  from 
Fort  Snelling  to  Lake  Pepin.  Here, 
on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  which  woa 
about  two  hundred  feet  high,  was  a 
heap  of  stones.  It  is  about  twelve 
feet  in  diameter  and  six  in  height. 
The  perfect  confusion  of  the  stones 
and  yet  the  entireness  of  the  heap, 
and  the  denuded  rocks  all  around, 
convinced  me  that  the  heap  had  been 
formed  from  stones  lying  around, 
picked  up  by  the  hand  of  man. 

But  %chy  and  when  it  had  been 
done,  were  questions  not  so  easily 
decided.  For  solving  these  I  re- 
solved to  seek  internal  evidence. 
Prompted  by  the  spirit  of  a  first 
explorer,  I  soon  ascended  the  heap ; 
and  the  coldness  of  the  day,  and  the 


188 


I'pK        HISTORY  OF  MraNESOTA.    ",'.1 


II*.' 


$ 


4    if ;» 


He  established  some  six  commercial  posts  on  the  line 
of  his  route,  some  of  which  are  in  existence  to  this  day, 
and  Ijear  the  same  names. 

His  journey  was  ended  by  difficulties  with  the  Indi- 
ans, and  he  was  obliged  to  return. 

The  Dahkotahs  were  suspected  of  having  molested 
this  expedition.     The  king  of  France,  writing  to  the 


ifii    .iitlU,-/.i 


Hn!" 


proximity  of  my  gun,  tended  to  sup- 
press my  dread  of  rattlesnakes. 
The  stones  were  such  that  I  could 
lift,  or  roll  them,  and  soon  reached 
a  stick  about  two  feet  from  the  top 
of  the  heap.  After  descending  about 
a  foot  further,  I  pulled  the  post  out ; 
and  about  the  aame  place  found  a 
shank  bono,  about  five  inches  long. 
The  post  was  red  cedar  half  decayed, 
I.  e.  one  side,  and  rotted  to  a  point 
in  the  ground;  hence  I  oould  not 
tell  whether  it  grew  there  or  not. 
The  bone  is  similar  to  the  two  which 
you  have.  I  left  it  and  the  post  on 
the  heap,  hoping  that  some  one 
better  skilled  in  osteology  might 
visit  the  heap.  The  stones  of  the 
heap  are  magnesian  limestone,  which 
forms  the  upper  stratum  of  the  hills 
about  Red  Wing. 

Much  pleased,  I  started  over  the 
hill  top,  and  was  soon  greeted  by  an- 
other silent  monument  of  art.  This 
heap  is  marked  B.  on  the  map.  It  is 
similar  to  the  first  which  is  marked 
A.,  only  it  is  larger,  and  was  so  co- 
vered with  a  vine,  that  I  had  no  suc- 
cess in  opening  it.  From  this  point 
tliere  is  a  fine  view  southward.  The 
vuUeya  and  hills  are  delightful.  Suoh 
hills  and  vales,  such  cairns  and  bushy 
glens,  would,  in  my  father's  land,haYe 


iuiiii. 


'»?5: 


)!)■ 


been  the  thtones  and  playgrounds  of 
fairies.  But  I  must  stick  to  facts.  I 
now  started  eastward  to  visit  a  coni- 
cal appearing  hill,  distant  about  a 
mile  and  a  half.  I  easily  descended 
the  hill,  but  to  cross  the  plain  and 
ascend  another  hill, "  hie  labor  est." 
But  I  was  amply  repaid.  The  hill 
proved  to  be  a  ridge  with  several  stone 
heaps  on  the  summit.  Nearoneheap 
there  is  a  beautiful  little  tree  with  a 
top  like  "  Tarn  O'Shanter's"  bonnet. 
In  these  heaps  I  found  the  bones 
which  I  left  with  you.  I  discovered 
«aoh  about  half-way  down  the  heaps. 

I  then  descended  northward  about 
two  hundred  feet,  crossed  a  valley, 
passed  some  earth  mounds,  and  as- 
cended another  hill,  and  there  found 
several  more  stone  heaps  similar  to 
the  others.  In  them  I  found  tio 
bones,  nor  did  I  see  anything  else 
worthy  of  particular  notice  at  pre- 
sent. 

If  these  facts  should,  in  any  mea- 
sure, help  to  preserve  correct  infor- 
mation concerning  any  part  of  this 
new  country,  I  shall  be  amply  re- 
warded for  writing. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.    F.   AlTON. 

Kaposia,  Jan.  17,  1852. 

..V"      .     t   t]    \.tv.-  ,  f  J  .-^  t>,5,i  f;« 


CARTi: 

{KSN0VVCii€S0l€OyV€RT€S    \ 

Dressee  Jur  les  Memoire^  Je  AfDe /  fs/e ,  Pro/eMfiira/AciKlern/t' 
Boyale  dej'  Jcitrdces  .     jPar  ^/Ayi/t^  Bttai'Ae.  /7S0. 

Drawn  from  lAe  tint/via/  it/  /f .  Or/nj/iif  Sateen y . 


-In' ; 

imlhi  ,f: 


I  ^W'i^ 


f«l 


FINAL  ATTACK  ON  THE  FOXES. 


189 


governor  of  Canada,  under  date  of  May  tenth,  1737, 
says : — 

"  As  respects  the  Scioux,  according  to  what  the  com- 
mandant' and  missionary*  have  written  to  Sieur  de 
Beauharnois,  relative  to  the  disposition  of  these  Indians, 
nothing  appears  to  be  wanting  on  that  point.  But  their 
delay  in  coming  down  to  Montreal  since  the  time  they 
promised  to  do  so,  must  render  their  sentiments  some- 
what suspected,  and  nothing  but  facts  can  determine 
whether  their  fidelity  can  be  absolutely  relied  on.  But 
what  must  still  further  increase  the  uneasiness  to  be 
entertained  in  their  regard,  is  the  attack  on  the  convoy 
of  M.  de  la  Veranderie." 

The  Foxes  having  killed  some  Frenchmen  in  the 
Illinois  country,  in  1741,  the  governor  of  Canada,  Mar- 
quis de  Beauharnois,  assembled  at  his  house,  some  of 
the  most  experienced  officers  in  the  Indian  service,  the 
Baron  de  Longeuil,  La  Come,  De  Lignery,  and  others, 
and  it  was  unanimously  agreed,  that  the  welfare  of  the 
French  demanded  the  complete  extermination  of  the 
Foxes,  and  that  the  movements  against  them  should  be 
conducted  with  the  greatest  caution. 

Louis  XV.  was  glad  to  hear  of  the  determination  of 
the  governor  of  Canada,  but  he  was  afraid  that  it  would 
not  be  conducted  with  sufficient  secrecy.  He,  with  great 
discernment,  remarks,  "  If  they  foresee  their  inability  to 
resist,  they  will  have  adopted  the  policy  of  retreating 
to  the  Scioux  of  the  Prairies,  from  which  point  they  will 
cause  more  disorder,  in  the  colony,  than  if  they  had 
been  allowed  to  remain  quiet  in  their  village." 

The  officer  in  charge  of  tho  incursion,  was  Moran,' 

*  Saint  Pierre.  '  Guignas. 

*  Probably  Sieur  Marin,  of  the  French  Doouments. 


190 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


who  once  had  charge  of  the  post  St.  Nicholas  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  on  the  Mississippi.  His 
strategy  was  not  unUke  that  of  the  besiegers  of  ancient 
Troy.  At  that  time  the  Fox  tribe  lived  at  the  Little 
Butte  des  Morts,  on  the  Fox  river  of  Wisconsin.  When- 
ever a  trader's  canoe  hove  in  sight,  they  lighted  a  torch 
upon  the  bank,  which  was  a  signal  for  Frenchmen  to 
land,  and  pay  for  the  privilege  of  using  the  stream. 

Moran  having  placed  his  men  in  canoes,  with  their 
guns  primed,  had  each  canoe  covered  with  canvas,  as 
if  he  was  bringing  into  the  country  an  outfit  of  mer- 
chandise, and  desired  to  protect  it  from  storms.  When 
near  Little  Butte  des  Morts  the  party  was  divided,  a 
portion  proceeding  by  land  to  the  rear  of  the  Fox  vil- 
lage, and  the  remainder  moving  up  the  stream. 

The  oarsmen  having  paddled  the  canoes  within  view 
of  the  Foxes,  they,  according  to  custom,  planted  the 
torch,  supposing  it  was  a  trader's  "  brigade."' 

Curiosity  brought  men,  women,  and  children  to  the 
river's  bank,  and  as  they  gazed,  the  canoes  were  suddenly 
uncovered,  and  the  discharge  of  a  swivel,  and  volleys 
of  musketry,  were  the  presents  received.  Before  they 
could  recover  from  their  consternation,  they  received 
"a  fire  in  the  rear"  from  the  land  party,  and  many 
were  killed.  The  remnant  retreated  to  the  Wisconsin, 
twenty-one  miles  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  where,  the 
next  season  Moran  and  his  troops,  on  snow  shoes,  sur- 
prised them  while  they  were  engaged  in  a  game,  and 
slew  nearly  the  whole  fc-^ttlement.* 

During  the  winter  of  1745-6,  De  Lusignan  visited 
''.rsviolt  »i\if  jy>i\ru-  ^'il   'if;  "so  vitirJ-^  c  taiW- 

'  In  the  North-West  a  collect  on  Recollections.  Vol.  iii.,  Wis.  His. 
of  traders'  canoes  is  called  a  brigi  ie.     Soc.  Col. 

'  Snelling's  North-West,  Grignon's  '{,!'.( j.Jvi*!  *  .  "'/ 


LU8IQNAN  VISITS  TOE  DAHKOTAHS. 


101 


anvas,  as 


.«) »  s  M rtBa- 


the  Dahkotahs,  ordered  by  government  to  hunt  up  the 
"coureurs  des  bois,"  and  withdraw  them  from  the 
country.  They  started  to  return  with  him,  but  learn- 
ing that  they  would  be  arrested  at  Mackinaw,  for  viola- 
tion of  law,  they  ran  away.  While  at  the  villages  of 
the  Dahkotahs  of  the  lakes  and  plains,  the  chiefs 
brought  to  this  officer  nineteen  of  their  young  men, 
bound  with  cords,  who  had  killed  three  Frenchmen  at 
the  Illinois.  While  he  remained  with  them  they  made 
peace  with  the  Ojibways  of  La  Pointe,  with  whom  they 
had  been  at  war  for  some  time.  On  his  return,  four 
chiefs  accompanied  him  to  Montreal,  to  solicit  pardon 
for  their  young  braves. 

The  lessees  of  the  trading  post  lost  many  of  their 
peltries  that  winter,  in  consequence  of  a  fire. 

English  influence  produced  increasing  dissatisfaction 
among  the  Indians  that  were  beyond  Mackinaw.  Not 
only  were  voyageurs  robbed  and  maltreated  at  Sault  St. 
Marie,  and  other  points  on  Lake  Superior,  but  even  the 
commandant  at  Mackinaw  was  exposed  to  insolence,  and 
there  was  no  security  anywhere.  The  Marquis  de 
Beauharnois  determined  to  send  St.  Pierre  to  the  scene 
of  disorder.  In  the  language  of  a  document  of  the  day, 
he  was  "a  very  good  officer,  much  esteemed  amoDij 
all  the  nations  of  those  parts — none  more  loved  and 
feared." 

On  his  arrival,  the  savages  were  so  cross,  that  he 
advised  that  no  Frenchman  should  come  to  trade. 

By  promptness  and  boldness,  he  secured  the  Indians 
who  had  murdered  some  Frenchmen,  and  obtained  the 
respect  of  the  tribes. 

While  the  three  murderers  were  being  conveyed  in  a 
canoe  down  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Quebec,  in  charge  of  a 


■■H 


102 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


sergeant  and  seven  soldiers,  the  savages,  with  character- 
istic cunning,  though  manacled,  succeeded  in  killing  or 
drowning  the  guard.  Cutting  their  irons  with  an  axe, 
they  sought  the  woods,  and  escaped  to  their  own 
country.  -i-^    ^ 

"  Thus,"  writes  Galassoniere,  in  1748,  to  Count  Mau* 
repas,  "  was  lost  in  a  great  measure  the  fruit  of  Sieur 
St.  Pierre's  good  management,  and  of  all  the  fatigue  I 
endured  to  get  the  nations  who  surrendered  these 
rascals  to  listen  to  reason." 


j»i 


■■ftU<"t   ■•' 


'':/: 


■).»llv, 


\\iiJi\ 


q     i.3i.'<(.K'l 


■i  '■<  ■■a.,,i.'i 


:.*i,'';  !• , 


.  >  >.■:?,'■'». 


'  Ji'  '.i,*-  «■  '    i  I  ■ 


A- 


..'■:■■  ■•/li-;-V     'v.i;l 


:»<■!£((■),   ji,t; 


i^af.    •►j'j; 


ai  ■ii<\)!i! 


».f;;.'i!:  S  -nM.. 


!,.,<;.( 


/'.'•''•■i  M'  'Vii ,"»•' 


• !  >J   ■■  t  • 


1-  -) 


•■•.i'» 


'i>,-  •■)' 


r-ttUU..    iJ'A.. 


'■^'Ull 


*UJ,,'J'     V> 


.'';j. 


'.i'JH^u'i  -.y, 


frjf  J  imil 


:iC.-^ 


iy  U.'K 


^sKiiil  -V'!!  %>  jf; 


>»Vir;"*  >;i; 


I  (•:>  a 


INDIAN  ENLISTMENT. -FRENCH  WAK. 


19a 


CHAPTER  X. 


Canada  was  now  fairly  involved  in  the  war  with 
New  York  and  the  New  England  colonies.  The  Home 
Governments  were  anxious  lookers  on,  for  momentous 
issues  depended  upon  the  failure  or  success  of  either 
party. 

The  French  knew  that  they  must  enlist  the  Upper 
Tndians  on  their  side,  or  lose  Detroit,  Mackinaw,  and 
indeed  all  the  keys  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  region  of  the  lakes.  They,  therefore,  sent  officers 
with  presents  to  Mackinaw,  to  induce  the  tribes  of  the 
far  West  to  unite  with  them  in  expelling  the  English. 

It  was  impossible  to  form  regiments  of  the  North 
American  savages,  as  the  French  of  modem  days  have 
done  in  Algeria,  or  as  the  British  with  the  Sepoys. 

Indians  can  never  be  made  to  move  in  platoons. 

From  youth  they  have  marched  in  single  file,  and  have 

ouly  answered  to  the  call  of  their  inclinations,  and  over 

them  their  chiefs  have  not  the  slightest  authority.     To 

their  capricious  natures  enlistment  for  a  fixed  time  is 

repugnant.     At  the  same  time,  under  the  guidance  of 

colonial  officers  who  humoured  them  in  their  whims, 

they  frequently  rendered  efficient  service.     They  were 

conversant  with  the  recesses  of  the  forest,  and  walked 

through  the  tangled  wilderness  with  the  same  ease  that 
18 


194 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


II 


the  French  military  oflRicers  promenaded  the  gardens  of 
Paris.  They  discovered  the  trail  of  men  with  the 
instinct  that  their  dogs  scented  the  tracks  of  wild 
beasts.  Adroit  in  an  attack,  they  would  also,  amid  a 
shower  of  musket  balls,  feel  for  the  scalp  of  an  enemy. 

With  such  allies  it  is  no  wonder  that  New  England 
mothers  and  delicate  maidens  turned  pale  when  they 
heard  that  the  French  wore  coming.* 

On  the  twenty-third  of  August,  1747,  Philip  Le  Due 
arrived  at  Mackinaw  from  Lake  Superior,  stating  that 
he  had  been  robbed  of  his  goods  at  Kamanistigoya,'^  and 
that  the  Ojibways  of  the  lake  were  favourably  disposed 
toward  the  English.  The  Dahkotahs  wco  also  becom- 
ing unruly  in  the  absence  of  French  officers. 

In  the  few  weeks  after  Le  Due's  robbery,  St.  Pierre 
left  Montreal  to  become  commandant  at  Mackinaw,  and 
Vercheres  was  appointed  fo^  i  e  post  at  Green  Bay. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  -Tune  of  the  next  year.  La 
Ronde  started  for  La  Pointe,  and  La  Veranderie  for 
West  Sea' — Fond  du  Lac,  Minnesota. 

For  several  years  there  was  constant  dissatisfaction 
among  the  Lidians,  but  under  the  influence  of  Sieur 
Marin,  who  was  in  command  at  Green  Bay  in  1753, 
tranquillity  was  in  a  measure  restored. 


'The 
arrivals 
in  1746. 
Detroit. 
July  31, 


following  are  some  of  the 

in  a  few  weeks  at  Montreal, 

July  23—31   Ottawas  of 


16  Folles  Avoiaes  for  war. 
14  Kiskakoug  "     " 

4  Scioux,   to    ask    for  a 
comm".n(lant. 
Aug.  2,    50  Pottowattamiesforwar. 
"     "     15  Puanp  "     " 

"     "     10  Illinois  "     " 

"    6,     50  Ottawas  of  Mackinaw. 


Aug.  6,    40  Ottawas  of  the  Fork. 

"    10,    65  Mississagues. 

"  •'  80  Algonkins  and  Nepia- 
sings. 

"     "      14Sauteur'j.        '  ■"■' 

"    22,  38  Ottawas  of  Detroit. 

"    "      17  Sauteurs 

"     "     24Huroos.  "   ' 

"    "      14  Poutewatamis. 

'  Pigeon  river,  part  of  northern 
boundary  of  Minnesota. 

•  Carver's  map  calls  it  West  Bay. 


BRADUOCK'8  DEFEAT.— ST.  PIERRE'S  DEATH. 


195 


As  the  war  between  England  and  France,  in  Ameiica 
became  desperate,  the  officers  of  the  north-western  pests 
were  called  into  action,  and  stationed  nearer  the  enemy. 

Legardeur  de  St.  Pierre,  whose  name  some  thou^;ht 
was  formerly  attached  to  the  river  from  which  the  state 
of  Minnesota  derives  its  name,  was  in  command  oi'  a 
rude  post  in  Erie  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  December, 
1753,  and  to  him  Washington,  then  just  entering  upon 
manhood,  bore  a  letter  from  Governor  Dinwiddle  of 
Virginia.' 

On  the  ninth  of  July,  1755,  Beaujeu  and  De  Lignery, 
who  had  pursued  so  unsuccessfully  the  Foxes,  in  tlie 
valley  of  the  Wisconsin,  in  1728,  were  at  Fort  Duquesrie, 
and  marched  out  of  the  fort  with  soldiers,  Canadiar  s, 
and  Indians,  to  seek  an  ambush,  but  about  noon,  before 
reaching  the  desired  spot,  they  met  the  enemy  undjr 
Braddock,  wlio  discharged  a  galling  fire  from  their  artil- 
lery, by  which  Beaujeu  was  killed.  The  sequel,  which 
led  to  the  memorable  defeat  of  Braddock,  is  familiar  to 
all  who  have  read  the  life  of  Washington. 

Under  Baron  Dieskaw,  St.  Pierre  commanded  th(^ 
Indians,  in  September,  1755,  during  the  campaign  or 
Lake  Champlain,  where  he  fell  gallantly  fighting  the 
English,  as  did  hiii  connnander.  The  Reverend  Claude 
Cocquard,  alluding  to  the  French  defeat,  in  a  letter  to 
his  brother,  remarks : —  •  m  ,     ,. 

"  We  lo«t,  on  tliat  occasion,  a  brave  officer,  M.  de  St. 
Pierre,  and  had  his  advice,  as  well  as  that  of  several 
other  Canadian  officers  been  followed,  Jonckson*  was 
irretrievably  destroyed,  and  we  should  have  been  spared 
the  trouble  we  have  had  this  year." 


'  St.  Pierre's  reply  was  manly  and  dignilied. 
nial  Reconls,  v.  715. 
'  Johnson. 


See  Pennsylvania  Colo- 


r.      :.! 


196 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


'fhl^*7 


Other  oflficers  who  had  heen  stationed  on  the  borders 
of  Minnesota,  also  distinguished  themselves  during  the 
French  war.  The  Marquis  Montcalm,  in  camp  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  on  the  twenty-s:"^enth  of  July,  1 757,  writes  to 
Vaudreuil,  Governor  of  Canada. 

"  Lieutenant  Marin,  of  the  Colonial  troops,  who  has 
exaibited  a  rare  audacity,  did  not  consider  himself 
bound  to  halt,  although  his  detachment  of  about  four 
hundred  men  was  reduced  to  about  two  hundred,  the 
balance  having  been  sent  back  on  account  of  inability 
to  follow.  He  carried  off  a  patrol  of  ten  men,  and 
swept  away  an  ordinary  guard  of  fifty,  like  a  wafer; 
went  up  to  the  enemy's  camp,  under  Fort  Lydius 
(Edward),  where  he  was  exposed  to  a  severe  fire,  and 
retreated  like  a  warrior.  He  was  unwilling  to  amuse 
himself  making  prisoners ;  he  brought  in  only  one,  and 
thirty-two  scalps,  and  must  have  killed  many  men  of 
the  enemy,  in  the  midst  of  whose  ranks  it  was  neither 
wise  nor  pr  dent  to  go  in  search  of  scalps.    The  Indians 


generality  aL  behaved  well. 


>|i      4<      *     *     >|c      4< 


The  Outaouais, 


who  aiTived  with  me,  and  whom  I  designed  to  go  on  a 
scouting  party  towards  the  lake,  had  conceived  a  pro- 
ject of  administering  a  corrective  to  the  English  barges. 
*  '  *  *  On  the  day  before  yesterday,  your  brother 
formed  a  detachment  to  accompany  them.  I  arrived  at 
his  camp  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day.  Lieutenant 
de  Corbiere,  of  Colonial  troops,  was  returning  in  conse- 
quence of  a  misunderstanding,  and  as  I  knew  the  zeal 
and  intelligon  ?  of  that  officer.  I  made  him  set  out  with 
a  new  instruction  to  rejoin  Messrs.  de  Langlade '  and 
Hertel  de  Chantly.     They  remained  in  ambush  all  day 

'  Tliis  (ifficer  has  relatives  in  Wis-     his  life  is  in  Grignon's  Recollections, 
"  .p'p   and  a'    interesting  sketch  of    Wis.  Hist.  iSoc.  Collections,  vol.  iii. 


■;■■  S.g-«'  I 


I0WAY8  AT  TICONDEROQA.  197 

and  night  yesterday ;  at  break  of  day  the  Enghsh 
appeared  on  Lake  St,  Sacrament  (Champlain),  to  the 
number  of  twenty-two  barges,  under  the  command  of 
Sieur  Parker.  The  whoops  of  our  Indians  impressed 
them  with  such  terror  that  they  made  but  feeble  resist- 
ance, and  only  two  barges  escaped." 

After  De  Corbiere's  victory  on  Lake  Champlain,  a 
large  French  army  was  collected  at  Ticonderoga,  with 
which  there  were  many  Lidians  from  the  tribes  of  the 
North-west,*  and  the  loways  appeared  for  the  first  time 
in  the  east. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  English  officers  who 

•  INDIANS  OF  THE  TIPPER  COUNTST.  OFFICEBS.  =;  > 

TetesdeBoule 3  .  ,,,    .-.i; 

Outaouais  Kiskakons 94    De  Langlade.    . 

"        Sinagos 35    Florimont.  '  '  ,'  ]Z. .. 

of  the  Porks 70    Ilerbin.  ^' 

"        ofMignogan 10    Abbe  Matavet.  /   i> 

"        of  Beaver  Island 44    Sulpitian. 

"        of  Detroit 80  •■ 

"        ofSaginau 54  ■--','.* 

Sauteurs  of  Chagoamigon 33    La  Plants.  '  ;, 

"        of  Beaver 23     De  Lorimer. 

"       of  Coasekimagen 14    Chesne,  Interpreter. 

"        of  the  Carp 37 

ofCabibonkb 50  '  /*, 

Poutouatamis  of  St.  Joseph 70  ■  ,    ■ 

of  Detroit 18  '.''     '    ' 

Fulles  Avoines  of  Orignal 62  ''!• 

of  the  Chat 67 

Miamis 13 

Puans  of  the  Bay 48    De  Tailly,  Interpreter 

Ayeouais  (loways) 10 

Foxes 20    Marin,  Longus. 

Ouilias 10    Reaumo,  Interpreter. 

Sacs 33 

Loupa 5     ,,,v  .-,:,,;•,..  ,^    ■>'■->  4 


198 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Mm 


were  in  frequent  engagements  with  St.  Pierr^,  Lusignan^ 
Marin,  Langlade,  and  others,  became  the  pioneers  of  the 
Bjitish,  a  few  years  afterwards,  in  the  occupation  of  the 
outposts  on  the  Lakes,  and  in  the  exploration  of  Minne- 
sota. 

Rogers,  the  celebrated  captain  of  rangers,  subse- 
quently commander  of  Mackinaw,  and  Jonathan  Carver, 
the  first  British  explorer  of  Minnesota,  were  both  on 
duty  at  Lake  Champlain — the  latter  narrowly  escaping 
at  the  battle  of  Fort  George. 

On  Christmas  eve,  1757,  Rogers  approached  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  to  fire  the  outrhouses,  but  was  prevented 
by  discharge  of  the  cannons  of  the  French. 

He  contented  himself  with  killing  fifteen  beeves,  on 
the  horns  of  one  of  which  he  left  a  laconic  and  amusing 
note,  addressed  to  the  commander  of  the  post.* 

On  the  thirteenth  of  March,  1758,  Durantaye,  for- 
merly at  Mackinaw,  had  a  skirmish  with  Rogers.  Both 
had  been  trained  on  the  frontier,  and  they  met  "as 
Greek  met  Greek."  The  conflict  was  fierce,  and  the 
French  victorious.  The  Indian  allies,  finding  a  scalp 
of  a  chief  underneath  an  officer's  jacket,  were  furious, 
and  took  one  hundred  and  fourteen  scalps  in  return. 
When  the  French  returned,  they  supposed  that  Captain 
Rogers  was  among  the  killed. 

At  Quebec,  when  Montcalm  and  Wolfe  fell,  there 
were  Ojibways  present,  assisting  the  French. 

The  Lidians,  returning  from  the  expeditions  agamst 


:':  ■Hiii 


*  "  I  am  obliged  to  you,  Sir,  for  the 
repose  you  have  allowed  mo  to  take  ; 
1  thank  you  for  the  fresh  meat  you 
have  tent  me,  I  request  vou  to  presen* 


my  compliments  to  the  Marquis  du 
Montcalm.  Rogers,  Commandant 
Independent  Companies." 


ENGLISH  AT  GREEN  B   Y.— DAHKOTAH  EMBASSY. 


199 


the  English  were  attacked  with  small-pox,  and  many 
died  at  Mackinaw. 

On  the  eighth  of  September,  1760,  the  French  de- 
livered up  all  their  posts  in  Canada.  A  few  days  after 
the  capitulation  at  Montreal,  Major  Eogers  was  sent 
with  English  troops,  to  garrison  the  posts  of  the  distant 
North-west. 

On  the  eighth  of  September,  1761,  a  year  after  the 
surrender.  Captain  Belfour,  of  the  eightieth  regiment 
of  the  British  army,  left  Detroit,  wifh  a  detachment,  to 
take  possession  of  the  French  forts  at  Mackinaw  and 
Green  Bay.  Twenty-five  soldiers  were  left  at  Macki- 
naw, in  command  of  Lieutenant  Leslie,  and  the  rest 
sailed  to  Green  Bay,  where  they  arrived  on  the  twelfth 
of  October.  The  fort  had  been  abandoned  for  several 
years,  and  was  in  a  dilapidated  condition.  In  charge 
of  it,  there  was  left  a  lieutenant,  a  coi'poraL,  and  fifteen 
soldiers.  Two  English  traders  arrived  at  the  same 
time — McKay  from  Albany,  and  Goddard  from  Mon- 
treal. 

On  the  first  of  March,  1763,  twelve  Dahkotah  war- 
riors arrived  at  the  fort,  and  proffered  the  friendship  of 
the  nation.  They  told  the  English  officer,  with  warmth, 
that  if  the  Ojibways,  or  other  Indians,  wished  to  obstruct 
the  passage  of  the  traders  coming  up,  to  send  them  a 
belt,  and  they  would  come  and  cut  them  off",  as  all 
Indians  were  their  slaves  or  dogs.  They  then  produced 
a  letter  written  by  Penneshaw,  a  French  trader^  who 
hi\d  been  permitted,  the  year  before,  to  go  to  their 
country.  On  the  nineteenth  of  June,  Penneshaw  re 
turned  from  his  trading  expedition  among  the  Dahko 
tabs.  By  his  influence  the  nation  was  favourably 
affected  toward  the  English.     He  brought  with  him  a 


200 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


pipe  from  them,  with  a  request  that  traders  might  be 
sent  to  them.'  .,  .       . , 


'  Extracts  from  the  journal  of  Lc. 
Gorell,  an  English  officer  at  Green 
Bay,  Wis.  His.  Coll.  vol.  i. 

"  On  March  1,  1763,  twelve  war- 
riors of  the  Sous  came  here.  It  is 
certainly  the  greatest  nation  of 
Indians  ever  yet  found.  Not  above 
two  thousand  of  them  were  t.'er 
armed  with  fire-arms,  the  rest  de- 
pending entirely  on  bows  and  arrows, 
which  they  use  with  more  skill  than 
any  other  Indian  natiu>:  in  America. 
They  can  shoot  the  wildest  and 
largest  beasts  in  the  woods  at  seventy 
or  one  hundred  yr.rds  distant.  They 
are  remarkable  for  their  dancing, 
and  the  other  nations  take  the 
fashions  from  them.  *  *  *  *  This 
nation  is  always  at  war  with  the 
Chippewas,  those  who  destroyed 
Mishaniakinak.  They  told  me  with 
warmth  that  if  ever  the  Chippewas 
or  any  other  Indians  wished  to  ob- 
struct the  passage  of  the  traders 
coming  up,  to  send  them  word,  and 
they  would  come  and  cut  them  ofif 
from  the  face  of  the  earth,  as  all 
Indians  were  their  slaves  or  dogs. 
I  told  them  I  was  glad  to  see  them, 
and  hoped  to  have  a  lasting  peace 
with  them.  They  then  gave  me  a 
letter  wrote  in  French,  and  two  belts 
of  wampum  from  their  king,  in  which 
he  expressed  great  joy  on  hearing  of 
there  being  English  at  his  post.  The 
letter  was  written  by  a  French  tra- 
der, whom  I  had  allowed  to  go  among 
them  last  fall,  with  a  promise  of  his 


behaving  well,  which  he  did,  better 
than  any  Canadian  I  ever  knew.  * 
*  *  *  With  regard  to  traders,  I  told 
tbem  I  would  not  allow  any  to  go 
amongst  them,  as  I  tlien  understood 
they  lay  out  of  the  government  of 
Canada,  but  made  no  doubt  they 
would  have  traders  from  the  Missis- 
sippi in  the  spring.  They  went 
away  extremely  well  pleased.  'June 
14th,  1763,  the  traders  came  down 
from  the  Sack  country,  and  confirmed 
the  news  of  Landsing  and  his  son 
being  killed  by  the  French.  There 
came  with  the  traders  some  Puans 
and  four  young  men,  with  one  chief 
of  the  Avoy  (loway)  nation  to  de- 
mand traders.'    *  *  *  * 

"On  the  nineteenth,  a  deputation 
of  Win  nebagoes.  Sacs,  Foxes,  and  Me- 
nominees  arrived  with  a  Frenchman 
named  Pennensha.  This  Pennen- 
sha  is  the  same  man  who  wrote  the 
letter  the  Sous  brought  with  them 
in  French,  and  at  the  same  time  held 
council  with  that  great  nation  in 
favour  of  the  English,  by  which  he 
much  promoted  the  interest  of  the 
latter,  as  appeared  by  the  behaviour 
of  the  Sous.  He  brought  with  him 
a  pipe  from  the  Sous,  desiring  that 
as  the  road  is  now  clear,  they  would 
by  no  means  allow  the  Chippewas  to 
obstruct  it,  or  give  the  English  any 
disturbance,  or  prevent  the  traders 
from  coming  up  to  them.  If  they 
did  so  they  would  send  all  their 
warriors  and  cut  them  ofi"." 


-{Hi  'f. 


-.r';.. 


NO  ENGLISH  POSTS  BEYOND  MACKINAW. 


201 


r, 


■i:  >  ="  '1'.'??  'r'/  -:.♦; 


CHAPTER  XI.      ;.  r;'    I  uh 


.>Mi^ 


!l*.l»" 


Though  the  treaty  of  1763,  made  at  Versailles,  be- 
tween France  and  England,  ceded  all  the  territory 
comprised  within  the  limits  of  Wisconsin  and  Minne- 
sota to  the  latter  power,  the  English  did  not  for  a  long 
time  obtain  a  foothold. 

The  French  traders  having  purchased  wives  from  the 
Indian  tribes,  they  managed  to  preserve  a  feeling  of 
friendship  towards  their  king,  long  after  the  trading 
posts  at  Green  Bay  and  Sault  St.  Marie  had  been  dis- 
continued. •s:,fi;H    V  . 

The  price  paid  for  peltries  by  those  engaged  in  the 
fur  trade  at  New  Orleans,  was  also  higher  than  that 
which  the  British  could  afford  to .  give,  so  that  the 
Indians  sought  for  French  goods  in  exchange  for  their 
skins.  '..,.,■..'    •->.  V :   •,., 

Finding  it  useless  to  compete  with  the  French  of  the 
lower  Mississippi,  the  English  government  established 
no  posts  of  trade  or  defence  beyond  Mackinaw.  The 
country  west  of  Lake  Michigan  appears  to  have  been 
trodden  by  but  few  British  subjects,  previous  to  him 
who  forms  the  subject  of  the  present  chapter,  and  whose 
name  has  become  somewhat  famous  in  consequence  of 
hfs  heirs  having  laid  claim  to  the  site  of  St.  Paul,  and 
many  miles  adjacent.  „     ;;, 


f>, 


III' 


m 


202 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA,     'it  >!J 


Jonathan  Carver  was  a  native  of  Connecticut.  It  ha* 
been  asserted  that  he  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  John 
Carver,  the  first  governor  of  Plymouth  colony ;  but  the 
only  definite  information  that  the  writer  can  obtain 
concerning  his  ancestry  is,  that  his  grandfather,  William 
Carver,  was  a  native  of  Wigan,  Lancashire,  England, 
and  a  captain  in  King  William's  army  during  the  cam- 
paign in  Ireland,  and  for  meritorious  services  received 
an  appointment  as  an  officer  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut. 

His  father  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  new  world, 
and  in  1732,  at  Stillwater,  or  Canterbury,  Connecticut, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  bom.  At  the  early  age 
of  fifteen  he  was  called  to  mourn  the  death  of  his  father. 
He  then  commenced  the  study  of  medicme,  but  his 
roving  disposition  could  not  bear  the  confines  of  a 
doctor's  office,  and  feeling,  perhaps,  that  his  genius 
would  be  cramped  by  pestle  and  mortar,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  purchased  an  ensign's  commission  in  one  of 
the  regiments  Connecticut  raised  during  the  French 
war.  He  was  of  medium  stature,  and  of  strong  mind 
and  quick  perceptions.  V    '-  ?  ; 

In  the  year  1757,  he  was  present  at  the  massacre  of 
Fort  William  Henry,  and  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life. 

After  the  peace  of  1763,  between  France  and  Eng- 
land, was  declared.  Carver  conceived  the  project  of  ex- 
ploring the  North-west.  Leaving  Boston  in  the  month 
of  June,  1766,  he  arrived  at  Mackinaw,  then  the  most 
distant  British  post,  in  the  month  of  August.  Having 
obtained  a  credit  on  some  French  and  English  traders 
from  Major  Rogers,  the  officer  in  command,  he  started 
with  them  on  the  third  day  of  September.  Pursuing 
the  usual  route  to  Green  Bay,  they  arrived  there  on 
the  eighteenth. 


CARVER'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN. 


20S 


The  French  fort  at  that  time  was  standing,  though 
much  decayed.  It  was,  some  years  previous  to  his 
arrival,  garrisoned  for  a  short  time  by  an  officer  and 
thirty  EngHsh  soldiers,  but  they  having  been  captured 
by  the  Menominees,  it  was  abandoned. 

In  company  with  the  traders  he  left  Green  Bay  on 
the  twentieth,  and  ascending  Fox  river,  arrived  on  the 
twenty-fifth  at  an  island  at  the  east  end  of  Lake  Win- 
nebago, containing  about  fifty  acres. 

Here  he  found  a  Winnebago  village  of  fifty  houses. 
He  asserts  that  a  woman  was  in  authority.  In  the 
month  of  October  the  party  was  at  the  portage  of  the 
Wisconsin,  and  descending  that  stream,  they  arrived, 
on  the  ninth,  at  a  town  of  the  Sauks.  While  here  he 
visited  some  lead  mines  about  fifteen  miles  distant. 
An  abundance  of  lead  was  also  seen  in  the  village,  that 
had  been  brought  from  the  mines. 

On  the  tenth  they  arrived  at  the  first  village  of  the 
"  Ottigaumies"  (Foxes),  and  about  five  miles  before  the 
Wisconsin  joins  the  Mississippi,  he  perceived  the  rem- 
nants of  another  village,  and  learned  that  it  had  been 
deserted  about  thirty  years  before,  and  that  the  inhabit- 
ants, soon  after  their  removal,  built  a  town  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, near  the  mouth  of  the  "  Ouisconsin,"  at  a  place 
called  by  the  French  La  Prairie  les  Chiens,  which 
signified  the  Dog  Plains.  It  was  a  large  town,  and 
contained  about  three  hundred  families.  The  houses 
were  built  after  the  Indian  manner,  and  pleasantly 
situated  on  a  dry  rich  soil. 

He  saw  here  many  horses  of  a  good  size  and  shape. 
This  town  was  the  great  mart  where  all  the  adjacent 
tribes,  and  where  those  who  inhabit  the  most  remote 
branches  of  the  Mississippi,  annually  assemble  about 


204 


y^ii 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA, 


1- 


mmi 

1 

i^S9i 

l\ 

la^^ 

1 

wm 

lU     twlVNi^l 

i'  mHitil 

l^''     BjbBM^MtjW 

ihh 

the  latter  end  of  May,  bringing  with  them  their  furs 
to  dispose  of  to  the  traders.  But  it  is  not  always  that 
they  conclude  their  sale  here.  This  was  determined  by 
a  general  council  of  the  chiefs,  who  consulted  whether  it 
would  be  more  conducive  to  their  inieiest  to  sell  their 
goods  at  this  place,  or  to  carry  them  on  to  Louisiana 
or  Mackinaw.  '-      n;      /i,,    Jy? 

At  a  small  stream  called  Yellow  river,  opposite  Prairie 
du  Chien,  the  traders  who  had  thus  far  accompanied 
Carver  took  up  their  residence  for  the  winter. 

From  this  point  he  proceeded  in  a  canoe,  with  a 
Canadian  voyageur  and  a  Mohawk  Indian,  as  com- 
panions.        *    :?i  -  '  ■'     •     ;V 

Just  before  reaching  Lake  Pepin,  while  his  attend- 
ants were  one  day  preparing  dinner,  he  walked  out  and 
was  struck  with  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the  surface 
of  the  country,  and  thought  it  was  the  site  of  some  vast 
artificial  earth- work. 

It  is  a  fact,  worthy  of  remembrance,  that  he  was  the 
first  to  call  the  attention  of  the  civihzed  world  to  the 
existence  of  ancient  monuments  in  the  Mississippi  valley. 
We  give  his  own  description  : — 

"  On  the  first  of  November  I  reached  Lake  Pepin,  a 
few  miles  below  which  I  landed,  and,  whilst  the  ser- 
vants were  preparing  my  dinner,  I  ascended  the  bank 
to  view  the  country.  I  had  not  proceeded  far  befoi'e  I 
came  to  a  fine,  level,  open  plain,  on  which  I  perceived, 
at  a  little  distance,  a  partial  elevation,  that  had  the 
appearance  of  entrenchment.  On  a  nearer  inspection, 
I  had  greater  reason  to  suppose  that  it  had  really  been 
intended  for  this  many  centuries  ago.  Notwithstanding 
it  was  now  covered  with  grass,  I  could  plainly  see  that 
it  had  once  been  a  breast-work  of  about  four  feet  in 


SUPPOSED  EARTH  WORKS  NEAR  LAKE  PEPIN. 


205 


yieight,  extending  the  best  part  of  a  mile,  and  suflficiently 
capacious  to  cover  five  thousand  men.  Its  form  was 
somewhat  circular,  and  its  flanks  reached  to  the  river. 

"  Though  much  defaced  by  time,  every  angle  was 
distinguishable,  and  appeared  as  regular  and  fashioned 
with  as  much  military  skill  as  if  planned  by  Vauban 
himself  The  ditch  was  not  visible ;  but  I  thought,  on 
examining  more  curiously,  that  I  could  perceive  there 
certainly  had  been  one.  From  its  situation,  also,  I  am 
convinced  that  it  must  have  been  designed  for  that 
purpose.  It  fronted  the  country,  and  the  rear  was 
covered  by  the  river,  nor  was  there  any  rising  ground 
for  a  considerable  way  that  commanded  it;  a  few 
straggling  lakes  were  alone  to  be  seen  near  it.  In 
many  places  small  tracks  were  worn  across  it  by  the 
feet  of  the  elks  or  deer,  and  from  the  depth  of  the  bed 
of  earth,  by  which  it  was  covered,  I  was  able  to  draw 
certain  conclusions  of  its  great  antiquity.  I  examined 
all  the  angles,  and  every  part  Avith  great  attention,  and 
have  often  blamed  myself  since,  for  not  encamping  on 
the  spot,  and  drawmg  an  exact  plan  of  it.  To  show 
that  this  description  is  not  the  offspring  of  a  heated 
imagination,  or  the  chimerical  tale  of  a  mistaken  travel- 
ler, I  find,  on  inquiry,  since  my  return,  that  Mons.  St. 
Pierre  and  several  traders  have,  at  different  times, 
taken  notice  of  similar  appearances,  upon  which  they 
have  formed  the  same  conjectures,  but  without  exa^ 
mining  them  so  minutely  as  I  did.  How  a  work  of 
this  kind  could  exist  in  a  country  that  has  hitherto 
(according  to  the  generally  received  opinion)  been  the 
seat  of  war  to  untutored  Indians  alone,  whose  whole 
stock  of  military  knowledge  has  only,  till  within  two 
centuries,  amounted  to  drawing  the  bow,  and  wiioso 


206 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


I 


only  breastwork,  even  at  present,  is  the  thicket,  I  know 
not,  I  have  given  as  exact  an  account  as  possible  of 
this  singular  appearance,  and  leave  to  future  explorers, 
of  those  distant  regions,  to  discover  whether  it  is  a  pro- 
duction of  nature  or  art.  Perhaps  the  hints  I  have 
here  given,  might  lead  to  a  more  perfect  investigation 
of  it,  and  give  us  very  different  ideas  of  the  ancient 
state  of  realms,  that  we  at  present  believe  to  have 
been,  from  the  earliest  period,  only  the  habitations  of 


savages. 


Lake  Pepin  excited  his  admiration,  as  it  has  that  of 
every  traveller  since  his  day,  and  here  he  remarks  :  "  I 
observed  the  ruins  of  a  French  factory,  where  it  is  said 
Captain  St.  Pierre  resided,  and  carried  on  a  very  great 
trade  with  the  Naudowessies,  before  the  reduction  of 
Canada." 

Carver's  first  acquaintance  with  the  Dahkotahs  com- 
menced near  the  river  St.  Croix.  It  would  seem  that 
the  erection  of  trading  posts  on  Lake  Pepin  had  enticed 
them  from  their  old  iesidence  on  Rum  river  and 
Mille  Lac. 

He  says  :  "  Near  the  river  St.  Croix,  reside  bnud,^  of 
the  Naudowessie  Indians,  called  the  River  Bands.  This 
nation  is  composed  at  present  of  eleven  bands.  They 
were  originally  twelve,  but  the  Assinipoils,  some  years 
ago,  revolting  and  separating  themselves  from  the  others, 
there  remain  only  at  this  time  eleven.  Those  I  met 
here  are  termed  the  River  Bands,  because  they  chiefly 
dwell  near  the  banks  of  this  river;  the  other  eight  are 
generally  distinguishe'^.  by  the  title  of  Naudowessies  of 
the  Plains,  and  inhabit  a  country  more  to  the  westward. 
Tlie  name  of  the  former  are  Nehogatawonahs,  the 
Mawtawbauntowahs,  awd  Shashweentowahs. 


CAVE  AND  BUUIAL  PLACE  NEAR  ST.  PAUL. 


207 


Arriving  at  what  is  now  a  suburb  of  the  capital  of 
Minnesota,  be  continues,  ''about  thirteen  miles  below 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  at  which  I  arrived  the  tenth 
day  after  I  left  Lake  Pepin,  is  a  remarkable  cave  of  an 
amazing  depth.  The  Indians  term  it  Wakon-teebe  (Wa- 
kan-tipi) .  The  entrance  into  it  is  about  ten  feet  wide,  the 
height  of  it  five  feet.  The  arch  within  is  near  fifteen  feet 
high,  and  about  thirty  feet  broad ;  the  bottom  consists  of 
fine  clear  sand.  About  thirty  feet  from  the  entrance, 
begins  a  lake,  the  water  of  which  is  transparent,  and  ex- 
tends to  an  unsearchable  distance,  for  the  darkness  of  the 
cave  prevents  all  attempts  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  it. 
I  threw  a  small  pebble  towards  the  iiiterior  part  of  it 
with  my  utmost  strength ;  1  could  hear  that  it  fell  into 
the  water,  and,  notwithstanding  it  was  of  a  small  size, 
it  caused  an  astonishing  and  terrible  noise,  that  reverbe- 
rated through  all  those  gloomy  regions.  I  found  in  this 
cave  many  Indian  hieroglyphics,  which  appeared  very 
ancient,  for  time  had  nearly  covered  them  with  moss, 
so  that  it  was  with  difficulty  I  could  trace  them.  They 
were  cut  in  a  rude  manner  upon  the  inside  of  the  wall, 
which  was  composed  of  a  stone  so  extremely  soft  that  it 
might  be  easily  penetrated  with  a  knife ;  a  stone  every- 
where to  be  found  near  the  Mississippi.      -,.  v. 

"  At  a  little  distance  from  this  dreary  cavern,  is  the 
burying-place  of  several  bands  of  the  Naudowessie 
Indians.  Though  these  people  have  no  fixed  residence, 
being  in  tents,  and  seldom  but  a  few  months  in  one 
spot,  yet  they  always  bring  the  bones  of  the  dead  to 
this  place.' 

'  The  cave  has  been  materially  and  the  atmosphere.  Years  ago  the 
altered  by  nearly  a  century's  work  top  fell  in,  but  on  the  side  walla,  not 
of  those  effective  tools,  frost,  water,    covered  by  debris,  pictographs  gray 


208 


K18T0RY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


1n->* 


•  I  "I 


'I; 


i^-ii.« 


"  Ten  miles  below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  the  river 
St.  Pierre,  called  by  the  natives  Wadapaw  Menesotor, 
falls  into  the  imssissippi  from  the  west.  It  is  not  men- 
tioned by  Father  Hennepin,  though  u  large,  fair  river. 
This  omission,  1  consider,  must  have  proceeded  from  a 
small  island  (Faribault's),  that  is  situated  exactly  in  its 
entrance."  ■  -     ■■•'r:  .■!■;}  n  :ir'Yr;;-i'^ii 

When  he  reached  the  Minnesota  river,  the  ice  became 
so  troublesome  that  he  left  his  canoe  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  what  is  now  the  ferry,  and  walked  to  St. 
Anthony,  in  company  with  a  young  Winnebago  chief, 
who  had  never  seen  the  curling  waters.  The  chief,  on 
reaching  the  eminence  some  distance  below  Cheever's, 
began  to  invoke  his  gods,  and  offer  oblations  to  the 
spirit  in  the  waters. 

'■'  In  the  middle  of  the  Falls  stands  a  small  island, 
about  foi'ty  feet  broad,  and  somewhat  longer,  on  which 
grow  a  few  cragged  hemlock  and  ypruce  trees,  and  about 
half  way  between  this  island  and  the  eastern  shore,  is  a 
rock,  lying  at  the  very  edge  of  the  Falls,  in  an  oblique 
position,  that  appeared  tc  be  about  five  or  six  feet  broad, 
and  thirty  or  forty  long.    At  a  little  distance  below  the 


with  age,  are  visible.  In  1817,  the 
present  mouth  of  the  cave  was  so 
covered  up,  that  Major  Long,  to  use 
a  vulgarism,  was  obliged  to  "  creep 
on  all  fours"  to  enter.  In  lfc20,  it 
Heenis  to  have  been  closed,  as  School- 
craft describes  another  cavo  three 
miles  abiive,  as  Carver's.  Fcathers- 
tonhaugh  made  the  same  mistake. 

In  1837  Nicollet  the  astronomer 
and  bis  at^  listants,  yrorked  many 
hours  and  entered  the  little  carity 
that  remained. 


It  is  now  walled  up  and  used  as  a 
rootrhouse  by  the  owner  of  the  land. 

Oil  th?  bluff  above  are  numerons 
mounds.  Under  the  supervisioti  of 
the  writer,  one  eighteen  feet  high  and 
two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  cir- 
cumference at  the  base,  vme  opened 
in  the  depth  of  three  or  four  feet. 
Fragments  of  skull,  which  ci  irabled 
on  exposure,  and  pc^'feot  shells  of 
human  teeth,  the  interior  entirely 
decayed,  were  found. 

■.■"-■'■'■■■■    ,.  '  ■^'^-  li'-J:,}:  Si'i ,r,';ilX'^-  ii'j.ik-J   ft/    „ 


FALLS  OF  ST.  ANTHOKY  IN  17G6. 


209 


Falls,  stands  a  small  islaud  of  about  an  acre  and  a  half, 
on  which  grow  a  great  number  of  oak  trees." 

From  this  description,  it  would  appear  that  ihe  liitle 
island,  now  some  distance  in  front  of  the  Falls,  wafi  once 
in  the  very  midst,  and  shows  that  a  constant  recession 
has  been  going  on,  anc?  that  in  ages  long  past,  they  werft 
not  far  from  the  Minnesota  river.  A  centur};  hence,  if 
the  wearing  of  the  last  five  years  is  any  criterion,  the 
Falls  will  be  above  the  town  of  St.  Anthony. 

No  description  is  more  glowing  than  Cf.rver's,  of  the 
country  adjacent : — 

"  The  country  around  them  is  extremely  beautiful. 
It  is  not  an  uninterrupted  plain,  where  th "  eye  finds  no 
relief,  but  composed  of  many  gentle  ascents,  which  in 
the  summer  are  covered  with  the  finest  verdure,  and 
interspersed  with  little  groves  that  give  a  pleasing 
variety  to  the  prospect.  On  the  whole,  when  the  Falls 
are  included,  which  may  be  seen  at  the  distance  of  four 
T»iiles,  a  more  pleasing  and  picturesque  view  I  believe 
cannot  be  found  throughout  the  universe." 

He  arrived  at  the  Falls  on  the  seventeenth  of  Novem- 
ber, 1766,  and  appears  to  have  ascended  as  far  as  Elk 
river. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  November,  he  had  returned  to 
the  place  opposite  the  Minnesota,  where  he  had  left  his 
canoe,  and  this  stream  as  yet  not  being  obstructed  with 
ice,  he  commenced  its  ascent,  with  the  colours  of  Great 
Britain  flying  at  the  stem  of  his  canoe.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  he  entered  this  river,  but  how  far  he  explored 
it  cannot  be  ascertained.  He  speaks  of  the  Rapids  near 
Shokopay,  and  asserts  that  he  went  as  far  as  two  hundred 
miles  beyond  Mendota.     He  remarks: —     '^'  '  •' 

"  On  the  se^'enth  of  December,  I  arrived  at  the  utmost 

14 


i 


r 
'I 


1 1 


210 


"HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


extent  of  my  travels  towards  the  West,  where  I  met  a 
large  party  of  the  Naudowessie  Indians,  among  whom  I 
resided  some  moiiths." 

After  speaking  of  the  upper  bands  of  the  Dahkotahs 
and  their  allies,  he  adds  that  he  "  left  the  habitations 
of  the  hospitable  Indians  the  latter  end  of  April,  1767, 
but  did  not  part  from  them  for  several  days,  as  I  was 
accompanied  on  my  journey  by  near  three  hundred  of 
them  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Pierre.  At  this 
aeason  these  bands  annually  go  to  the  great  cave  (Day- 
ton's Bluff),  before  mentioned." 

When  he  arrived  at  the  great  cave,  and  the  Indians 
h.rd  deposited  the  remains  of  their  deceased  friends  in 
the  burial-place  that  stands  adjacent  to  it,  they  held 
their  great  council,  to  which  he  was  admitted. 

When  the  Naudowessies  brought  their  dead  for  inter- 
ment to  the  great  cave  (St.  Paul),  I  attempted  to  get  an 
insight  into  the  remaining  burial  rites,  but  whether  it 
was  on  account  of  the  stench  which  arose  from  so  many 
bodies,  or  whether  they  chose  to  keep  this  part  of  their 
custom  secret  from  me,  I  could  not  discover.  I  found, 
however,  that  they  considered  my  curiosity  as  ill-timed, 
and  therefore  I  withdrew.     *     *     * 

One  formality  among  the  Naudowessies  in  mourning 
for  the  dead,  is  very  different  from  any  mode  I  observed 
in  the  other  nations  through  which  I  passed.  The  men, 
to  show  how  great  their  sorrow  is,  pierce  the  flesh  of 
their  arms  above  the  elbows  with  arrows,  and  the 
women  cut  and  giish  their  legs  with  sharp  broken  flints 
till  the  blood  flows  very  plentifully.    *    *    ***** 

After  the  breath  ia  departed,  the  body  is  dressed  in 
the  same  attire  it  usually  wore,  his  iace  is  painted,  and 
he  is  seated  in  an  ei*ect  posture  on  a  mat  or  skin,  placed 


^■'     ^.:^^i^..' 


ALLEGED  BURIAL  SPEECH  AT  ST.  PAUL. 


211 


in  the  middle  of  the  hut,  with  his  weapons  by  his  side. 
His  relatives  seated  around,  each  hart^.-gues  in  turn  the 
deceased ;  and,  if  he  has  been  a  great  warrior,  recounts 
his  heroic  actions  nearly  to  the  following  purport,  which 
in  the  Indian  language  is  extremely  poetical  and  pleas- 


ing: 


"  You  still  sit  among  us,  brother,  your  person  retains 
its  usual  resemblance,  and  continues  similar  to  ours, 
without  any  visible  deficiency,  except  it  has  lost  the 
power  of  action!  But  whither  is  that  breath  flown, 
which  a  few  hours  ago  sent  up  smoke  to  the  Great 
Spirit  ?  Why  are  those  lips  silent  that  lately  delivered 
to  us  expressions  and  pleasing  language?  Why  are 
those  feet  motionless  that  a  short  time  ago  were  fleeter 
than  the  deer  on  yonder  mountains?  Why  useless 
hang  those  arms  that  could  climb  the  tallest  tree,  or 
draw  the  toughest  bow?  Alas!  every  part  of  that  frame 
"/j}ich  we  lately  beheld  with  admiration  and  wonder,  is 
become  as  inanimate  as  it  was  three  hundred  years 
We  will  not,  however,  bemoan  thee  as  if  thou 
war-,  for  ever  lost  to  us,  or  that  thy  name  would  be 
buried  in  oblivion — thy  soul  yet  lives  in  the  great 
country  of  Spirits  with  those  of  thy  nation  that  have 
gone  before  thee;  and,  though  we  are  left  behind  to 
perpetuate  thy  fame,  we  shall  one  day  join  thee. 

"  Actuated  by  the  respect  we  bore  thee  whilst  living, 
we  now  come  to  tender  thee  the  last  act  of  kindness  in 
our  power;  that  thy  body  might  not  lie  neglected  on 
the  plain  and  become  a  prey  to  the  beasts  of  the  field 
or  fowls  of  the  air,  we  will  take  care  to  lay  it  with  those 
of  thy  predecessors  who  have  gone  before  thee ;  hoping 
at  the  same  time  that  thy  spirit  will  feed  with  their 


I  O'V 


w 


212 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


spirits  and  be  ready  to  receive  ours  when  we  shall  also 
arrive    '  the  great  country  of  souls."       -  -      '    v,     jr 

For  t.  i  c  ch  Carver  is  principally  indebted  to  his 
imaginatio;  it  it  is  well  conceived,  and  suggested  one 
of  Schiller's  poems.' 

It  appears  from  other  sources  that  Caver's  visit  to 
the  Dahkotahs  was  of  some  effect  in  bringing  about 
friendly  intercourse  between  them  and  the  commander 
of  the  English  force  at  Mackinaw.  v'-'     •'!'«' 

The  earliest  mention  of  the  Dahkotahs,  in  any  public 
British  documents  that  we  know  of,  is  in  the  correspond- 
ence between  Sir  William  Johnson,  Superintendent  of 
Indian  Affairs  for  the  Colony  of  New  York,  and  General 
Gage,  in  command  of  the  forces.  •     '  :i.'t 

On  the  eleventh  of  September,  less  than  six  months 
after  Carver's  speech  at  Dayton's  Bluff,  and  the  de- 
parture of  a  number  of  chiefs  to  the  English  fort  at 
Mackinaw,  Johnson  writes  to  General  Gage : — "  Though 
I  wrote  to  you  some  days  ago,  yet  I  would  not  mind 
saying  something  again  on  the  score  of  the  vast  expenses 
incurred,  and,  as  I  understand,  still  incurring  at  Michi- 
limackinac,  chiefly  on  pretence  of  making  a  peace 
between  the  Sioux  and  Chippeweighs,  with  which  I 
think  Ave  have  very  little  to  do,  in  good  policy  or  other- 
wise." 

Sir  William  Johnson,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Hillsborough, 
one  of  his  Majesty's  ministers,  dated  Augu'Jit  seventeenth, 
1768,  again  refers  to  the  subject: —     '""•     >■•■'    f  »  u 

"  Much  greater  part  of  those  who  go  a  trading  are 
men  of  such  circumstances  and  disposition  as  to  venture 
their  persons  everywhere  for  extravagant  gains,  yet  the 


'  For  translations  of  Schiller,  see  Chapter  III.  p. 


PROPOSED  PACIFIC  ROAD 


218 


consequences  to  the  public  are  not  to  be  slighted,  as  we 
may  be  led  into  a  general  quarrel  through  their  means. 
The  Indians  in  the  part  adjacent  to  Michilimackinac 
have  been  treated  with  at  a  very  great  expense  for  some 
time  previous.  ;  fai^ii;.  st^  T    v-v 

"  Major  Bodgers  brings  a  considerable  charge  against 
the  former  for  mediating  a  peace  between  some  tribes 
of  the  Sioux  and  some  of  the  Chippeweighs,  which,  had 
it  been  attended  with  success,  would  only  have  been 
interesting  to  a  very  few  French,  and  others,  that  had 
goods  in  that  part  of  the  Indian  country,  but  the  con- 
trary has  happened,  and  they  are  now  more  violent,  and 
war  against  one  another." 

Though  a  wilderness  of  over  one  thousand  miles  inter- 
vened between  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  and  the  white 
settlements  of  the  English,  Carver  was  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  the  state  now  organized  under  the  name 
of  Minnesota,  on  account  of  its  beauty  and  fertility, 
would  attract  settlers. 

Speaking  of  the  advantages  of  the  country,  he  says 
that  the  future  population  will  be  "  able  to  convey  their 
produce  to  the  seaports  with  great  facility,  the  current 
of  the  river  from  its  source  to  its  entrance  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  being  extremely  favourable  for  doing  this  in 
small  craft.  This  might  also  in  time  he  facilitated  hy 
canals  or  slwi'ter  cuts,  and  a  communication  opened  hy 
■water  with  New  York,  hy  way  of  the  Lakes." 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  also  confident  that  a 
route  could  Ije  discovered  by  way  of  the  Minnesota  river, 
which  '•  would  open  a  passage  for  conveying  intelligence 
to  China,  and  the  English  settlements  in  the  East 
Indies." 

Carver,  having  returned  to  England,  interested  Whit- 


214 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


worth,  a  member  of  Parliament,  in  the  Northern  route. 
Had  not  the  American  Eevolution  commenced,  they 
proposed  to  have  built  a  fort  at  Lake  Pepin,  to  have 
proceeded  up  the  Minnesota,  until  they  found,  as  they 
supposed  they  could,  a  branch  of  the  Missouri,  and  from 
thence  journeying  over  the  summit  of  lands,  until  they 
came  to  a  river  which  they  called  Oregon,  they  expected 
to  descend  to  the  Pacific. 

Carver,  in  common  with  other  travellers,  had  his 
theory  in  relation  to  the  origin  of  the  Dahkotahs.  He 
supposed  that  they  came  from  Asia.  He  remarks, 
*•  But  this  might  have  been  at  different  times  and  from 
various  parts — from  Tartary,  China,  Japan,  for  the  inha- 
bitanLs  of  these  places  resemble  each  other.    *    *    *    * 

"  It  is  very  evident  that  some  of  the  names  and  cus- 
toms of  the  American  Indians  resemble  those  of  the 
Tartars,  and  I  make  no  doubt  but  that  in  some  future 
era,  and  this  not  very  distant,  it  will  be  reduced  to 
certainty  that  during  some  of  the  wars  between  the 
Tartars  and  the  Chinese,  a  part  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  northern  provinces  were  driven  from  their  native 
country,  and  took  refuge  in  some  of  the  isles  before 
mentioned,  and  from  thence  found  their  way  into  Ame- 
rica.    ****** 

"  Many  words  are  used  both  by  the  Chinese  and  In- 
dians which  have  a  resemblance  to  each  other,  not  only 
in  their  sound  but  in  their  signification.  The  Chinese 
call  a  slave  Shungo;  and  the  Naudowessie  Indians, 
whose  language,  from  their  little  intercourse  with  the 
Europeans,  is  least  corrupted,  term  a  dog  Shungush 
(Shoankah).  The  former  denominate  our  species  of 
their  tea  Shoushong ;  the  latter  call  their  tobacco  Shous- 
as-sau  (Chanshasha) .     Many  other  of  the  words  used 


EXAMINATION  OF  THE  CARVER  CLAIM. 


215 


by  the  Indians  contain  the  syllables  che,  chaw,  and  chu, 
after  the  dialect  of  the  Chinese."  The  comparison  of 
languages  has  become  a  rich  source  of  historical  know- 
ledge, yet  very  many  of  the  analogies  traced  are  fanciful. 
The  remark  of  Humboldt  in  "  Cosmos"  is  worthy  of  re- 
membrance : — "  As  the  structure  of  American  idioms 
appears  remarkably  strange  to  nations  speaking  the 
modem  languages  of  Western  Europe,  and  who  readily 
suffer  themselves  to  be  led  away  by  some  accidental 
analogies  of  sound,  theologians  have  generally  be- 
lieved that  they  could  trace  an  affinity  with  the 
Hebrew,  Spanish  colonists  with  the  Basque  and  the 
English,  or  French  settlers  with  Gaelic,  Erse,  or  the 
Bas  Breton.  I  one  day  met  on  the  coast  of  Peru,  a 
Spanish  naval  officer  and  an  English  whaling  captain, 
the  former  of  whom  declared  that  he  had  heard  Basque 
spoken  at  Tahiti;  the  other,  Gaelic  or  Erse  at  the 
Sandwich  Islands.'" 

Carver  became  very  poor  while  in  England,  and  was 
a  clerk  in  a  lottery  office.  He  died  in  1780,  and  left  a 
widow,  two  sons,  and  five  daughters,  in  New  England, 
and  also  a  child  by  another  wife  that  he  had  married  in 
Great  Britain. 

After  his  death  a  claim  was  urged  for  the  land  upon 
which  the  capital  of  Minnesota  now  stands,  and  for 
many  miles  adjacent.  As  there  are  still  many  persons 
who  believe  that  they  have  some  right  through  certain 
deeds  purporting  to  be  from  the  heirs  of  Carver,  it  is  a 
matter  worthy  of  an  investigation. 

Carver  says  nothing  in  his  book  of  travels  in  relation 
to  a  grant  from  the  Dahkotahs,  but  after  he  was  buried, 
it  was  asserted  that  there  was  a  deed  belonging  to  him 
in  existence,  conveying  valuable  lands,  and  that  sfiid 


216 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


deed  was  executed  at  the  cave  now  in  the  eastern 
suburbs  of  Saint  Paul.' 

The  original  deed  was  never  exhibited  by  the 
assignees  of  the  heirs.  By  his  English  wife  Carver  had 
one  child,  a  daughter  Martha,  who  was  eared  for  by  Sir 
Richard  and  Lady  Pearson.  In  time  she  eloped  and 
married  a  sailor.  A  mercantile  firm  in  London,  thinking 
that  money  could  be  made,  induced  the  newly  married 
couple,  the  day  after  the  wedding,  to  convey  the  grant 
to  them,  with  the  understanding  that  they  were  to  have 
a  tenth  of  the  profits. 

The  merchants  despatched  an  agent  by  the  name  of 
Clarke  to  go  to  the  Dahkotahs,  and  obtain  a  new  deed ; 
but  on  his  way  he  was  murdered  in  the  State  of  New 
York.    -,   ^.  .:..  ■,,  ..   -,  -.     .,  .  ..•,  ,.     ■'  ,-.uf^tK 


[I 
I 


"  Deed  purporting  to  have   been 

oiven  at  the  cave  in  the  bluft 

BELOW  St.  Paul. 

"  To  Jonathan  Carver,  a  Chief 
under  the  most  mighty  and  potent 
George  the  Third  King  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  other  nations,  the  fame  of 
wliose  warriors  has  reached  our  ears, 
and  lias  now  been  fully  told  us  by 
our  good  brother  Jonathan,  aforesaid, 
whom  we  rejoice  to  have  come  among 
us,  and  bring  us  good  news  from  his 
country. 

"We,  Chiefs  of  the  Naudowessies, 
who  have  hereunto  set  our  seals,  do 
by  these  presents,  for  ourselves  and 
heirs  forever,  in  return  for  the  aid 
and  other  good  services  done  by  the 
said  Jonathan  to  ourselves  and  allies, 
give,  grant,  and  convoy  to  him,  the 
eaid  Jonathan,  and  to  his  heirs  and 
assigns  forever,  the  whole  of  a  certain 
tract  of  territory  of  land,  bounded 


as  follows,  viz  :  from  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  running  on  cast  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  nearly  south-east, 
as  far*  as  Lake  Pepin,  where  the 
Chippewa  joins  the  Mississippi,  and 
from  thence  eastward,  five  days  tnt- 
vel  accounting  twenty  English  miles 
per  day,  and  from  thence  again  to 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  on  a  direct 
straight  line.  We  do  for  ourselves, 
heirs,  and  assigns,  forever  give  unto 
the  said  Jonathan,  his  heirs  and 
assigns,  with  all  the  trees,  rocks, 
and  rivers  therein,  reserving  the  sole 
liberty  of  hunting  and  fishing  on 
land  not  planted  or  improved  by  the 
said  Jonathan,  his  heirs  and  assigns, 
to  which  we  have  affixed  our  respec- 
tive seals. 

"  At  the  Great  Cave,  May   Ist, 
1767." 

"  Signed,     HAWNOPAWJATiif. 

Otohtonoooh  lishk  aw. 


CARVER'S  CLAIM  BEFORE  CONGRESS. 


217 


In  the  year  1794,  the  heirs  of  Carver's  American 
wife,  in  consideration  of  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterUng, 
conveyed  their  interest  in  the  Carver  grant  to  Edward 
Houghton  of  Vermont.  In  the  year  1806,  Samuel 
Peters,'  who  had  been  a  tory  and  an  Episcopal  minister 
during  the  Revolutionary  war,  alleges,  in  a  petition  to 
Congress,  that  he  had  also  purchased  of  the  heirs  of 
Carver  their  rights  to  the  grant. 

Before  the  Senate  Committee,  the  same  year,  he 
testified  as  follows : — 

"  In  the  year  1774,  I  arrived  there  (London),  and 
met  Captain  Carver.  In  1775,  Carver  had  a  hearing 
before  the  king,  praying  his  majesty's  approval  of  a 
deed  of  land  dated  May  first,  1767,  and  sold  and  granted 
to  him  by  the  Naudowissies.  The  result  was  his  majesty 
approved  of  the  exertions  and  bravery  of  Captain  Carver 
among  the  Indian  nations,  near  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
in  the  Mississippi,  gave  to  said  Carver  1373?.  13s.  Sd. 
sterling,  and  ordered  a  frigate  to  be  prepared,  and  a 
transport  ship  to  carry  one  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
under  command  of  Captain  Carver,  with  four  others  as 
a  committee,  to  sail  next  June  to  New  Orleans,  and 
then  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  to  take  possession  of  said 
territory  conveyed  to  Captain  Carver,  but  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill  prevented."^  v  ii''? 

In  1821,  General  Leavenworth,  having  made  inqui- 
ries of  the  Dahkotahs,  in  relation  to  the  alleged  claim, 
addressed  the  following  to  the  commissioner  of  the  land 
office  : — 


'  Said  to  have  been  the  author  of  the  great-grandson  of  Governor  John 

a  fictitious  work  called  "  Connecticut  Carver,  the  first  Chief  Magistrate  of 

Blue  Laws."  Plymouth  Colony. 

'  Peters  also  testified  that  he  was  '.w       i' -  • 


21» 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


"  Sir : — Agreeably  to  your  request,  I  have  the  honour 
to  inform  you  what  I  have  understood  from  the  Indians 
of  the  Sioux  Nation,  as  well  as  some  facts  within  my 
own  knowledge,  as  to  what  is  commonly  termed  Car- 
ver's Grant.  The  grant  purports  to  be  made  by  the 
chiefs  of  the  Sioux  of  the  Plains,  and  one  of  the  chiefs 
uses  the  sign  of  a  serpent,  and  the  other  a  turtle,  pur- 
porting that  their  names  are  derived  from  those  animals. 

"  The  land  lies  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Indians  do  not  recognise  or  acknowledge  the  grant 
to  be  valid,  and  they  among  others  assign  the  foUoAv- 
ing  reasons : —  <  .\  !'-,);•.; 

"1.  The  Sioux  of  the  Plains  never  owned  a  foot  of 
land  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Sioux 
Nation  is  divided  into  two  grand  divisions,  viz :  The 
Sioux  of  the  Lake,  or  perhaps  more  literally  Sioux  of 
the  River,  and  Sioux  of  the  Plain.  The  former  subsists 
by  hunting  and  fishing,  and  usually  move  from  place  to 
place  by  water,  in  canoes,  during  the  summer  season, 
and  travel  on  the  ice  in  the  winter,  when  not  on  their 
hunting  excursions.  The  latter  subsist  entirely  by 
hunting,  and  have  no  canoes,  nor  do  they  know  but 
little  about  the  use  of  them.  They  reside  in  the  large 
prairies  west  of  the  ^Mississippi,  and  follow  the  buffalo, 
upon  which  they  entirely  subsist ;  these  are  called  Sioux 
of  the  Plain,  and  never  owned  land  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

"  2.  The  Indians  say  they  have  no  knowledge  of  any 
such  chiefs,  as  those  who  have  signed  the  grant  to 
Carver,  either  amongst  the  Sioux  of  the  River,  or  Sioux 
of  the  Plain.  They  say  that  if  Captain  Carver  did  ever 
obtain  a  deed  or  grant,  it  was  signed  by  some  foolish 
young  men  who  were  not  chiefs,  and  who  were  not 


LEAVENWORTH'S  LETTER  ON  THE  GRANT. 


21» 


autliorizcd  to  make  a  grant.  Among  the  Sioux  of  the 
River  there  are  no  such  names. 

*'  3.  They  say  the  Indians  never  received  anything 
for  the  land,  and  they  have  no  intention  to  part  with 
it,  without  a  consideration.  From  my  knowledge  of 
the  Indians,  I  am  induced  to  think  they  would  not 
make  so  considerable  a  grant,  and  have  it  go  into  full 
effect,  without  receiving  a  substantial  consideration. 

"  4.  They  have,  and  ever  have  had,  the  possession 
of  the  land,  and  intend  to  keep  it.  I  know  that  they 
are  very  particular  in  making  every  person  who  wishes 
to  cut  timber  on  that  tract,  obtain  their  permission  to 
do  so,  and  to  obtain  payment  for  it.  In  the  month  of 
May  last,  some  Frenchmen  brought  a  large  raft  of  red 
cedar  timber  out  of  the  Chippewa  river,  which  timber 
was  cut  on  the  tract  before  mentioned.  The  Indians  at 
one  of  the  villages  on  the  Mississippi,  where  the  prin- 
cipal chief  resided,  compelled  the  Frenchmen  to  land 
the  raft,  and  would  not  permit  them  to  pass  until  they 
had  received  pay  for  the  timber ;  and  the  Frenchmen 
were  compelled  to  leave  their  raft  with  the  Indians 
until  they  went  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  obtained  the 
necessary  articles,  and  made  the  payment  required." 

On  the  twenty-third  of  January,  1823,  the  Committee 
of  Public  Lands  made  a  report  on  the  claim  to  the 
Senate,  which,  to  every  disinterested  person,  is  entirely 
satisfactory.  After  stating  the  facts  of  the  petition,  the 
report  continues : — 

"  The  Rev.  Samuel  Peters,  in  his  petition,  further 
states  that  Lefei,  the  present  Emperor  of  the  Sioux  and 
Naudowessies,  and  Red  Wing,  a  Sachem,  the  heirs  and 
successors  of  the  two  grand  chiefs  who  signed  the  said 
deed  to  Captain  Carver,  have  given   satisfactory  and 


220 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


positive  proof,  that  they  allowed  their  ancestors'  deed  to 
be  genuine,  good,  and  valid,  and  that  Captain  Carver's 
heirs  and  assigns  are  the  owners  of  said  territory,  and 
may  occupy  it  free  of  all  molestation. 

'*  The  committee  have  examined  and  considered  the 
claims  thus  exhibited  by  the  petitioners,  and  remark 
that  the  original  deed  is  not  produced,  nor  any  compe- 
tent legal  evidence  offered,  of  its  execution ;  nor  is  there 
any  proof  that  the  persons,  whom  it  is  alleged  made  the 
deed,  were  the  chiefs  of  said  tribe,  nor  that  (if  chiefs) 
they  had  authority  to  grant  and  give  away  the  land 
Ijelonging  to  their  tribe.  The  paper  annexed  to  the 
petition,  as  a  copy  of  said  deed,  has  no  subscribing  wit- 
nesses; and  it  would  seem  impossible  at  this  remote 
period,  to  ascertain  the  important  fact,  that  the  persons 
who  signed  the  deed  comprehended  and  understood  the 
meaning  and  effect  of  their  act. 

*'  The  want  of  proof  as  to  these  facts,  Avould  interpose 
in  the  way  of  the  claimants  insuperable  difficulties. 
But,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  the  claim  is  not 
such  as  the  United  States  are  under  any  obligation  to 
allow,  even  if  the  deed  were  proved  in  legal  form. 

"  The  British  government,  before  the  time  when  the 
alleged  deed  bears  date,  had  deemed  it  prudent  and 
necessary,  for  the  preservation  of  peace  with  the  Indian 
tribes  under  their  sovereignty,  protection,  and  dominion, 
to  prevent  British  subjects  from  purchasing  lands  from 
the  Indians ;  and  this  rule  of  policy  was  made  known 
and  enforced  by  the  proclamation  of  the  king  of  Great 
Britain,  of  seventh  October,  1763,  which  contains  an 
express  prohibition. 

"  Captain  Carver,  aware  of  the  law,  and  knowing  that 
such  a  contract  could  not  vest  the  legal  title  in  him, 


RErORT  OF  SENATE  COMMITTEE. 


221 


applied  to  the  British  government  to  ratify  and  confirm 
the  Indian  grant,  and  though  it  was  competent  for  that 
government  then  to  confirm  the  grant,  and  vest  the  title 
of  said  land  in  him,  yet,  from  some  cause,  that  govern- 
ment did  not  think  proper  to  do  it. 

"  The  territory  has  since  become  the  property  of  the 
United  States,  and  an  Indian  grant,  not  good  against 
the  British  government,  would  appear  to  be  i  »t  binding 
upon  the  United  States  government. 

"  What  benefit  the  British  government  derived  from 
the  services  of  Captain  Carver,  by  his  travels  and  resi- 
dence among  the  Indians,  that  government  alone  could 
determine,  and  alone  could  judge  what  remuneration 
those  services  deserved. 

"  One  fact  appears  from  the  declaration  of  Mr.  Peters, 
in  his  statement  in  writing,  among  the  papers  exhibited, 
namely,  that  the  British  government  did  give  Captain 
Carver  the  sum  of  one  thousand  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  pounds  six  shillings  and  eight  pence  ster- 
ling.' To  the  United  States,  however.  Captain  Carver 
rendered  no  services  which  could  be  assumed  as  any 
equitable  ground  for  the  support  of  the  petitioners' 
claim. 

"The  committee  being  of  opinion  that  the  United 
States  are  not  bound,  in  law  or  equity,  to  confirm  the 
said  alleged  Indian  grant,  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolution : — 

"  '  Resolved,  that  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  ought 
not  to  be  granted."  ' 

'  Lord  Palmerston  stated  in  1839,    papers,  showing  any  ratification  of 
that  no  trace  could  be  found  in  the    the  Carver  grant, 
records  of  the  British  ofiBoe  of  state 


1222 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


1 


Sustained  by  French  influence  and  firearms,  the 
Ojibways  began  to  advance  into  the  Dahkotah  country. 
Carver  found  the  two  nations  at  war  in  1766,  and  was 
told  that  they  !iad  been  fighting  torty  years.  Pike, 
when  at  Leech  Lake,  in  1&06,  met  an  aged  Ojibway 
chief,  called  "  Sweet,"  who  said  that  the  Dahkotahs  lived 
thero  when  he  was  a  young  man. 

Ojibway  tradition  says  that  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  years  ago,  a  large  war  party  was  raised  to 
march  against  a  Dahkotah  village  at  Sandy  lake;  the 
leaders  name  was  Biauswah,  grandfather  of  a  well 
known  chief  of  that  name  at  Sandy  Lake. 

Some  years  after  Sandy  Lake  had  been  taken  by  this 
chief,  sixty  Ojibways  descended  the  Mississippi.  On 
their  return,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Crow  Wing  and 
Mississippi,  they  saw  traces  of  a  large  Dahkotah  party 
that  had  ascended  to  their  village,  and  probably  killed 
their  wives  and  children.  Digging  holes  in  the  ground 
they  concealed  themselves,  and  tiwaited  the  descent  of 
their  enemies.  The  Dahkotahs  soon  came  floating  do^^  n, 
singing  songs  of  tr^imph  and  beating  the  drum,  with 
.scalps  dangling  from  poles.  The  Dahkotahs  were  five 
times  as  many  as  the  Ojibways,  but  when  the  latter 


ORIGIN  0?  THE  NAME  PILLAGER. 


22S 


beheld  the  reeking  scalps  of  their  relatives  they  were 
nerved  to  fight  with  desperation.  The  battle  soon  com- 
menced, and  when  arms  and  ammunition  failed,  they 
dug  holes  near  to  each  other  and  fought  with  stones. 
The  bravest  fought  hand  to  hand  with  kni^  es  and  clubs. 
The  conflict  lasted  three  days,  till  the  Dahkotahs  at  last 
retreated.  The  marks  of  this  battle  are  still  thought  to 
be  visible. 

Tlie  band  of  Ojibways,  living  at  Leech  Lake,  have 
long  borne  the  name  of  "  Pillagei's,"  from  the  fact  that, 
while  encamped  at  a  small  creek  on  the  Mississippi, 
ten  miles  from  Crow  Wing  river,  they  robbed  a  trader 
of  his  goods.  li 

Very  near  the  period  that  France  ceded  Canada  to 
England,  the  last  conflict  of  the  Foxes  and  Ojibways 
took  place  at  the  Falls  of  the  St.  Croix. 

The  account  which  the  Ojibways  give  of  this  battle 
is,  that  a  famous  war  chief  of  Lake  Superior,  whose 
name  was  Waub-o-jeeg,  or  White  Fisher,  sent  his  war 
club  and  wampum  of  war  to  call  the  scattered  bands  of 
the  Ojibway  tribed,  to  collect  a  war  party  lo  march 
against  the  Dahkotah  villages  on  the  St,  Croix  and 
Mississippi.  Warriors  from  St.  Marie,  Kev^ee^iaw,  Wis- 
consin, and  Grand  Portage  joined  his  party,  and  with 
three  hundred  warriors,  W^aub-o-jeeg  started  from  La 
Pointe  to  march  into  the  enemy's  country.  He  had 
sent  his  war  club  to  the  village  of  Sandy  Lake,  and 
they  had  sent  tobacco  in  return,  with  answer  that  on  a 
certai?!  day,  sixty  men  from  that  section  of  the  Ojibway 
tribe  would  meet  him  at  the  confluence  of  Snake  river 
with  the  St.  Croix.  On  reaching  this  point  on  the  day 
designated,  and  the  Sandy  Lake  party  not  having 
arrived  as  agreed  upon,  Waub-o-jeeg,  not  confident  in 


■ 

ill  '\M'-  ■  I 

i  ?M  '  ■■■'■  ■■-■  ■■' 

lfe^.4i'  J  ii 

BHHi 

K 


224 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  strength  of  his  numbers,  continued  down  the  St. 
Croix.  They  arrived  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix  early  in 
the  morning,  and,  while  preparing  to  take  their  bark 
canoes  over  the  portage,  or  carrying  place,  scouts  were 
sent  in  advance  to  reconnoitre.  They  soon  returned 
with  the  information  that  they  had  discovered  a  large 
party  of  Foxes  and  Dahkotahs  landing  at  the  other  end 
of  the  portage. 

The  Ojibways  instantly  prepared  for  battle,  and  the 
scouts  of  the  enemy  having  discovered  them,  the  hostile 
parties  met  as  if  by  mutual  appointment,  in  the  middle 
of  the  portage.  The  Foxes,  after  seeing  the  compara- 
tively small  number  of  the  Ojibways,  and  over  confident 
in  their  own  superior  numbers  and  prowess,  requested 
the  Dahkotahs  not  to  join  in  the  fight,  but  to  sit  by  and 
see  how  quickly  they  could  rout  the  Ojibways.  This 
request  was  granted.  The  fight  between  the  contend- 
ing warriors,  is  said  to  have  been  fiercely  contested,  and 
embellished  with  many  daring  acts  of  personal  valour. 
About  noon  the  Foxes  commenced  yielding  groimd,  and 
at  last  were  forced  to  flee  in  confusion.  They  would 
probably  have  been  driven  into  the  river  and  killed  to 
a  man,  had  not  their  allies  the  Dahkotahs,  who  had 
been  quietly  smoking  their  pipes  and  calmly  viewing 
the  fight  from  a  distance,  at  this  juncture,  j^elled  their 
war  whoop,  and  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  their  discomfited 
friends.  .   -;  •  . 

The  Ojibways  resisted  their  new  enemies  manfully, 
and  it  was  not  until  their  ammunition  had  entirely 
failed  that  they  in  turn  showed  their  backs  in  flight. 
Few  would  have  returned  to  their  lodges  vo  tell  the  sad 
tale  of  defeat,  and  death  of  brave  men,  had  not  the 
party  of  sixty  warriors  from  Sandy  Lake,  who  were  to 


DEFEAT  OF  FOXES  AT  FALLS  OF  ST.  CROIX. 


225 


have  joined  them  at  the  mouth  of  Snake  river,  arrived 
at  this  opportune  moment,  and  landed  at  the  head  of 
the  portage. 

Eager  for  the  fight  and  fresh  on  the  field,  this  band 
withstood  the  onset  of  the  DaLkotahs  and  Foxes,  till 
their  retreating  friends  could  rally  again  to  the  battle. 
The  Dahkotahs  and  Foxes  in  turn  fled,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  slaughter  in  their  ranks  was  great.  Many 
were  driven  over  the  rocks  into  the  boiling  flood  below; 
and  every  crevice  in  the  clifis  contained  a  dead  or 
wounded  enemy. 

From  this  time  the  Foxes  retired  to  the  soutli.  and 
for  ever  gave  up  the  war  with  their  victorious  enemies. 

Tradition  says  that,  while  the  English  1  '■  possession 
of  what  is  now  Minnesota,  and  while  thuj  .  cujiied  a 
trading  post  near  the  confluence  of  the  waters  of  tlie 
Minnesota  and  Mississippi  rivers,  the  M'de-wa-kan-lou- 
wan  Dahkotahs  sent  the  "  bundle  of  tobacco"  to  their 
friends,  the  Wa-rpe-ton-wan,  Si-si-ton-wan,  and  I-han- 
kton-wan  bands,  who  joined  them  in  an  expedition 
against  the  Ojibways  of  Lake  Superior.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  great  strength  of  tlip  party,  they  found  and 
scalped  only  a  single  family  oi  their  enemies. 

Soon  after  their  return  to  their  own  country,  a  quar- 
rel arose  between  a  M'dewakantonwan  named  Ixkatape 
(Toy)  and  their  trader.  The  Indian  name  of  the  trader 
was  Pagonta,  Mallard  Duck.  The  result  of  the  quarrel 
was,  that  one  day  as  the  unsuspecting  Englishman  sat 
quietly  smoking  his  Indian  pipe  in  his  rude  hut  near 
Mendota,  he  was  shot  dead. 

At  this  time  some  of  the  bands  of  the  Dahkotahs  had 
learned  to  depend  very  much  upon  the  trade  for  the 
means   by  which   they  subsisted  themselves.     At   an 

16 


226 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


earlier  period  it  would  have  been  to  them  a  matter  of 
trifling  importance  whether  a  white  man  wintered  with 
them  or  not.  \u,yi-  .(   .;it 

In  consequence  of  the  murder,  the  trade  was  tempo- 
rarily withdrawn.  This  was  at  that  time  a  severe 
measure,  and  reduced  these  bands  to  suflFerings  which 
they  could  not  well  endure.  They  had  no  ammunition, 
no  traps,  no  blankets.  For  the  whole  long  dveary  winter, 
they  were  the  sport  of  cold  and  famine.  That  was  one 
of  the  severest  winters  that  the  M'dewakantonwans  ever 
experienced,  and  they  had  not  even  a  pipe  of  tobacco  to 
smoke  over  their  unprecedented  misery.  They  hardly 
survived. 

On  the  opening  of  spring,  after  much  deliberation,  it 
was  determined  that  the  brave  and  head  men  of  the 
band  should  take  the  murderer,  and  throw  themselves 
at  the  feet  of  their  English  Fathers  in  Canada.  Accord- 
ingly, a  party  of  about  one  hundred  of  their  best  men 
and  women  left  Mendota  oarly  in  the  season,  and  de- 
scended the  Mississippi  in  iheir  canoes  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Wisconsin.  From  thence  they  paddled  up  the 
Wisconsin,  and  down  the  Fox  river  to  Green  Bay.  By 
this  time,  however,  more  than  half  their  number  had 
meanly  enough  deseiied  them.  While  they  were  en- 
ramped  at  Green  Bay,  all  but  six,  a  part  of  whom  were 
emales,  gave  up  the  enterprise,  and  disgracefully  re- 
turned, bringing  the  prisoner  with  the'".  The  courage, 
the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  M'dewakantonwan  band 
might  have  been  found  in  that  littlt  remnant  of  six 
men  and  women. 

Wapashaw,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  chief  who 
bears  that  name,  was  the  man  of  that  truly  heroic  little 


WAPASHAW  AT  MONTREAL. 


fl27 


lialf-dozen.  With  strong  hearts,  and  proud  perseverance, 
they  toiled  on  till  they  reached  Quebec. 

Wapashaw,  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  little 
deserted  band,  far  from  home  and  friends,  assumed  the 
guilt  of  the  cowardly  murderer,  and  nobly  gave  him- 
self up  into  the  hands  of  justice  for  the  relief  of  his 
suffering  people.    ^Hj;  .^f^,  .  vri^^  -i  ;  ■".'  ■ ;  ■■■  ■:■:■-  •  V^ 

After  they  had  given  him  a  few  blows  with  the  stem 
of  the  pipe  through  which  Pagonta  was  smoking  when 
he  was  killed,  the  English  heard  Wapashaw  with  that 
noble  generosity  which  he  merited. 

He  represented  the  Dahkotahs  as  living  in  seven 
bands,  and  received  a  like  number  of  chiefs'  medals; 
one  of  which  was  hung  about  his  own  neck,  and  the 
remaining  six  were  to  be  given,  one  to  each  of  the  chief 
men  of  the  other  bands. 

It  would  be  highly  gratifying  to  know  who  were  the 
persons  who  received  those  six  chiefs'  medals;  but, 
although  not  more  than  one  century,  at  the  longest, 
has  passed,  since  Wapashaw's  visit  to  Canada,  it  caimot 
now  be  certainly  ascertained  to  which  divisions  of  the 
Dahkotah  tribe  they  belonged ;  it  seems  most  probable, 
however,  that  the  following  were  the  seven  divisions  to 
which  Wapashaw  referred,  viz. : — M'de-warkan-ton-wan, 
Wa-rpe-kute,  Warrpe-ton-wan,  Si-si-ton-wan,  I-han-kton- 
wan,  I-han-kton-wan-nan,  and  Ti-ton-wan.        M   v^i    : 

The  names  of  this  little  band  of  braves  are  all  lost 
but  that  of  Wapashaw.  They  wintered  in  Canada,  and 
all  had  the  small-pox.  By  such  means  Wapashaw  re- 
opened the  door  of  trade,  and  became  richly  entitled  to 
the  appellation  of  the  Benefactor  of  the  Dahkotah  tribe. 
Tradition  has  preserved  the  name  of  no  greater  nor 
better  man  than  Wapashaw. 


228 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


I? 


E  i 


Wapashaw  did  not,  however,  end  his  days  in  pejice. 
The  vile  spirit  of  the  fratricidal  Cain  sprung  up  among 
his  brothers,  and  he  was  driven  into  exile  by  their  mur- 
derous envy.  To  their  everlasting  shame  be  it  recorded, 
that  he  died  far  away  from  the  M'dewakantonwan  vil- 
lage, on  the  Hoka  river.  It  is  said  that  the  father  of 
Wakute  was  his  physician,  who  attended  on  him  in  his 
last  illness.  The  Dahkotahs  will  never  forget  the  name 
of  Wapashaw.' 

During  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  De  Peyster  was 
the  British  officer  in  command  at  Mackinaw.  Having 
made  an  alliance  with  Wapashaw,  the  chief  desired 
that,  on  his  annual  visit,  he  should  be  received  with 
more  distinction  than  the  chiefs  of  other  nations.  This 
respect  was  to  be  exhibited  by  firing  the  cannon  charged 
with  ball,  in  the  place  of  blank  cartridge,  on  his  arrival, 
so  that  his  young  warriors  might  be  accustomed  to  fire- 
arms of  large  calibre. 

On  the  sixth  of  July,  1779,  a  number  of  Choctaws, 
Chickasaws,  and  Ojibways  were  on  a  visit  to  the 
fort,  when  Wapashaw  appeared;  and  great  was  their 
astonishment  when  they  beheld  balk  discharged  from 
the  cannons  of  the  fort  flying  over  the  canoes,  and  the 
Dahkotah  braves  lifting  their  paddles  as  if  to  strike 
them,  and  crying  out,  "  Taya !  taya !" 

De  Peyster,  who  was  fond  of  rh3Tning,  composed  a 
rude  song,  suggested  by  the  scene,  which  is  copied  as  a 
curiosity: —  v  . i  i.v 


"Hail  to  the  chief!  who  his  buffalo's  back  straddles, 
When  in  his  own  country,  far,  far,  from  this  fort ; 
Whose  brave  young  canoe-men,  here  hold  up  their  paddles, 
In  hopes,  that  the  whizzing  balls,  may  give  them  sport. 


'  O.  H.  Pond. 


«ji«i4i 


EXPEDITION  TO  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  IN  1780. 


229 


,  Hail  to  great  Wapashaw  I  ,. ,  { ;. 

He  comes,  beat  drums,  the  Scioux  chief  comes. 

"  They  now  strain  their  nerves  till  the  oanoe  runs  bounding, 
As  swift  as  the  Solen  goose  skims  o'er  the  wave. 
While  on  the  Lake's  border,  a  guard  is  surrounding 
A  space,  where  to  land  the  Scioux  so  brave.  , 

Haill  to  great  Wapashaw  1 

Soldiers!  your  triggers  draw  I  •  -  •! 

Guard  1  wave  the  colours,  and  give  him  the  drum.       '   '      ■   :''< 
Choctav7  and  Chickasaw,  ,       .    ■ 

Whoop  for  great  Wapashaw ;  .     ..        ' 

Raise  the  portcullis,  the  King's  friend  is  come.' 

When  the  news  reached  Mackinaw  that  Colonel 
George  R.  Clark,  in  command  of  Virginia  troops,  was 
taking  possession  of  the  Wabash  and  Mississippi  settle- 
ments, and  establishing  the  jurisdiction  of  Yirginia,  the 
English  traders  became  uneasy  lest  the  Americans 
should  advance  to  the  far  North-west.  As  a  precau- 
tionary measure  they  formed  themselves  into  a  militia 
company,  of  which  John  McNamani  was  captain,  and 
a  trader  by  the  name  of  J.  Long  lieutenant.        ,    ' 

In  the  month  of  June,  1780,  the  intelligence  was 
received  from  the  Mississippi  that  the  traders  had  depo- 
sited their  furs  at  the  Indian  settlement  of  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  had  left  them  in  charge  of  Langlade,  the 
king's  interpreter ;  and  also  that  the  Americans  were 
in  great  force  in  the  Illinois  country.  '-'' 

By  request  of  the  commanding  officer  at  Mackinaw, 
Long  went  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  with  twenty  Canadians, 


'  These  uncouth  lines  are  from  a 
volume  of  miscellanies  published  by 
De  Peyster,  at  Dumfries,  Scotland,  in 
1812,  in  the  possession  of  Hon.  L.  C. 
Draper,  Secretary  of  the  Wisconsin 
Historical  Society.  De  Peyster's  wife 
iioompanied  him  to  Mackinaw,  and 


he  seems  to  have  been  popular  with 
the  traders.  When  he  was  ordered 
to  another  post,  they  presented  him 
with  a  silver  punch  bowl,  gilt  inside, 
holding  a  gallon  and  a  half,  and  a 
silver  ladle,  as  a  mark  of  regard. 


280 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


and  thirty-six  Fox  and  Dahkotah  Indians,  in  nine  large 
birch  canoes. 

One  day,  while  camping  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  they 
discovered  a  small  log  hut,  in  which  was  a  trader,  with 
his  arms  cut  off,  Ijdng  on  his  back,  who  had  been  mur- 
dered by  the  Indians. 

The  next  day  the  expedition  arrived  at  the  "  Forks 
of  the  Mississippi,"  where  two  hundred  Fox  Indians,  on 
hoi'seback,  armed  with  spears,  bows,  and  arrows,  awaited 
them.  Among  the  Dahkotah  Indians  of  the  party  was 
Wapashaw,  by  whose  order  the  birch  canoes  were  brought 
to  the  shore.  Upon  landing  the  Foxes  greeted  Wapashaw 
and  his  party,  and  invited  them  to  a  feast  of  dog,  bear, 
and  beaver  meat. 

After  the  feast  a  council  was  called,  when  the  chief 
of  the  Foxes  addressed  Wapashaw  to  this  effect : — 

"  Brothers,  we  are  happy  to  see  you ;  we  have  no 
bad  heart  against  you.  Although  we  are  not  the  same 
nation  by  language,  our  hearts  are  the  same.  We  are 
all  Indians,  and  are  happy  to  hear  that  our  Great  Father 
has  pity  on  us,  and  sends  us  wherewithal  to  cover  us, 
and  enable  us  to  hunt." 

To  which  Wapashaw  I'eplied  : — 

"  It  is  true,  my  children,  our  Great  Father,  has  sent 
me  this  Avay  to  take  the  skins  and  furs  that  are  in  the 
Dog's  Field  (Prairie  du  Chien),  under  Captain  Lang- 
lade's charge,  lest  the  Great  Knives  (Americans)  should 
plunder  them.  I  am  come  with  the  white  men  to  give 
you   wherewithal   ^x)   cover  you,  and   ammunition  to 

hunt.  v-      /  A.- 

.  Arriving  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  the  peltries  were  found 
in  a  log-house,  guarded  by  Captain  Langlade  and  some 
Indians.     After  resting  a  short  period,  the  canons  vvore 


FORMATION  OP  NORTH-WEST  COMPANV. 


281 


filled  with  three  hundred  packs  of  the  best  skins,  and 
the  balance  burned  to  keep  them  from  the  Americans, 
who  a  few  days  afterwards  arrived  for  the  purpose 
of  attacking  the  post. 

At  this  period  the  M'dewakantonwan  Dahkotahs  had 
retired  from  the  region  of  Mille  Lac,  and  were  residing 
at  Penneshaw's'  post,  on  the  Minnesota,  a  few  miles 
above  its  mouth. 

After  the  disturbance  of  commerce,  incident  to  the 
cession  of  Canada,  had  ceased,  the  trade  in  furs  began 
to  revive.  In  the  year  1766,  traders  left  Mackinaw, 
and  proceeded  as  far  as  Kamanistigoya,  thirty  miles 
oast  of  Grand  Portage.  Thomas  Curry  shortly  after 
ventured  as  far  as  the  valley  of  the  Saskatchewan,  and 
his  success  in  obtaining  furs  induced  a  Mr.  James  Fin- 
lay  to  establish  a  post  in  the  same  valley,  as  high  as 
the  forty-eighth  and  a  half  degree  of  latitude. 

The  Hudson  Bay  Company  were  uneasy  at  this  en- 
croachment of  private  enterprise  upon  the  territory,  and 
endeavoured  to  counteract  it,  though  without  success. 

About  the  year  1780,  two  establishments  on  the 
Assiniboine  river  were  destroyed  by  ihe  Indians,  and  a 
plot  laid  to  extirpate  the  traders,  but  that  "noisome 
pestilence,"  the  small  pox,  breaking  out  among  the 
tri])es,  their  attention  was  diverted.  i    -<  ^ 

During  the  winter  of  1783-4,  there  was  a  partnership 
formed  by  a  number  of  traders,  which  was  called  the 
North-west  Compan}-.  There  were  at  first  but  sixteen 
shares,  and  the  management  of  the  whole  was  entrusted 
to  the  brothers  Frobisher  and  McTavish,  at  Montreal. 

A  few  that  were  dissatisfied,  formed   an  opposition 


.f,. 


*  The  same  individual  called  Penneshon  and  Pinchon. 


i 


\0: 


282 


1  (STOKY  OF  MINNESOTA 


company,  one  of  the  members  of  which  was  the  explorer 
and  author  Alexander  Mackenzie.  After  a  keen  rivalry, 
this  company  was  merged  with  the  North-west  in  1787, 
and  the  number  of  shares  was  increased  to  twenty. 

From  that  time  the  fur  trade  of  the  north-west  was 
systematized.  The  agents  at  Montreal  received  the 
goods  Irom  England,  and  two  of  them  went  every  year 
to  the  Grand  Portage  of  Lake  Superior,  to  receive  packs 
and  ship  the  furs  for  Europe. 

In  1798,  the  company  was  re-organized,  new  partners 
admitted,  and  the  shares  increased  to  forty-six. 

The  magnitude  of  the  operations  of  the  company  sur- 
prise us.  At  the  close  of  the  last  century,  they  em- 
ployed fifty  clerks,  seventy-one  interpreters,  eleven 
hundred  and  twenty  canoe-men.  Five  clerks,  eighteen 
guides,  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  canoe-men  Avere 
employed  between  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  and  Mon- 
treal. The  others  Avere  in  Minnesota,  and  the  country 
above.  The  canoe-men  were  known  as  "  Pork  Eaters," 
or  ''  Goers  and  Comei's,"  and  "  Winterers,"  the  latter  so 
called  because  they  entered  the  interior  and  passed  the 
winter  in  traffic  with  the  Indians,  received  double  wages, 
and  were  hired  from  one  to  three  years.  The  clerks 
were  a  kind  of  apprentices,  and  received  a  salary  of  one 
hundred  pounds,  with  their  board  and  clothing,  with 
the  prospect  of  being  taken  into  partnership,  if  they 
proved  good  business  men.  The  guides  and  interpreters 
were  paid  in  goods. 

In  July  the  "  Winterers"  began  to  assemble  at  Grand 
Portage  to  settle  their  accounts  and  receive  new  outfits, 
and  at  times  more  than  one  thousand  were  congregated. 
The  mode  of  living  at  the  Portage  was  truly  baronial. 
The  proprietors,  clerks,  guides,  and  interpreters  all  ate  in 


TRADERS  AT  SANDY  LAKE  AND  PINE  RIVER. 


283 


one  large  hall,  at  different  tables,  and,  the  labours  of  the 
day  over,  the  fiddlers  were  brought  in  and  there  vfas  a 
merry  time.  The  trader  in  his  lonely  outpost,  con- 
sidered the  reunions  at  Lake  Superior  halcyon  days,  and 
was  buoyed  up  by  anticipating  the  annual  visit. 

The  love  of  adventure  has  often  led  educated  young 
men  "into  the  woods,"  as  well  as  "before  the  mast." 
Sailor  life  and  Indian  trade,  unless  there  is  strong  reli- 
gious principle,  are  apt  to  render  one  "  earthly,  sensual 
and  devilish."  There  have  been  scenes  enacted  in  Min- 
nesota which  will  never  be  known  till  the  judgment 
day,  for  ignorance  of  which  we  should  be  grateful. 

The  history  of  one  trader  at  an  outpost,  is  substan- 
tially the  history  of  all. 

In  the  year  1784,  Alexander  Kay  visited  Montreal 
to  obtain  an  outfit  for  the  purpose  of  trading  at  Fon  du 
Lac,  Leech  Lake,  and  vicinity  in  Minnesota.  A  young 
man,  educated  at  the  College  of  Quebec,  named 
Perrault,  became  his  clerk.  They  arrived  at  La  Pointe 
on  the  first  of  November. 

On  the  little  lake  at  the  entrance  of  the  St.  Louis 
river,  they  found  the  quarters  of  Default,  a  clerk  of  the 
North-west  Company. 

Kay  while  here  was  mad,  in  consequence  of  intoxicar 
tion,  and  with  obstinacy  pushed  up  the  St.  Louis  river, 
with  only  a  bag  of  flour,  a  keg  of  butter,  and  of  sugar, 
while  his  party  consisted  of  his  squaw  mistress, 
Perrault,  and  fourteen  employees.  At  the  portage  of 
the  river  he  met  his  partner,  Mr.  Harris,  also  without 
food,  except  some  salt  meat. 

The  men  now  remonstrated  with  Kay  about  proceed- 
ing inland,  with  no  provision  for  the  winter ;  but  draw- 

■  .■■■V*;  v:4i:Sv5-;:.y^'  ^f.-i-vf.,     ■'■'''■:.      ■  ^      ■  ■"■    - 


284 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


a /.in 


ing  a  pistol,  he  threatened  to  shoot  those  that  did  not 
follow. 

Talcing  Mr.  Harris,  an  Indian  named  Big  Marten, 
and  seven  men,  he  pushed  on  in  advance,  and  the  next 
day  sent  back  word  that  he  had  gone  on  to  Pine  River," 
and  desiring  his  clerk  to  winter  at  the  Savaune  portage 
if  possible.       iM.'M."  '.v;i  il!}<?     h  ",.wi«8i7/vjrfy  <r<rt,'" f 

After  eleven  days'  hard  toil  amid  ice  and  snow,  sub- 
sisting on  the  pods  of  the  wild  rose,  and  the  sap  of 
trees,  Perrault  and  the  men  reached  the  point  designated. 
For  a  time  they  lived  there  on  a  few  roots  and  fish,  but 
about  Christmas,  hunger  compelled  them  to  seek  their 
employer  at  Pine  River.  Weak  in  body,  they  passed 
through  Sandy  Lake,  descended  the  river,  and  at  last 
arrived  at  Kay's  post  at  Pine  River.  After  he  was 
recruited,  Perrault  was  despatched  to  the  Savanna 
portage,  where,  with  his  men,  he  built  a  log  hut. 

Toward  the  close  of  February,  Brechet,  Big  Marten, 
and  other  Ojibway  Indians,  brought  in  meat.  Mr.  Kay 
shortly  after  visited  his  clerk,  and  told  the  troubles  he 
had  with  the  Indians,  who  exceedingly  hated  him.  In 
April  Kay  and  Perrault  visited  Sandy  Lake,  where  Bras 
Cass6,  or  Broken  Arm,  or  Bo-koon-ik,  was  the  Ojibway 
chief.  On  the  second  of  May,  Kay  went  out  to  meet 
his  partner  Harris  coming  from  Pine  River. 

During  his  absence,  Katawabada,"  and  Mongozid,  and 
other  Indians,  came  and  demanded  rum.  After  much 
entreaty  Perrault  gave  them  a  little.  Soon  Harris, 
Kay,  and  Pinot  arrived,  all  intoxicated.  Tlie  IndiauK 
were  ripe  for  mischief     An  Indian,  named  Le  Cousin 

'  Pine  River  is  a  tributary  of  the    possible  to  reach  Leech  Luke  by  this 
Mississippi,  about  a  day's  journey    stream. 

ia  a  canoe  from  Sandy  Lake.     It  is        '  Katawabada  or   Parted   Teeth, 

died  at  Sandy  Lake  1828. 


KAY  WOUNDED  IN  A  DRUNKEN  REVEL. 


281^ 


by  the  French,  came  to  Kay's  tent,  and  asked  for  rum, 
Kay  told  him  "  No,"  and  pushed  him  out ;  the  Indian  then 
drew  a  concealed  knife,  and  stabbed  him  in  the  neck. 
Kay,  picking  up  a  carving  knife,  chased  him,  but  before 
he  could  reach  his  lodge,  the  passage  was  blocked  up  by 
Indians.   • 

The  assailant's  mother,  approaching  Kay,  said,  "  Eng- 
lishman !  do  you  come  to  kill  me  ?"  and,  while  implor- 
ing for  her  son,  with  savage  cruelty  stabbed  him  in  the 
side. 

Le  Petit  Mort,  a  friend  of  the  wounded  trader,  took 
up  his  quarrel,  and  sallying  forth,  seized  Cul  Blanc,  an 
Ojibway,  by  the  scalp  lock,  and,  drawing  his  head  back^ 
he  plunged  a  knife  into  his  breast,  exclaiming  "  Die, 
thou  dog!" 

The  Indian  women,  becoming  alarmed  at  this  bac- 
chanal, went  into  the  lodges  and  emptied  out  all  the 
rum  they  could  find. 

On  the  fifth  of  May,  Kay's  wound  was  better,  and 
sending  for  Harris  and  Perrault  to  come  to  his  tent,  he 
said : — 

"  Gentlemen,  you  see  my  situation ;  I  have  determined 
to  leave  you  at  all  hazards,  to  set  out  for  Mackinaw, 
with  seven  men,  accompanied  by  the  Bras  Cass^  and 
wife.  Assort  the  remainder  of  the  goods,  ascend  to 
Leech  Lake,  and  wait  there  for  the  return  of  the  Pil- 
lagers, who  are  out  on  the  prairies.  Complete  the  inland 
trade." 

Kay,  then  taking  hold  of  Perrault's  hand,  Harris 
having  retired,  said : — 

"My  dear  friend!  you  understand  the  language  of 
the  Ojibway.s.  Mr.  Harris  would  go  out  with  me>  but 
he  must  accompany  you.     He  is  a  good  trader,  but  he 


286 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


.'•l* 


'M 


if  9^i 


hai^,  like  myself  and  others,  a  strong  passion  for  drink 
ing,  which  takes  away  his  judgment." 

In  the  afternoon  Kay  left,  in  a  litter,  for  Mackinaw 
Periault  and  Harris  proceeded  to  Leech  Lake,  where 
they  had  a  successful  trade  with  the  Pillagers. 

Returning  to  the  Savannah  river,  they-  found  J. 
Reaume  there,  and  a  Mr.  Piquet.  The  former  had 
wintered  at  the  fort  of  Red  Lake,  at  its  entrance  into 
Red  River. 

They  all  proceeded  by  way  of  the  Fond  du  Lac  to 
Mackinaw,  where  they  arrived  on  the  twenty-fourth  of 
May,  and  found  Kay  in  much  pain.  The  latter  soon  after 
this  started  for  Montreal,  but  his  wound  suppurated  on 
the  journey,  and  he  died  at  the  LakQ  of  the  Tvvo  Moun- 
tains, August  twenty-eighth,  1785.' 

About  the  period  of  this  occurieuce,  Prairie  du  Chien 
made  its  transition,  from  a  temporary  encampment  of 
Indians  and  their  traders,  to  a  hamlet.  Among  the 
first  settlers  were  Giard,  Antaya,  and  Dubuque. 

In  the  year  1780,  i:he  wife  of  Peosta,  a  Fox  warrior, 
discovered  a  large  vein  of  lead,  in  Iowa,  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi. 

At  a  council  held  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  ?  788,  Julien 
Dubuque  obtained  permission  to  work  the  i«:;ad  mines, 
on  and  ne?ir  the  site  of  the  city  that  bears  his  .name, 
and  the  bluflF,  on  which  is  the  little  stone  house  that 
covers  his  remains. 

To\yards  the  close  of  the  last  century  we  find  Dick- 
son, Renville,  Grignon,  and  others,  trading  with  the 
Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs  of  Minnesota.   In  the  employ- 


'  "History,  condition,  and  pros-  Mr.  Sciiuuloi-aft  says  that  Harris 
pccts  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  was  a  native  of  Albany,  and  was 
United  States,"  vol.  lii.  alive  in  1830.  '       '• 


JUDGE  PERLIER.  TRADER  IN  MINNESOTA. 


237 


ment  of  the  latter,  at  his  trading-house  on  the  river 
St.  Croix,  was  James  Perlier,  a  youth,  who  in  the  next 
century  became  one  of  the  most  useful  citizens  of  Green 
Bay,  Wisconsin.  He  was  a  native  of  Montreal,  and 
arrived  at  Green  Bay  in  1791.  Two  years  after  he  was 
employed  by  an  old  trader,  Pierre  Grignon,  to  act  as 
clerk,  at  his  trading  post  on  the  St.  Croix.  While 
there  he  found,  with  a  band  of  Menomonees,  an  inte- 
resting girl,  the  daughter  of  a  woman  that  had  been 
abandoned  by  a  French  trader,  with  whom  he  fell  in 
love,  and  married.  In  the  year  1797,  in  company  with 
Dickson,  he  wintered  near  Sauk  Rapids.  When  Pike 
visited  the  country  he  was  still  engaged  in  trading 
above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  he  gave  this 
young  officer  much  information,  which  he  deemed  valua- 
ble. Returning  to  Wisconsin  he  icted  "-  chief  justice 
of  Brown  county,  for  a  period  of  sixteen  years,  and  died 
in  1839,  much  respected.  .    -i 

While  Perlier  was  wintering  on  the  St.  Croix,  a 
broken-down  merchant  of  Montreal,  who  had  married 
a  lady  of  wealth  in  that  city,  a  pompous  and  ignorant 
man,  full  of  eccentricity,  by  the  name  of  Charles 
Reaume,  was  his  companion.  To  the  early  settlers  of 
Green  Bay  he  was  known  as  Judge  Reaume.  While 
on  the  St.  Croix  the  following  anecdote  is  related  of 
him : — 

"  One  day  he  invited  Perlier  and  other  traders  in  the 
vicinity  to  dine  with  him.  The  guests  had  arrived,  and 
the  venison,  cooked  in  bears'  oil  and  maple  sugar  was 
prepared,  when  Amable  Chevalier,  a  half-breed,  told 
Reaume  that  there  were  not  plates  enough  on  the  table, 
as  there  was  none  for  hira.  *  Yes,  there  are  enough,' 
said  Reaume,  sternly;  when  the  half-breed  tore  from 


>-: 


''infill:' 

I'M" 


238 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Reaume's  head  his  red  cap,  and  spreading  it  upon  the 
table,  filled  it  with  the  hashed  venison.  Reaume,  in 
retaliation,  seizing  a  handful  of  meat,  threw  it  into  the 
half-breed's  face.  Becoming  much  excited,  it  was  neces- 
sary for  the  guests  to  part  the  belligerents."' 

In  the  year  1794,  the  North-west  Company  built  an 
establishment  at  Sandy  Lake,  with  bastions,  and  aper- 
tures in  the  angles  for  musketry.  It  was  enclosed  with 
pickets  a  foot  square  and  thirteen  feet  in  height.  There 
were  three  gates,  which  were  always  closed  after  the 
Indians  had  received  liquor.  "  The  stockade  enclosed 
two  rows  of  buildings,  containing  the  provision  store, 
workshop,  warehouse,  room  for  clerks,  and  accommoda- 
tion for  the  men.  On  the  west  and  south-west  angles 
of  the  fort  were  four  acres  of  ground,  enclosed  with 
pickets,  and  devoted  to  the  culture  of  the  potato." 

The  British  posts  were  not  immediately  surrendered 
after  the  treaty  of  1783  between  Great  Britain  and 
America,  and  led  to  some  ill-feeling  upon  the  part  of 
the  United  States.  When  Baron  Steuben  was  sent  by 
Washington,  in  1784,  to  Detroit,  to  take  possession  of 
the  fort,  the  British  commandant  informed  him  that  he 
had  no  authority  to  deliver  up  the  post,  as  it  was  on 
Indian  territory.  By  the  presence  of  British  officials 
among  the  Indian  tribes,  a  hostile  feeling  was  main- 
tained towards  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  which 
led  to  the  wars  with  the  Indians  toward  the  close  of  the 
last  century. 

In  the  treaty  effected  by  Mr.  Jay,  Great  Britain 
agreed  to  withdraw  her  troops  from  all  posts  and  places 
within  the  boundary  lines   assigned  by  the  treaty  of 


*  Wisconsin  Ilistorioal  Society  Collections,  vol.  iii. 


NORTH-WEST  CO.  ESTABLISH  POSTS  IN  MINNESOTA.       2S9 

peace  to  the  United  States,  on  or  before  the  first  day 
of  June,  1796.  The  treaty  also  provided  that  all  British 
settlers  and  traders  might  remain  for  one  year,  and 
enjoy  all  their  former  privileges  without  being  com- 
pelled to  be  citi'/ens  of  the  United  States. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  clause,  the  North-west 
Company,  through  the  Fond  du  Lac  department,  dotted 
every  suitable  place  in  Minnesota  with  trading  posts. 

They  not  only  encircled  the  lakes,  but  did  not  pay 
duties  nor  apply  for  licenses.  At  these  posts  the  British 
flag  was  hoisted;  and  they  frequently  created  civil 
chiefs  among  the  Indians,  to  whom  they  presented  the 
colours  and  medals  of  his  Britannic  majesty. 


J  <' 


ti'i, 


t-ii.  .  'i 


■■  i 


1  ;/• 


240 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA, 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


On  the  seventh  of  May,  1800,  the  North-west  terri- 
tory, which  included  all  of  the  western  country  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  was  divided.  The  portion  not  desig- 
nated as  Ohio  was  organized  as  the  Territory  of  Indiana. 

On  the  twentieth  of  December,  1803,  the  province  of 
Louisiana,  of  which  that  portion  of  Minnesota  west  of 
the  Mississippi  was  a  part,  was  officially  delivered  up 
by  the  French,  who  had  just  obtained  it  from  the 
Spaniards,  according  to  treaty  stipulations. 

To  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  by  France,  after  twenty 
days'  possession,  Spain  at  first  objected;  but  in  1804 
withdrew  all  opposition. 

President  Jefierson  now  deemed  it  an  object  of  para- 
mount importance  for  the  United  States  to  explore  the 
country  so  recently  acquired,  and  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  tribes  residing  therein ;  and  steps  were  taken 
for  an  expedition  to  the  upper  Mississippi. 

Early  in  March,  1804,  Captain  Stoddard,  of  the 
United  States  army,  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  the  agent  of 
the  French  Republic,  to  receive  from  the  Spanish 
authorities  the  possession  of  the  country,  which  he 
immediately  transferred  to  the  United  States. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  TERRITORIES. 


241 


As  the  old  settlers,  on  the  tenth  of  March,  saw  the 
ancient  flag  of  Spain  disploxied  by  that  of  the  United 
States,  the  tears  coursed  down  their  cheeks. 

On  the  twentieth  of  the  same  month  the  territory  of 
upper  Louisiana  was  constituted,  comprising  the  present 
states  of  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  a  large  portion 
of  Minnesota.      '  '■. ',  ' 

On  the  eleventh  of  January,  1805,  the  territory  of 
Michigan  was  organized. 

The  first  American  officer  who  visited  Minnesota, 
on  business  of  a  public  nature,  was  one  who  was  an 
ornament  to  his  profession,  and  in  energy  and  endu- 
rance a  true  representative  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  We  refer  to  the  gallant  Zebulon  Montgomery 
Pike,  who  afterwards  fell  in  battle  at  York,  Upper 
Canada,  and  whose  loss  was  justly  mourned  by  the 
whole  nation. 

When  a  young  lieutenant,  he  was  ordered  by  General 
Wilkinson  to  visit  the  region  nov'  known  as  Minnesota, 
and  expel  the  British  traders  who  were  found  violating 
the  laws  of  the  United  Slates,  and  form  alliances  Avith 
the  Indians.  With  only  a  few  common  soldiers,  he 
was  obliged  to  do  the  work  of  several  men.  At  times 
ho  would  precede  his  party  for  miles  to  reconnoitre,  and 
then  he  would  do  the  duty  of  hunter. 

During  the  day  he  would  perform  the  part  of  sur- 
veyor, geologist,  and  astronomer,  and  at  night,  though 
hungry  and  fatigued,  his  lofty  enthusiasm  kept  him 
awake  until  he  copied  the  notes,  and  plotted  the  courses 
of  the  day. 

On  the  fourth  of  September,  1805,  Pike  arrived  at 
Prairie   du    Chien,  from   St.  Louis,  and  was   politely 

16  ,  !. 


! 


pi 


242 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


treated  by  the  traders,  Fisher/  Frazer,'  and  Woods, 
who  were  there  at  that  time. 

On  the  eighth,  in  two  batteaux,  with  Joseph  Renville 
and  Pierre  Rosseau  as  interpreters,  he  continued  his 
ascent  of  the  river. 

On  the  twelfth  he  was  at  the  Prairie  La  Crosse,  so 
called  from  the  Indian  game  of  ball,  where  he  noticed 
some  earth  works,  and  holes  that  had  been  dug  by  the 
Dahkotahs  to  screen  their  wives  and  children  during 
battle.  At  this  place,  Mr.  Frazer,  of  Prairie  du  Chien, 
overtook  him. 

Amid  terrific  thunder  claps,  forked  lightning,  and 
torrents  of  rain,  he  reached,  on  the  seventeenth,  Point 
de  Sable,  on  Lake  Pepin,  where  he  took  shelter,  and 
remained  the  rest  of  the  day. 

He  here  found  a  trader  by  the  name  of  Cameron,  and 
his  son,  also  a  young  man,  John  Rudsdell.  The  next 
day  he,  in  company  with  Cameron,  came  to  Canoe  river, 
where  he  found  a  small  band  under  Red  Wing,  the 
second  war  chief  of  the  Dahkotahs.  ,,,■       j-        ■>&,"<( 

On  the  twenty-first  he  breakfasted  at  the  village  of 
the  Kaposia  band,  which  was  on  the  site  just  below 
Saint  Paul,  now  known  as  Pig's  Eye.  The  same  day  he 
passed  the  encampment  of  a  trader,  J.  B.  Faribault,' 


'  Fisher  was  a  trader  at  Prarie  du 
'hienuntill8I5.  He  then  went  to  the 
Red  River  of  the  North  in  the  service 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  From 
1824  to  '26,  he  was  at  Lake  Traverse, 
the  source  of  the  Minnesota.  One 
of  his  daughters  is  the  mother  of 
Joseph  Rolette  of  Pembina,  by  a 
former  husband,  and  afterwards 
married      H.  L.  Dousman,  Esq. 

^  The  fatlier  of  Jack  Frazer  of 
Mendota? 


'  "  Jean  Baptist  Faribault  is  the 
last  survivor  of  the  old  traders.  He 
is  now  more  than  eighty  years  of  ago, 
and  resides  at  Faribault,  in  Riee 
county,  with  his  sons.  He  is  ii 
native  of  Canada,  and  removed  to  this 
country,  in  1798,  fifty-seven  years 
ago.  He  enjoyed  considerable  ad- 
vantages of  education  in  early  youtli. 
His  career  in  this  region  has  been 
marked  with  more  of  adverse  fortune 
than  usually  occurs,  even  in    the 


SALUTE  FROM  LITTLK  CROW. 


243 


which  was  three  miles  below  Mendota.  Arriving  at 
the  confluence  of  the  Minnesota  and  the  Mississippi,  he 
pitched  his  camp  on  the  north-east  point  of  the  island. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  Little  Crow,  of  the 
Kaposia  village,  arrived  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
warriors,  ascending  the  hill  which  is  now  covered  by 
Fort  Snelling,  they  saluted  him  with  balls  according  to 
their  custom.  During  the  day  ho  went  up  to  the  Dah- 
kotah  village,  just  above  Mendota,  to  visit  Mr.  Cameron. 

On  Monday  he  held  a  council  with  the  Dahkotahs, 
and  obtained  a  grant  of  land  f(;r  the  use  of  the  United 
States.'     His  speech  will  always  be  interesting,  as  the 


perilous  life  of  an  Indian  trader. 
Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war 
with  Great  Britain  he  was  robbed 
by  the  Winnebagoos  at  Prnrie  du 
Chien,  of  a  large  stock  of  goods,  for 
which  he  never  received  any  remu- 
neration. Some  years  subsequently 
he  fixed  his  residence  upon  Pike's 
Island,  near  Fort  St.  Anthony  (now 
Snelling),  and  had  barely  established 
himself  in  his  vocation  of  trader  when 
ho  was  forced  by  the  mandate  of  the 
commandant  of  the  fort  to  abandon 
his  buildings,  and  to  betake  himself, 
witli  his  movable  property,  to  the 
bottom  land  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  where  he  erected  new 
tenements.  The  following  spring, 
the  water,  which  was  unusually 
high,  carried  off  hi"'  houses  and  live 
stock,  he  and  his  famiiy  escaping  in 
boats,  by  means  of  which  he  was 
fortunately  enabled  to  save  his  goods 
and  furs  from  destruction.  Still  not 
discouraged,  he  built  a  house  at  the 
ipoin*    now    known    as    Mendota, 


where  he  resided  many  years,  except 
daring  the  winter  months,  when  he 
assumed  charge  of  his  trading  post 
at  Little  Kapids,  on  the  Minnesota 
river." — Sibley's  Address. 

•  Whereas,  at  a  conference  held  be- 
tween the  United  States  of  America, 
and  the  Sioux  Nation  of  Indians, 
Lieutenant  Z.  M.  Pike,  of  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  chiefs 
and  the  warriors  of  said  tribe,  have 
agreed  to  the  following  articles, 
which,  when  ratified  and  approved 
of  by  the  proper  authority,  shall  be 
binding  on  both  parties : 

Art.  1.  That  the  Sioux  Nation 
grant  unto  the  United  States,  for  the 
purpose  of  establishment  of  military 
posts,  nine  miles  square,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Croix,  also  from 
below  the  confluence  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  St.  Peters,  up  the  Missis- 
sippi to  include  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  extending  nine  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  river,  that  the  Sioux 
Nation  grants  to  the  United  States 


244 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


i  i   ! 


first  expression  of  the  views  of  the  United  States  t«  the 
Dahkotahs: —  i..hh.  ■■f.-.ivui  ■>.■;  )o -m:-.!,. ;!;!,.•>  .yj^j; 

"  Brothers — I  am  happy  to  meet  yoa  here  at  this 
council  fire,  which  your  father  has  sent  me  to  kindle, 
and  to  take  you  by  the  hands  as  our  children.  We 
having  but  lately  acquired  from  the  Spanish  the  exten- 
sive territory  of  Louisiana,  our  general  has  thought 
proper  to  send  out  a  number  of  his  warriors  to  visit  all 
his  red  children;  to  tell  them  his  will,  and  to  hear 
what  request  they  may  have  to  make  of  their  father. 
I  am  happy  the  choice  has  fell  on  me  to  come  this  road, 
as  I  find  my  brothers,  the  Sioux,  ready  to  listen  to  my 
words. 

"  Brothers — It  is  the  wish  of  our  Government  to  esta- 
blish military  posts  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  at  such 
places  as  might  be  thought  expedient.  I  have,  there- 
fore, examined  the  country,  and  have  pitched  on  the 
mouth  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  this  place,  and  the  Falls 
of  St.  Anthony,  I  therefore  wish  you  to  grant  to  the 
United  States,  nine  miles  square,  at  St.  Croix,  and  at 
this  place,  from  a  league  below  the  confluence  of  the  St. 
Peters  and  Mississippi,  to  a  league  above  St.  Anthony, 


t; 


the  full  sovereignty  and  power  over 
snid  district  forever. 

Art.  2.  That,  in  consideration  of 
the  above  grants,  the  United  States 
shall  pay  (filled  up  by  the  Senate 
with  2,000  dollars). 

Art.  3.  The  United  States  pro- 
mise, on  their  part,  to  permit  the 
Sioux  to  pass  and  re-pass,  hunt,  or 
mako  other  use  of  the  said  districts 
as  they  have  formerly  done,  without 
any  other  exception  than  those 
specified  in  article  first. 

In    testimony    whereof,   we,   the 


undersigned,  have  hereunto  set  our 
hands  and  seals,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  St.  Peters,  on  the  23d  day  of 
September,  1805, 

Z.  M.  PlK«.  [l.  8.] 

1st  Lieut,  and  agent  at  the  above 
conference. 


■  M 


his 


Lx  Petit  Corueau.    X  [l.  s.] 
mark 


(;•;    lr-4l. 


his 


il^ft:,' 


Wat  Ago  Enagee,     x   [l.  s.J 
mark 


PIKE'S  SPEECH  AT  MOUTH  OF  MINNESOTA. 


245 


extending  three  leagues  on  each  side  of  the  rivei ;  and 
iis  we  are  a  people  who  are  accustomed  to  have  all  our 
acts  written  down,  in  order  to  have  them  handed  to  our 
children,  I  have  drawn  up  a  form  of  an  agreement, 
which  we  will  both  sign  in  the  presence  of  the  traders 
now  present.  After  we  know  the  terms,  we  will  fill  it 
up,  and  have  it  read  and  interpreted  to  you.      ^^.u'i  - 

"  Brothers — Those  posts  are  intended  as  a  benefit  to 
you.  The  old  chiefs  now  present  must  see  that  their 
situation  improves  by  a  communication  with  the  whites. 
It  is  the  intention  of  the  United  States  to  establish  at 
those  posts  factories,  in  which  the  Indians  may  procure 
all  their  things  at  a  cheaper  and  better  rate  than  they 
do  now,  or  than  your  traders  can  afford  to  sell  them  to 
you,  as  they  are  single  men,  who  come  far  in  small 
bofits.  But  your  fathers  are  man;y  and  strong,  and  will 
come  with  a  strong  arm,  in  large  boats.  There  will 
also  be  chiefs  here,  who  can  attend  to  the  wants  of  their 
brothers,  without  their  sending  or  going  all  the  way  to 
St.  Louis,  and  will  see  the  traders  that  go  up  your 
rivers,  and  know  that  they  are  good  men.  .^   ^ 

"  Brothers — Another  object  your  father  has  at  heart, 
is  to  endeavour  to  make  peace  between  you  and  the 
Chippeways,  You  have  now  been  a  long  time  at  war, 
and  when  will  you  stop  ?  If  neither  side  will  lay  down 
tlie  hatchet,  your  paths  will  always  be  red  with  blood; 
l)tit  if  you  will  consent  to  make  peace,  and  suffer  your 
father  to  bury  the  hatchet  between  you,  I  will  endea- 
vour to  bring  down  some  of  the  Chippeway  chiefs  with 
nie  to  St.  Louis,  where  the  good  work  can  be  completed, 
under  the  auspices  of  your  mutual  father.  I  am  much 
pleased  to  see  that  the  young  warriors  have  halted  here 
to  hear  my  words  this  day;  and  as  I  know  it  is  hard 


IS,!* 


246 


.  i\>' 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA.       S'A)^!' 


for  a  warrior  to  be  struck  and  not  strike  agiiin,  I  will 
send  (by  the  first  Chippeway  I  meet)  word  to  their 
chiefs  : — That  if  they  have  not  yet  felt  your  tomahawk, 
it  is  not  because  you  have  no  legs,  nor  the  hearts  of 
men,  but  because  you  have  listened  to  the  voice  of  your 
father. 

"  Brothers — If  the  chiefs  do  n  listen  to  the  voice  of 
their  father,  and  continue  to  commit  murders  on  you 
and  our  traders,  they  will  call  down  the  vengeance  of 
the  Americans ;  for  they  are  not  like  a  blind  man  walk- 
ing into  the  fire.  They  were  once  at  war  with  us,  and 
joined  to  all  the  Northern  Indians,  were  defeated  at 
Roche  de  Boeuf,  and  were  obliged  to  sue  for  peace — 
that  peace  we  granted  them.  They  know  we  are  not 
children,  but,  like  all  wise  people,  are  slow  to  shed 

blood.        .«-<'■?■•     )..    -'jr.;;;,    /p?  ^,r,ji:,;i  Mil'*'  j;:/t5 

"  Brothers — Your  old  men  probably  know,  that  about 
thirty  years  ago  we  were  subject  to,  and  governed  by 
the  king  of  the  English ;  but  he,  not  treating  us  like 
children,  we  would  no  longer  acknowledge  him  as  father 
— and  after  ten  years  war,  in  which  he  lost  one  hundred 
thousand  men,  he  acknowledged  us  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent nation.  They  know  that  not  many  years 
since,  we  received  Detroit,  Michilimackinac,  and  all  the 
posts  on  the  lakes,  from  the  English,  and  now  but  the 
other  day,  Louisiana  from  the  Spanish ;  so  that  we  put 
one  foot  on  the  sea  at  the  east,  and  the  other  on  the 
sea  at  the  west ;  and,  if  once  children,  are  now  men ; 
yet,  I  think  the  traders  who  come  from  Canada  are  bad 
birds  amongst  the  Chippeways,  and  instigate  them  to 
make  war  on  their  red  brothers,  the  Sioux,  in  order  to 
prevent  our  traders  from  going  high  up  the  Mississippi. 


u    >.,r 


PIKE'S  SPEECH  AT  MOUTH  OP  MINNESOTA. 


at 


This  I  shall  inquire  into,  and,  if  so,  warn  those  persone 
of  their  ill  conduct. 

"  Brothers — Mr.  Choteau  was  sent  %  your  father  to 
the  Osage  Nation,  with  one  ol'  his  young  chiefs.  Ho 
Siiiled  some  days  before  me,  and  had  not  time  to  pro- 
cure the  medals  which  I  am  told  he  promised  to  send 
up,  but  they  will  be  procured. 

"  Brothers — I  wish  you  to  have  some  of  your  head 
chiefs  to  be  ready  to  go  down  with  me  in  the  spring. 
From  the  head  of  the  St.  Pi(^rre,  also,  such  other 
chiefs  as  you  may  think  proper,  to  the  number  of  four 
or  five.  When  I  pass  here,  on  my  way,  I  will  send 
you  word  at  what  time  you  will  meet  me  at  the  Prairie 
des  Chiens. 

"  Brothers — I  expect  that  you  will  give  orders  to  all 
your  young  warriors  to  respect  my  flag  and  protection 
which  I  may  extend  to  the  Chippeway  chiefs  who  may 
come  down  with  me  in  the  spring ;  for  was  a  dog  to  run 
to  my  lodge  for  safety,  his  enemy  must  walk  over  me 
to  hui't  him.  '     ; ' 

"  Brothers — Here  is  a  flag,  which  I  wish  to  send  to 
Gens  de  Feuilles,  to  show  them  they  are  not  forgotten 
by  their  father.  I  wish  the  comrade  of  their  chief  to 
take  it  on  himself  to  deliver  it  with  my  words. 

"  Brothers — I  am  told  that  hitherto  the  traders  have 
made  a  practice  of  selling  rum  to  you.  All  of  you,  in 
your  right  senses,  must  know  that  it  is  injurious ;  and 
occasions  quarrels  and  murders  amongst  yourselves. 
For  this  reason,  your  father  has  thought  proper  to  pro- 
hibit the  traders  from  selling  you  any  rum.  Therefore, 
I  hope  my  hrothers,  the  chiefs,  when  they  know  of  a 
trader  to  sell  an  Indian  rum,  will  prevent  that  Indian 
from  paying  his  credit.     This  will  break  up  the  pemi- 


24& 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


cious  practice,  and  oblige  your  father.  But  I  liopc  you 
will  not  encourage  your  young  men  to  treat  our  traders 
ill  from  this  circumstance,  or  from  a  hope  of  the  indul- 
gence formerly  experienced ;  but  make  your  complaints 
to  persons  in  this  country,  who  will  be  authorized  to  'o 
30U  justice.  ■  ;  .  .         .'      .''7      "    . 

"Brothers — I  now  present  you  with  some  of  your 
father's  tobacco,  and  some  other  trifling  things,  as  a 
memorandum  of  my  good  will,  and  before  my  departure 
I  will  give  you  some  liquor  to  clear  your  throats." 

On  the  morning  after  the  council  it  was  discovered 
that  the  flag,  which  had  I -en  hoisted  from  his  boat,  was 
gone.  Calling  the  guard  he  had  one  whipped  for  his 
negligence. 

The  next  day,  before  he  was  out  of  his  bed.  Little 
Crow  came  bustling  up  from  his  village,  flag  in  hand, 
which  had  been  found  floating  down  the  river,  and  he 
supposed  that  the  whites  had  all  been  killed. 

On  Friday,  the  twenty-sixth  of  September,  he  had 
transported  all  of  his  goods  to  a  post  above  the  Falls  of 
St.  Anthony,  and  then  occupied  a  few  leisure  hours  in 
writing  to  his  general,  and  to  his  wife,  whom  he  thought 
might  not  see  him  return  from  the  land  of  savages. 

All  the  next  day  and  Sunday  the  soldiers  were  hard 
at  work  dragging  the  barge  over  the  portage,  and  when 
night  came  they  were  so  fatigued  that  they  could  not 
cook  their  suppers,  and  went  to  sleep.  On  Monday  he 
encamped  on  what  is  now  known  as  Hennepin  Island. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  Crow  river,  on  the  fourth  of 
October,  a  bark  canoe,  cut  to  pieces  with  tomahawks, 
and  paddles  broken,  was  ^een,  which  appeared  as  if 
there  had  been  a  fight  between  Ojibways  and  Dahko- 
tahs.     The  next  day  he  passed  fortificat'ons,  and  found 


BLOCK-HOUSE  NEAR  SWAN  RIVER. 


249 


five  litters  in  which  wounded  had  been  carried,  at  a 
place,  where  five  years  before  there  hod  been  fought  a 
severe  battle. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  October,  when  they  awoke  in  the 
morning,  they  were  astonished  to  find  that  wnow  hud 
fallen  during  the  night.  Pike  desired,  if  possible,  to 
reach  Crow  Wing,  the  highest  point  ever  made  by 
traders  in  their  bark  canoes,  that  day,  but  after  the 
soldiers  had  worked  four  hours  their  limbs  were  be- 
numbed by  the  cold. 

Going  aahore  they  built  a  fire,  and  found  the  boats 
Avere  leaking.  The  sergeant,  remarkable  for  strength, 
by  over  exertion  burst  a  blood-vessel,  and  a  corporal 
also  gave  evidence  of  internal  injuries. 

In  view  of  the  unforeseen  difficulties,  he  determined 
to  leave  the  large  boats,  and  a  portion  of  the  men.  By 
the  last  day  of  the  month  a  block-house  was  erected 
near  Swan  river,  and  in  his  journal'  he  writes  : — 

"  October  thirty-first,  Thursday. — Enclosed  my  little 
work  completely  with  pickets.  Hauled  up  my  two 
boats  and  turned  them  over  on  each  side  of  the  gate- 
ways; by  which  means  a  defence  was  mode  to  the 
river,  and  had  it  not  been  for  various  political  reasons, 
I  would  have  laughed  at  the  attack  of  eight  hundred  or 
a  thousand  savages,  if  all  my  party  were  within.  For, 
except  accidents,  it  would  only  have  afforded  amuse- 
ment, the  Indians  having  no  idea  of  taking  a  p'ace  by 
storm.      Found  myself  powerfully  attacked  with  the 


'  The  journal  and  letters  of  Pike 
Convoy  BO  correct  an  idea  of  the  con- 
dition of  Minnesota,  at  the  com- 
ntencement  of  this  century,  that  we 
have  thought  it  advisable  to  give 
many  extracts.    < 


fc.f.1     J 1 1  I  (  ; 


Since  his  day  Major  Long,  Fre- 
mont, Allen,  Pope,  Maroy,  Stans- 
bury,  and  other  military  officers,  by 
their  published  journals  have  made 
known  the  region  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi.   ?iti   it<-,'\ij    *,!.":■  :'Tt''V  '  i"i  ■ 


h  I  i'Lissl^ 


rii- 


'■■■^ 


i*H|n- 


m 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


fantastics  of  tlie  brain,  cuiled  ennui,  at  the  mention  of 
which  I  ha<l  hitherto  scoffed;  but  my  books  being 
packed  up,  I  wjvs  like  a  person  entranced,  and  could 
easily  conceive  why  so  many  persons  who  have  been 
confined  to  remote  places,  acquired  the  habit  of  drink- 
ing to  excess,  and  many  other  vicious  practices,  which 
have  been  adopted  merely  to  pass  time.  '       ' 

"  November  twenty'- ninth,  Friday. — A  Sioux  (the 
son  of  a  warrior  called  the  Killeur  Rouge,  of  the  Qens 
des  Feuilles)  and  a  Fols  Avoin  came  to  the  post.  He 
said  th  t  having  struck  our  trail  below,  and  finding 
some  to  be  shoe  tracks,  he  conceived  it  to  be  the  estar 
blishment  of  some  traders,  took  it,  and  came  to  the  post. 
He  informed  me  that  Mr.  Dickson  had  told  the  Sioux 
'that  they  might  now  hunt  where  they  pleased,  as  I 
had  gone  ahead  and  Avould  cause  the  Chippeways,  wher- 
ever I  met  them,  to  treat  them  with  friendship ;  that  I 
had  barred  up  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's,  so  that  no 
liquor  could  ascend  that  river ;  but  that,  if  they  came 
on  the  Mississippi,  they  should  have  what  liquor  they 
wanted ;  also,  that  I  was  on  the  river  and  had  a  great 
deal  of  merchandise  to  give  them  in  presents.'  This 
information  of  Mr.  Dickson  to  the  Indians,  seemed  to 
have  self-interest  and  envy  for  its  motives ;  for,  bv  the 
idea  of  having  prevented  liquor  from  going  up  to  St. 
Peter's,  he  gave  the  Indians  to  understand  that  it  was 
a  regulation  of  my  own,  and  not  a  law  of  the  United 
States ;  and  by  assuring  them  he  would  sell  to  them  on 
the  Mississippi,  he  drew  all  the  Indians  from  the  traders 
on  the  St.  Peter's,  who  iiad  adhered  to  tiie  restriction  of 
not  selling  liquor,  and  should  any  of  them  be  killed,  the 
blame  would  all  lie  on  me,  as  he  had  (without  autho- 
rity) assured  them  they  might  hunt  in  security.    I  took 


DICKSON  VISITS  PIKE. 


Ml 


care  to  give  the  young  chief  a  full  .vplauation  of  my 
ideas  on  the  above.  He  remained  aii  night.  Killed 
two  deer. 

"  December  third,  Tuesday. — Mr.  Dickson,  with  one 
engagee  and  a  young  Indian,  arrived  at  the  fort.  I  re- 
ceived him  with  every  politeness  in  my  power,  and  after 
a  serious  conversation  with  him  on  the  subject  of  the 
information  given  me  on  the  twenty-ninth  ultimo,  was 
indviced  to  I  "\ieve  it,  in  part,  incorrect.  He  assured  me 
that  no  liqt  r  was  sold  by  him,  nor  by  any  houses  under 
his  direction.  He  gave  me  much  useful  information 
relative  to  my  future  route,  which  gave  me  great  encour- 
agement as  to  the  certainty  of  my  accomplishing  the 
object  of  my  voyage,  to  the  fullest  extent.  He  seemed 
to  be  a  gentleman  of  general  commercial  knowledge,  and 
possessing  much  geographical  infor^iation  of  the  Western 
country,  of  open,  frank,  manners.  He  gave  me  many 
assurances  of  his  good  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  my 
undertaking. 

"  December  sixth,  Friday. — I  despatched  my  men 
down  to  bring  up  the  other  peroque  with  a  strong  sled, 
on  which  it  was  intended  to  put  the  canoe  about  one- 
third,  and  to  let  the  end  drag  on  the  ice.  Three  families 
of  the  Fols  Avoins  arrived  and  encamped  near  the  fort : 
also,  one  Sioux,  who  pretended  to  have  been  sent  to 
me,  from  the  Oens  des  Feuilles,  to  inform  me  that  the 
Y  inctongs  and  Sussitongs  (two  bands  of  Sioux  from  the 
heod  of  the  St.  Peter's  nnd  the  Missouri,  and  the  most 
saviige  of  them)  had  commenced  the  war  dance,  and 
would  depart  in  a  few  days,  in  which  case  he  conceived 
it  would  be  advisable  for  the  Fols  Avoins  to  keep  close 
under  my  protection ;  that  making  a  stroke  on  the 
Chippewa}' s  would  tend  to  injure  the  grand  object  of 


III 


1  >^.  eg. 


It' 


I 


it*pr 


252 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


I'iiil 

«l     '  '''V  '     'J 


I,   '  s  ■  ■•  1-,  ;  I  I  :  ' 


■4  .'"■'' 


'   ■  !^' 

iMn^i-. 

my  voyage,  &c.,  &c.  Some  reasons  induced  me  to  l)e- 
lieve  he  was  a  self-created  envoy ;  however,  I  offered  to 
pay  him,  or  any  other  young  Sioux,  who  would  go  to 
those  Ijands  and  carry  my  word.  He  promised  to  make 
known  my  wishes  upon  his  return.  My  men  returned 
in  the  evening  without  my  canoe,  having  been  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  split  her  in  carrying  her  over  the  rough 
hilly  ice  in  the  ripples  below.  So  many  disappoint- 
ments almost  wearied  out  my  patience ;  but,  notwitli- 
standing,  I  intend  to  embark  by  land  and  water  in  a 
few  days. 

"December  ninth,  Monday. — Prepared  to  embark. 
Expecting  the  Sioux,  I  had  two  lai'ge  kettles  of  soup  made 
for  them.  Had  a  shooting-match  with  four  priz«  s.  The 
Sioux  did  not  arrive,  and  we  eat  the  soup  curselvos. 
Crossed  the  river  and  encamped  above  the  rapids.  Wind 
changed,  and  it  grew  cold. 

"  December  tenth,  Tuesday. — After  arranging  our 
sleds '  and  peroque  commenced  our  march.  The  sleds  on 
the  prairie,  and  the  peroque  towed  by  three  men.  Found 
it  extremely  difficult  to  get  along,  the  snow  being  melttjd 
off  the  prairie  in  spots.  The  men  who  had  the  canoe 
were  obliged  to  wade  and  drag  her  over  the  rocks  in 
many  places.  Shot  the  only  deer  I  saw.  It  fell  three 
times,  ana  after  made  its  escape.  This  was  a  great 
disappointment,  for  upon  the  game  we  took  now  we 
depended  for  our  subsistence.  This  evening  disclosed 
to  my  men  the  real  danger  they  had  to  encounter.  Dis- 
tance five  miles. 

"  December  fourteenth,  Saturday. — We  departed  from 

'  Slods  wore  such  as  arc  frequently    weight,   in   which    two    men  wore 
Bcoii  about  farmers'  yards,  calculated    geared  abreast. 
X^^  hold  tw;  barrels,  or  four  hundred  .  ;    > 


SLED  FALLS  INTO  THE  RIVER.— BAGGAGE  WET. 


268 


our  encampment  at  the  usual  hour,  but  had  not  ad- 
vanced out'  mile  when  the  foremost  sled,  which  hap- 
pened unfortunately  to  carry  my  baggage  and  ammuni- 
tion, fell  into  the  river.  We  were  all  in  the  river  up 
to  our  middles  in  recovering  the  things.  Halted  and 
made  a  fire.  Came  on  to  where  the  riv(  r  was  frozen 
over.  Stopped  and  encamped  on  the  ves"  shore  in  a 
pine  wood.  Upon  examining  my  things,  found  all  my 
baggage  wet,  and  some  of  my  books  materially  injured; 
but  a  still  greater  injury  was  taat  all  of  my  cartridges, 
iuid  four  pounds  of  double  battle  Sussex  powder  for  my 
own  use,  was  destroyed.  Fortunately  my  kegs  of  pow- 
der were  preserved  dry,  and  some  bottles  of  common 
glazed  powder,  which  were  so  tightly  corked  as  not  to 
admit  water.  Had  this  not  been  the  case.,  my  \  oyage 
nmst  necessarily  have  been  terminated,  for  we  could  not 
have  subsisted  without  ammunition.  During  the  time 
of  our  misfortune,  two  Fols  Avoin  Indians  came  to  us> 
one  of  whom  was  at  my  stockade,  on  the  twenty-nintli 
ultimo,  in  compiany  with  the  Sioux.  I  signified  to  them 
by  signs  the  place  of  our  intended  encampment,  and 
invited  them  to  come  and  encamp  with  us.  The}-  left 
nie,  and  both  arrived  at  my  camp  in  the  evening,  hav- 
ing each  a  deer  which  they  presented  me.  I  gave  them 
my  canoe  to  keep  until  spring;  and,  in  the  morning,  at 
parting,  nuide  them  a  small  present.  Sat  up  until  three 
o'clock,  A.M.,  drying  and  assorting  my  ammunition  and 
baggage.     Killed  two  deer.     Distance  four  miles. 

'•  December  twenty-first,  Saturday. — Bradley  and  my- 
self went  on  ahead  and  overtook  my  interpreter,  who 
had  left  camp  very  early  in  hopes  that  he  would  l)e 
able  to  see  the  river  De  Corbeau,  where  he  had  twice 
wintered.     He  was   inmiediately  opposite   to   a   largo 


r-t    +i 


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ir 


254 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


island,  which  he  supposed  to  have  great  resemblance  to 
an  island  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  above  river;  but 
Bnally  he  concluded  it  was  not  the  island,  and  returned 
to  camp.  But  this  was  actually  the  river,  as  we  disco- 
vered when  we  got  to  the  head  of  the  island  from  which 
we  could  see  the  river's  entrance.  This  fact  exposes  the 
ignorance  and  inattention  of  the  French  and  traders; 
and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  intelligent  men,  what 
little  confidence  is  to  be  placed  on  their  information. 
We  asf'ended  the  Mississippi  about  five  miles  above  the 
confluence;  found  it  frozen;  but  in  many  place j,  not 
more  than  one  hundred  yards  over;  mild  and  still. 
Indeed  all  the  appearance  of  a  small  river  of  a  low 
country.  Returned  and  found  my  party,  having  broke 
sleds,  had  only  made  good  three  miles,  while  I  had 
marched  thirty-five. 

"  December  thirty-first,  Tuesday. — Passed  Pine  river 
about  eleven  o'clock.  At  its  mouth  there  was  a  Chij>- 
peway's  encampment  of  fifteen  lodges ;  this  had  been 
occupied  in  the  summer,  but  is  now  vacant.  By  the 
significations  of  their  marks  we  understood  that  they 
had  marched  a  party  of  fifty  warriors  against  the  Sioux ; 
and  had  killed  four  men  and  four  women,  which  were 
represented  by  images  carved  out  of  pine  or  cedar.  The 
four  men  painted  and  put  in  the  ground  to  the  middle, 
leaving  above  ground  those  parts  which  are  generally 
concealed;  by  their  sides  were  four  painted  poles, 
sharpened  at  the  end  to  represent  the  V(omen.  Near 
this  were  pules  with  deer  skins,  plumes,  and  silk  hand- 
kerchiefs. Also  a  circular  hoop  of  cedar  witli  something 
attached  representing  a  scalp.  Near  each  lodge  they 
had  holes  dug  in  the  ground,  and  boughs  ready  to  cover 


INDIGNATION  AT  SIGHT  OF  BRITISH  FLAG. 


25S 


them,  as  a  retreat  for  their  women  and  children  if 
attacked  by  the  Sioux. 

"January  second,  1806,  Thursday. — Fine  warm  day. 
Discovered  fresh  sign  of  Indians.  Just  as  we  wei'e  en- 
camping at  night,  my  sentinel  informed  us  that  some 
Indians  were  coming  full  speed  upon  our  trail  or  track.  I 
ordered  my  men  to  stand  by  th(Mr  guns  carefully.  They 
were  innnediately  at  my  camp,  and  saluted  the  flag  by  a 
dischai-ge  of  thrc^  pieces ;  when  four  Chippeways,  one 
Englishman  and  a  Frenchman  of  the  North-west  Com- 
pany presented  themselves.  They  informed  us  that 
some  women  having  discovered  our  trail  gave  the  alarm, 
and  not  knowing  but  it  was  their  enemies,  they  had 
departed  to  make  a  discovery.  They  had  h'^-^rd  of  us 
and  revered  our  flag.  Mr.  Grant,  the  Englishman,  had 
only  arrived  the  day  before  from  Lake  De  Sable ;  from 
which  he  marched  in  one  day  and  a  half  I  presented 
the  Indians  witl  half  a  deer,  which  they  received  thank- 
fully, for  they  had  discovered  our  fires  some  days  ago, 
and,  believing  it  to  be  the  Sioux,  they  dared  not  leave 
their  camp.  They  returned,  but  Mr.  Grant  remained 
ull  night. 

"January  third,  Friday. — My  party  marched  enrly, 
hut  T  returned  with  Mr.  Grant  to  his  establishment  on 
the  Ited  Tedar  Lake,  having  one  corporal  with  me.  When 
we  came  in  sight  of  his  house,  I  obser\^ed  thf  flajr  of 
(jreat  Hritain  flying.  I  felt  indignant,  and  cannot  my 
Wnat  my  feelings  xoould  have  excited  me  to,  Jiad  he  mA 
informed  me  Uiat  it  belonged  to  the  Indians.  This  was 
not  much  more  agreeable  to  me. 

"  January  fourth,  Saturday. — We  made  twenty-eight 
points  in  the  river;  broad,  good  bottom,  and  of  the 
usual  timber.     In  the  night  1  was  awakened  hy  the  cry 


.«?»*• 


1   ■'.,.  y    , 


■m 


ii 


258 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


♦  ' 


I! 


of  the  sentinel,  calling  repeatedly  to  the  men  ;  at  length 
he  vociferated,  "  will  you  let  the  lieutenant  be  burnt  to 
death  ?"  This  immediately  aroused  me ;  at  first  I  seized 
ray  arms,  but,  looking  round,  T  saw  my  tents  in  flames. 
The  men  flew  to  my  assistance  and  we  tore  them  down, 
but  not  until  they  were  entirely  ruined.  This,  with 
the  loss  of  my  leggins,  moccasins,  and  socks,  which  I 
had  hung  up  to  dry,  was  no  trivial  misfortune,  in  such 
a  country,  and  on  such  a  voyage.  But  I  had  reason  to 
thank  God  that  the  powder,  three  small  casks  of  which 
T  had  in  my  tent,  did  not  take  fire ;  if  it  had,  I  must 
certainly  have  lost  all  my  baggage,  if  not  my  life. 
'  January  eighth,  Wednesday. — Conceiving  I  was  at 
no  great  distance  from  Sandy  Lake,  I  left  my  sleds,  and 
with  Corporal  Bradley,  took  my  departure  foi  that 
place,  intending  to  send  him  back  the  same  evening. 
We  walked  on  very  briskly  until  near  night,  when  we 
met  a  young  Indian,  one  of  those  who  had  visited  my 
camp  near  Red  Cedar  Lake.  I  endeavoured  to  explain 
to  him,  that  it  was  my  wish  to  go  to  Lake  De  Sable 
that  evening.  He  returned  with  me  until  we  came  to 
a  trail  that  led  across  the  woods ;  this  he  signified  was  a 
near  course.  I  went  this  course  Avith  him,  and  shortly 
jifter  found  myself  at  a  Chippeway  encampmpnt,  to 
which  I  believe  the  friendly  savage  had  enticed  me  with 
an  expectation  that  I  would  tarry  all  night,  knowing 
that  it  was  too  late  for  us  to  make  the  lake  in  good 
season.  But,  upon  our  refusing  to  stay,  he  put  us  in 
the  right  road.  We  arrived  at  the  place  where  the 
track  left  the  Mississippi  at  dusk,  when  we  traversed 
about  two  leagues  of  a  wilderness,  without  any  very- 
great  difficulty,  and  at  length  struck  the  shore  of  Lake 
De  Sable,  over  a  brancii  of  which  our  course  lay.     The 


SANDY  LAKE  POST.— HORSES  FROM  RED  RIVER. 


257 


snow  having  covered  the  trail  made  by  the  Frenchmen, 
who  had  passed  before  with  the  rackets,  I  was  fearful 
of  losing  our.s-iv  s  on  the  lake;  the  consequence  of 
which  can  only  be  conceived  by  those  who  have  been 
exposed  on  a  lake  or  naked  plain,  a  dreary  night  of 
January,  in  latitude  47°  and  the  thermometer  below  0. 
Tl 'inking  that  we  could  observe  the  bank  of  the  other 
shore,  we  kept  a  straight  course,  and  some  time  after 
discovered  lights,  and  on  our  arrival  were  not  a  h'ttle 
surprised  to  find  a  large  stockade.  The  gate  being 
opened,  we  entered  and  proceeded  to  the  quarters  of 
Mr.  Grant,  where  we  were  treated  with  the  utmost 
hospitality. 

"January  nmth,  Thursday. — Marched  the  corporal 
early,  in  order  that  our  men  should  receive  assurance 
of  our  safety  and  success.  He  cari'ied  with  him  a  small 
keg  of  spirits,  a  present  from  Mr.  Grant.  The  estab- 
Ushment  of  this  place  wiis  formed  twelve  years  since, 
by  the  North-\rest  Company,  and  was  formerly  under 
the  charee  of  a  Mr.  Charles  Brusky.  It  has  attained 
at  pres<eait  sucii  regularity,  as  to  permit  the  superint<'Jid- 
ent  to  live  tolerably  comlbrtable.  They  have  hui'H^s 
they  procuireti  from  Eed  E;ver,  o[  the  Ludians;  raise 
plenty  of  Irish  potatoes,  catch  pike,  suckers,  pickerel, 
aad  white  fish  in  al*  mdajice.  Tbev  h»ve  alsi  beaver, 
du*^.  and  moose:  but  the  ]'i<nisi(»i  the\  -hietlj  depemi 
upon  is  wild  oat^.  of  whic!  ..  i  leha^e  gr^at  quanti- 
ties from  the  savage>.  giviui^  it  ibout  one 
dollar  and  a  half  (mM'  bushel.  But  lioui,  [Kak,  and  Halt, 
are  almost  interdicted  to  persons  not  principals  in  the 
trade.  Flour  sells  at  half  a  dollar;  salt  a  dollar;  pork 
eighty  cents ;  sugar  half  a  dollar ;  and  tea  four  dollars 

17 


••^v^J 


III  h 


w 


h 


\^ 


m 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


M    i'\/> 


5ft;)  v,^nts  per  pound.  The  sugar  is  obtained  from  the 
IndiiAs,  and  is  made  from  the  maple  tree. 

"January  nineteenth,  Sunday. — Two  men  of  the 
North  west  Company  arrived  from  the  Fond  du  liuc 
Superi^)r  with  letters;  one  of  which  was  from  their 
establiahment,  in  Athapuscow,  and  had  been  since  last 
May  on  the  route.  While  at  this  post  I  eat  roasted 
beavers,  dressed  in  every  respect  as  a  pig  is  usually 
dressed  with  us ;  it  was  excellent.  I  could  not  discern 
the  leayt  taste  of  Des  Bois.  I  also  eat  boiled  moose's 
head,  Avhicli  when  well  boiled,  I  consider  equal  to  the 
tail  of  the  beaver;  in  taste  and  substance  they  are 
mucli  alike. 

"January  twentieth,  Monday. — The  men  with  the 
sleds  took  their  departure  about  two  o'clock.  Shortly 
after  I  followed  them.  We  encamped  at  the  portage 
between  the  Mississippi  ax,d  Leech  Lake  river.  Snow 
fell  in  the  night. 

"January  twenty-fifth,  Saturday. — Travelled  almost 
all  day  through  the  lands,  and  found  them  much  better 
than  usual.  Boley  lost  the  Sioux  pipe  stem,  which  I 
carried  along  for  the  purpose  of  making  peace  with  the 
Ciiippeways ;  I  sent  him  back  for  it ;  he  did  not  return 
until  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  It  was  very  warm,  thaw- 
ing all  day.     Distance  forty-four  points. 

"January  twenty-sixth,  Sunday. — I  left  my  party  in 
order  to  proceed  to  a  house  (or  lodge)  of  Mr.  Grant's,  ou 
the  Mississippi,  where  he  was  to  tarry  until  I  overtook 
him.  T(jok  with  me  my  Indian,  Boley,  and  some  trifling 
provisions;  the  Indian  and  myself  marched  so  fast,  that 
we  left  Boley  on  the  route,  about  eight  miles  from  the 
lodge.  Met  Mr.  Grant's  men  on  their  return  to  Lake 
De  Sable,  having  evacuated  the  house  this  morning,  and 


a?—^* 


BRITISH  FLAG  SHOT  AT,  AND  BROUGHT  DOWN. 


259 


Mr.  Grant  having  marched  for  Leech  Lake.  The  Indian 
and  I  arrived  before  sundown.  Passed  the  night  very 
uncomfortably,  having  nothing  to  eat,  not  much  wood, 
nor  any  blankets.  The  Indian  slept  sound.  I  cursed 
his  insensibility,  being  obliged  to  content  myself  over  a 
few  coals  all  night.  Boley  did  not  arrive.  In  the  night 
th>i  Indian  mentioned  something  about  his  son. 

•'February  first,  Saturday. — Left  our  camp  pretty 
eaHy.  Passed  a  continued  train  of  prairie,  and  arrived 
at  Lake  La  Sang  Sue,'  at  half-past  two  o'clock.  I  will 
not  attempt  to  describe  my  feelings,  on  the  accomplish- 
ment of  my  voyage,  for  this  is  the  main  source  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  Lake  Winipie  branch  is  navigable 
from  thence  to  Eed  Cedar  Lake,  for  the  distance  of  five 
ieagues,  which  is  the  extremity  of  the  navigation. 
Crossed  the  lake  twelve  miles  to  the  establishment  of 
the  North-west  Company,  where  we  arrived  about  three 
o'clock ;  found  all  the  gates  locked,  but  upon  knocking 
were  admitted,  and  received  with  marked  attention  and 
hospitality  by  Mr.  Hugh  McGillis.  Had  a  good  dish  of 
cofiee,  biscuit,  butter,  and  cheese  for  supper. 

"  February  second,  Sunday. — Eemained  all  day  within 
doors.  In  the  evening  sent  an  invitation  to  Mr.  Ander- 
son, who  was  an  agent  of  Dickson,  and  also  for  some 
young  Indians  at  his  house,  to  come  over  and  breakfast 
in  the  morning. 

"  February  seventh,  Friday. — Remained  widiin  doors, 
my  limbs  being  still  very  much  swelled.  Addressed  a 
letter  to  Mr.  McGillis  on  the  subject  of  the  North-west 
Company  trade  in  this  quarter. 

"February  tenth,  Monday. — Hoisted  the  American 
The  English  yacht  still  flying  at  the 


Hag  in  the  fort 


Leech  Lake. 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

top  of  the  flagstaff,  I  directed  the  Indians  and  uiy  lille- 
men  to  shoot  at  it,  who  soon  broke  the  iron  pin  to  which 
it  was  fastened,  and  brought  it  to  the  ground.  Reading 
Shenstone. 

"  February  sixteenth,  Sunday. — Held  a  council  with 
the  chiefs  and  warriors  at  this  phice'  and  of  Red  Lake; 
but  it  refpiired  much  pjitience,  coohiess,  and  manage- 
ment to  obtain  the  objects  I  desired,  viz.  Tluit  tliey 
siiould  nuike  peace  with  the  Sioux;  deUver  up  their 
medals  and  flags ;  and  that  some  of  their  chiefs  should 
follow  me  to  St.  Louis.  As  a  proof  of  their  agreeing 
to  the  peace,  I  directed  that  they  should  smoke  out  of 
the  Waljasha's  pipe  which  lay  on  the  table ;  they  al) 
smoked,  from  the  head  chief  to  the  youngest  soldier ; 
they  generally  delivered  up  their  flags  with  a  good 
grace ;  except  the  Flat  Mouth,  who  said  he  had  left  both 
at  his  camp,  three  days'  march,  and  promised  to  deliver 
them  up  to  Mr.  McGiUis,  to  be  forwarded.  With  respect 
to  their  returning  with  me,  the  old  Sweet  thought  it 
most  proper  to  return  to  the  Indians  of  the  Red  Lake, 
Red  River,  and  Rainy  Lake  River.  The  Flat  Mouth 
said  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  restrain  his  young  war- 
riors. The  other  chiefs  did  not  think  themselves  of 
conse(pience  suflicient  to  offer  any  reason  for  not  fol- 
lowing me  to  St.  Louis,  a  journey  of  between  two  and 
three  thousand  miles  through  hostile  tribes  of  Lidians. 
I  then  told  them,  'that  I  was  sorry  to  find  that  the 
hearts  of  the  Sauteurs  of  this  quarter  were  so  weak, 
that  the  other  nations  would  say :  Avhat,  are  there  no 
soldiers  at  Leech,  Red,  and  Rainy  Lakes,  who  had  the 
hearts  to  carry  tlie  calumet  of  their  chief  to  their 
father?'     This  had  the  desired  eftect.     The  Bucks  and 

'  Li!i!oli  Luke. 


RED  LAKE.— McdILLIS,  TRADER. 


261 


Beaux,  two  of  the  most  celebrutod  young  warriors,  rose 
and  oftered  themselves  to  me  for  the  embassy;  tho\ 
were  accepted,  adopted  as  my  children,  and  I  installed 
their  fatlior.  Their  example  animated  the  otliers,  and 
it  would  have  been  no  dillicult  matter  to  have  taken  a 
company;  two,  however,  were  suflicient.  I  determined 
that  it  should  be  my  care,  never  to  niak(  them  regret 
the  noble  confidence  placed  in  me ;  for  I  would  have 
protec!  '1  their  lives  with  my  own.  The  Beaux  is 
brother  ti  the  Flat  Mouth.  Gave  my  new  soldiers  a 
(lance,  and  a  small  dram.  The}'  attempted  to  get  more 
liquor,  Ijut  a  firm  and  percrnptory  denial  convinced  them 
I  was  not  to  be  trifled  witi 

"FebriLiry  eighteenth,  i  sday. — We  marched  for 
Red  Cedar  Lake  about  1 1  o'ck/ck,  with  a  guide  provided 
for  me  by  Mr.  McGillis;  were  all  provided  with  sno\\ 
shoes ;  marched  off  amidat  the  acclamation*  and  shouts 
of  the  Indians,  Avho  generally  had  remained  to  see  us 
take  our  departure.  Mr.  .uiderson  promised  to  ome 
on  with  letters;  he  arrived  ibout  tsvelve  o'clock,  and 
remained  all  night.  He  concluded  to  go  down  with  me 
to  see  Mr.  Dickson. 

"February  twenty-fifth,  Tuesday. — We  marched,  and 
arrived  at  Ce^..-  Tiake  before  noon;  found  Mr.  Grant 
and  De  Brecl-e  (.  iicf  of  Sandy  Lake)  at  the  house. 
Tiiis  gave  me  'iutci,  pleasure,  for  I  conceive  Mr.  (irant 
to  be  a  gentleman  of  as  much  candour  as  any  with 
whom  I  'lad  made  an  acquaintance  in  this  quarter;  and 
the  chiel  (De  Breche)  is  reputed  to  be  a  man  of  better 
information  than  any  of  the  Sauteurs. 

"March  third,  Mondny, — Marched  early;  passed  our 
Christmas  encampment  at  sunrise.  I  was  ahead  of  my 
party  in  my  cariole.  Soon  afterwards,  I  observed  smoke 


1    y    i  «(•■. 

liMm 

■^% 


«>. 


SMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


|^|Z8     |25 

^  1^    12.2 

lAo  mil  2.0 


1.8 


—    6' 


11.25  111111.4   mil  1.6 


d 


V] 


Jw 


e-l 


^y 
^ 


/: 


7 


M 


Photographic 

Sdences 

Corporation 


<^.  ^ 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  ^I.Y.  14580 

(716)  •72-4503 


^ 


mmmtm 


262 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


on  the  west  shore.  I  hallooed,  aud  some  Indians  ap> 
peared  iipon  the  bank.  I  waited  until  my  interpreter 
came  up ;  we  then  went  to  the  camp.  They  proved  to 
be  a  party  of  Chippeways,  who  had  left  the  encamp- 
ment the  same  day  we  left  it.  They  presented  me  with 
some  roast  meat,  which  I  gave  my  sleigh  dogs.  They 
then  left  their  camp  and  accompanied  us  down  the 
river.  We  passed  our  encampment  of  the  twenty- 
fourth  December,  at  nine  o'clock;  of  the  twenty-third, 
at  ten  o'clock,  and  of  the  twenty-second,  at  eleven 
o'clock ;  here  the  Indians  crossed  on  to  the  west  shore ; 
arrived  at  the  encampment  of  the  twenty-first  Decem- 
ber, at  twelve  o'clock,  where  we  had  a  barrel  of  flour. 
I  here  found  Corporal  Meek,  and  another  man  from  the 
post,  from  whom  I  heard  that  the  men  were  all  well.  ^ 
They  confirmed  the  account  of  a  Sioux  having  fired  on 
a  sentinel,  and  added,  that  the  sentinel  had  first  made 
him  drunk,  and  then  turned  him  out  of  the  tent,  upon 
which  he  fired  on  the  sentinel  and  ran  off",  but  promised 
to  deliver  himself  up  in  the  spring.  The  corporal  in- 
formed me  that  the  sergeant  had  used  all  the  elegant 
hams  and  saddles  of  venison  which  I  had  preserved  to 
present  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  other  friends; 
that  he  had  made  away  with  all  the  whiskey,  includ- 
ing a  keg  I  had  for  my  own  use,  having  publicly  sold  it 
to  the  men,  and  a  barrel  of  pork ;  that  he  had  broken 
open  my  trunk  and  sold  some  things  out  of  it,  traded 
with  the  Indians,  gave  them  liquor,  and  this,  to<i,  con- 
trary to  my  most  pointed  and  particular  directions. 
Thus,  after  I  hod  used,  in  going  up  the  river  with  my 
party,  the  strictest  economy,  living  upon  two  pounds  of 
frozen  venison  a  day,  in  order  that  we  might  have  pro- 
vision to  carry  us  down  in  the  spring,  this  fellow  was 


MEAN  CONDUCT  OP  PIKE'S  SERGEANT. 


26S 


squandering  away  the  flour,  pork,  and  liquor  during  the 
winter,  and  while  we  were  starving  with  hunger  and 
cold.  I  had  saved  all  our  com,  bacon,  and  the  meat  of 
six  deer,  and  left  it  at  Sandy  Lake  with  some  tents,  my 
mess  boxes,  salt,  and  tobacco,  all  of  which  we  were 
obliged  to  sacrifice  by  not  returning  the  same  route  we 
went,  and  we  consoled  ourselves  at  this  loss  by  the  flat- 
tering idea  that  we  should  find  at  our  little  post  a  hand- 
some stock  preserved;  how  mortifying  the  disappointr 
ment !  We  raised  our  barrel  of  flour  and  came  down  tc 
the  mouth  of  a  little  river  on  the  east  which  we  had 
passed  on  the  twenty-first  December.  The  ice  covered 
with  water, 

"  March  fifth,  Wednesday. — Passed  all  the  encamp- 
ments between  Pine  Creek  and  the  post,  at  which  we 
arrived  about  ten  o'clock.  I  sent  a  man  on  ahead  to 
prevent  the  salute  I  had  before  ordered  by  letter ;  this 
I  did  from  the  idea  that  the  Sioux  ch  iefs  would  accom- 
pany me.  Found  all  well.  Confined  my  sergeant. 
About  one  o'clock,  Mr.  Dickson  arrived  with  the  Kil- 
leur  Rouge,  his  son,  and  two  other  Sioux  men,  with 
two  women,  who  had  come  up  to  be  introduced  to  the 
Sauteurs  they  expected  to  find  with  me.  Received  a 
letter  from  Reinville. 

"  March  fifteenth,  Saturday. — This  was  the  day  fixed 
upon  by  Mr.  Grant  and  the  Chippeway  warriors  for  their 
arrival  at  ray  fort ;  and  I  was  all  day  anxiously  expect- 
ing them,  for  1  knew  that  should  they  not  accompany 
me  down,  the  peace  partially  eflected  between  them  and 
the  Sioux  would  not  be  on  a  permanent  footing ;  and 
upon  this  I  take  them  to  be  neither  so  brave  nor  gener- 
ous as  the  Sioux,  who,  in  all  their  transactions,  appear 
to  be  candid  and  brave,  whereas,  the  Chippeways  are 


«64 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


niapicioua,  consequently  treacJieroua,  and,  of  coui-se, 
cowards. 

"  March  seventeenth,  Monday. — Left  the  fort  with 
my  interpreter  and  Roy,  in  order  to  visit  Thomas,  the 
Fols  Avoin  chief,  who  was  encamped,  with  six  lodges 
of  his  nation,  about  twenty  miles  below  us,  on  a  little 
river  which  empties  into  the  Mississippi,  on  the  west 
side,  a  little  above  Clear  river.  On  our  way  down, 
killed  one  goose,  wounded  another,  and  a  deer  that  the 
dogs  had  driven  into  an  air  hole ;  hung  our  game  on 
the  trees.  Arrived  at  the  creek,  took  out  on  it ;  as- 
cended three  or  four  miles  on  one  bank,  and  descended 
on  the  other.  Killed  another  goose.  Struck  the  Mis- 
sissippi below .     Encamped  at  our  encampment 

of  the of  October,  when  we  ascended  the  river. 

Ate  our  goose  for  supper.  It  snowed  all  day,  and  at 
night  a  very  severe  storm  arose.  It  may  be  imagined 
that  we  spent  a  very  disagreeable  night,  without  shelter, 
and  but  one  blanket  each. 

"  March  eighteenth,  Tuesday. — We  marched,  deter- 
mined to  find  the  lodges.  Met  an  Indian,  whose  track 
we  pursued,  through  almost  impenetrable  woods,  for 
about  two  and  a  half  miles,  to  the  camps.  Here  there 
was  one  of  the  finest  sugar  camps  I  almost  ever  saw, 
the  whole  of  the  timber  being  sugar  tree.  "We  were 
conducted  to  the  chief's  lodge,  who  received  us  in  the 
patriarchal  style.  He  pulled  oflf  my  leggins  and  mocca- 
sins, put  me  in  the  best  place  in  his  lodge,  and  offered 
me  dry  clothes.  He  then  presented  us  with  syrup  of 
the  maple  to  drink,  then  asked  whether  I  preferred 
eating  beaver,  swan,  elk,  or  deer ;  upon  my  giving  the 
preference  to  the  first,  a  large  kettle  was  filled  by  his 
wife,  of  which  soup  was  made ;  this  being  thickened  with 


NO  CHASTITY  AMONG  SAVAGES. 


266 


flour,  we  had  what  I  then  thought  a  delicious  repast. 
After  we  had  refreshed  ourselves,  he  asked  whether  we 
would  visit  his  people  at  the  other  lodges,  which  we  did ; 
and  in  each  were  presented  with  something  to  eat ;  by 
some  with  a  bowl  of  sugar,  by  others,  with  a  beaver's 
tail.  After  making  this  tour,  we  returned  to  the  chief's 
lodge,  and  found  a  berth  provided  for  each  of  us,  of 
good  soft  bear  skins,  nicely  spread,  and  on  mine  there 
was  a  large  feather  pillow.  I  must  not  here  omit  to 
mention  an  anecdote  which  serves  to  characterize  more 
particularly  their  manners.  This,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
contracted  moralist,  would  deform  my  hospitable  host 
into  a  monster  of  libertinism;  but,  by  a  liberal  mind, 
would  be  considered  as  arising  from  the  hearty  genero- 
sity of  the  wild  savage.  In  the  course  of  the  day,  ob- 
serving a  ring  on  one  of  my  fingers,  he  inquired  if  it 
was  gold ;  he  was  told  it  was  the  gift  of  one  with  whom 
I  should  be  happy  to  be  at  that  time.  He  seemed  to 
think  seriously,  and  at  night  told  my  interpreter,  *  that 
perhaps  his  father  (as  they  all  called  me)  felt  much 
grieved  for  the  want  of  a  woman ;  if  so,  he  could  furnish 
him  with  one.'  He  was  answered,  that  with  us,  each 
man  had  but  one  wife,  and  that  I  considered  it  strictly 
my  duty  to  remain  faithful  to  her.  This  he  thought 
strange  (he  himself  having  three),  and  replied  that  'he 
knew  some  Americans  at  his  nation  who  had  half  a 
dozen  wives  during  the  winter.'  The  interpreter  ob- 
served that  they  were  men  without  character,  but  that 
all  our  great  men  had  each  but  one  wife.  The  chief 
acquiesced,  but  said  he  liked  better  to  have  as  many  as 
he  pleased.  This  conversation  passing  without  any 
appeal  to  me,  as  the  interpreter  knew  my  mind  on 
those  occasions,  and  answered  immediately,  it  did  not 


266 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


appear  as  an  immediate  refusal  of  the  woman.     Con- 
tinued snowing  very  hard  all  day.     Slept  very  warm. 

"  April  eleventh,  Friday. — Although  it  snowed  very 
hard,  we  brought  over  both  boats,  and  descended  the 
river  to  the  island  at  the  entrance  of  the  St.  Peter's.  I 
sent  to  the  chiefs  and  informed  them  I  had  something  ta 
communicate  to  them.  The  Fils  de  Pinchow  immediately 
waited  on  me,  and 'informed  me  that  he  would  provide 
a  place  for  the  purpose.  About  sundown  I  was  sent  for 
and  introduced  into  the  council-house,  where  I  found  a 
great  many  chiefs  of  the  Sussitongs,  Gens  des  Feuilles, 
and  the  Gens  du  Lac.  The  Yanctongs  had  not  yet  come 
down.  They  were  all  waiting  for  my  arrival.  There 
were  about  one  hundred  lodges,  or  six  hundred  people ;  we 
Were  saluted  on  our  crossing  the  river  with  ball  as  usual. 
The  council-house  was  two  large  lodges,  capable  of  con- 
taining three  hundred  men.  In  the  upper  were  forty 
chiefs,  and  as  many  pipes  set  against  the  poles,  along  side 
of  which  I  had  the  Sauteurs'  pipes  arranged,  I  then 
informed  them  in  short  detail,  of  my  transactions  with 
the  Sauteurs ;  but  my  interpreters  were  not  capable  of 
making  themselves  understood.  I  was  therefore  obliged 
to  omit  mentioning  every  particular  relative  to  the  rascal 
who  fired  on  my  sentinel,  and  of  the  scoundrel  who  broke 
the  Fols  Avoins'  canoes,  and  threatened  my  life;  the 
interpreters  however  informed  them  that  I  wanted  some 
of  their  principal  chiefs  to  go  to  St.  Louis;  and  that 
those  who  thought  proper  might  descend  to  the  prairie, 
M  here  we  would  give  them  more  explicit  information. 
They  all  smoked  out  of  the  Sauteurs'  pipes,  excepting 
three,  who  were  painted  black,  and  were  some  of  those 
who  lost  their  relations  last  winter.     I  invited  the  Fils 


FRUITLESS  SEARCH  FOR  CARVER  S  CAVE. 


267 


de  Finchow,'  and  the  son  of  the  Killeur  Rouge,  to  come 
over  and  sup  with  me ;  when  Mr.  Dickson  and  myself 
endeavoured  to  explain  what  I  intended  to  have  said  to 
them,  could  I  have  made  myself  understood ;  that  at 
the  prairie  we  would  have  all  things  explained ;  that  I 
was  desirous  of  making  a  better  report  of  them  than 
Captain  Lewis  could  do  from  their  treatment  of  him. 
The  former  of  those  savages  was  the  person  who  remained 
around  my  post  all  last  winter,  and  treated  my  men  sa 
well ;  they  endeavoured  to  excuse  their  people. 

"April  twelfth,  Saturday. — Embarked  early.  Al- 
though my  interpreter  had  been  frequently  up  the 
river,  he  could  not  tell  me  where  the  cave  (spoken  of 
by  Carver)  could  be  found ;  we  carefully  sought  for  it, 
but  in  vain.  At  the  Indian  village,  a  few  miles  below 
St.  Peter's,  we  were  about  to  pass  a  few  lodges,  but  on 
receiving  a  very  particular  invitation  to  come  on  shore, 
we  landed,  and  were  received  in  a  lodge  kindly ;  they 
presented  uy  sugar.  I  gave  the  proprietor  a  dram,, 
and  was  about  to  depart  when  he  demanded  a  kettle  of 
liquor ;  on  being  refused,  and  after  I  had  left  the  shore, 
he  told  me,  that  he  did  not  like  the  arrangements,  and 
that  he  would  go  to  war  this  summer.  I  directed  thr. 
interpreter  to  tell  him,  that  if  I  returned  to  the  St. 
Peter's  with  the  troops,  I  would  settle  that  affair  with 
him.  On  our  arrival  at  the  St.  Croix,  I  found  the  Petit 
Corbeau  with  his  people,  and  Messrs.  Frazer  and  Wood. 
We  had  a  conference,  when  the  Petit  Corbeau  made 
many  apologies  for  the  misconduct  of  his  people;  he 
represented  to  us  the  different  manners  in  which  the 
young  warriors  had  been  inducing  him  to  go  to  war ; 


'  Probably  the  son  of  the  French  trader  PeDneshaw. 


268 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


that  he  had  been  much  blamed  for  dismissing  his  party- 
last  fall ;  but  that  he  was  determined  to  adhere  as  far 
as  lay  in  his  power  to  our  instructions ;  that  he  thought 
it  most  prudent  to  remain  here  and  restrain  the  warriors. 
He  then  presented  me  with  a  beaver  robe  and  pipe,  and 
his  message  to  the  general.  That  he  was  determined  to 
preserve  peace,  and  make  the  road  clear ;  also  a  remem- 
brance of  his  promised  medai.  I  made  a  reply,  calculated 
to  confirm  him  in  his  good  intentions,  and  assured  him 
that  he  should  not  be  the  less  remembered  by  his  lather, 
although  not  present.  I  was  informed  that,  notwith- 
standing the  instruction  of  his  license,  and  my  particular 
request,  Murdoch  Cameron  had  taken  liquor  and  sold 
it  to  the  Indians  on  the  river  St.  Peter's,  and  that  his 
partner  below  had  been  equally  imprudent.  I  pledged 
myself  to  prosecute  them  according  to  law ;  for  they 
have  been  the  occasion  of  great  confusion,  and  of  much 
injury  to  the  other  traders.  This  day  met  a  canoe  of 
Mr.  Dickson's  loaded  with  provisions,  under  the  charge 
of  Mr.  Anderson,  brother  of  the  Mr.  Anderson  at  Leech 
Lake.  He  politely  oflfered  me  any  provision  he  had  on 
board  (for  which  Mr.  Dickson  had  given  me  an  order), 
but  not  now  being  in  want,  I  did  not  accept  of  any.  This 
dsLY,  for  the  first  time,  I  observed  the  trees  beginning  to 
bud,  and  indeed  the  climate  seemed  to  have  changed  very 
materially  since  we  passed  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 

"April  thirteenth,  Sunday. — We  embarked  after 
breakfast.  Messrs.  Frazer  and  Wood  accompanied  me. 
Wind  strong  ahead.  They  out-rowed  U8 ;  tlie  first  boat 
or  canoe  we  met  with  on  the  voyage  able  to  do  it,  but 
then  the}^  were  double  manned  and  light.  Arrived  at 
the  band  of  the  Aile  Rouge  at  two  o'clock,  where  we 
•vere  saluted  as  usual.     We  had  a  council,  when  he 


PIKE  SPENDS  A  DAY  AT  RED  WINO. 


261> 


spoke  with  more  detestation  of  the  rascals  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Peter's,  than  any  man  I  had  yet  heard.  He 
assured  me,  speaking  of  the  fellow  who  had  fired  on  my 
sentinel  and  threatened  to  kill  me,  that  if  I  thought  it  re- 
quisite, he  should  be  killed;  but  that,  as  there  were  many 
chiefs  above  with  whom  he  wished  to  speak,  he  hoped 
I  would  remain  one  day,  when  all  the  Sioux  would  be 
down,  and  I  might  have  the  command  of  a  thousand 
men  of  them,  that  I  would  probably  think  it  no  honour; 
but  that  the  British  used  to  flatter  them  they  were 
proud  of  having  them  for  soldiers.  I  replied  in  general 
terms,  and  assured  him  it  was  not  for  the  conduct  of 
two  or  three  rascals  that  I  meant  to  pass  over  all  the 
good  treatment  I  had  received  from  the  Sioux  nation ; 
but  that  in  general  council  I  would  explain  myself. 
That  as  to  the  scoundrel  who  fired  at  my  sentinel,  had 
I  been  at  home  the  Sioux  nation  would  never  have  been 
troubled  with  him,  for  I  would  have  killed  him  on  the 
spot.  But  that  my  young  men  did  not  do  it,  appi*e- 
hensive  that  I  would  be  displeased.  I  then  gave  him 
the  news  of  the  Sauteurs,  that  as  to  remaining  one 
day,  it  would  be  of  no  service;  that  I  was  much  pressed 
to  arrive  below;  as  my  general  expected  me,  my  duty 
called  me,  and  that  the  state  of  my  provision  demanded 
the  utmost  expedition ;  that  I  would  be  happy  to  oblige 
him,  but  that  my  men  must  eat.  He  replied  that  Lake 
Pepin  being  yet  shut  with  ice,  if  I  went  on  and  en- 
camped on  the  ice,  it  would  not  get  me  provision.  That 
he  would  send  out  all  his  young  men  the  next  day ;  and 
that  if  the  other  bands  did  not  arrive,  he  would  depart 
the  day  aftei  with  me.  In  short,  after  much  talk,  i 
agreed  to  remain  one  day,  knowing  that  the  lake  wa^ 


270 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


biased,  and  that  we  could  proceed  only  nine  miles  if  we 
went;  this  appeared  to  give  general  satisfaction. 

"  I  was  invited  to  different  feasts,  and  entertained  at 
one  by  a  person  whose  father  was  enacted  a  chief  by  the 
Spaniai-ds.  At  this  feaat  I  saw  a  man  (called  by  the 
French  the  Roman  Nose,  and  by  the  Indians  the  Wind 
that  Walks)  who  was  formerly  the  second  chief  of  the 
Sioux,  but  being  the  cause  of  the  death  of  one  of  the 
tradei's,  seven  yeare  since,  he  voluntarily  relinquished 
the  dignity,  and  has  frequently  requested  to  be  given 
up  to  the  whit-es.  But  he  was  now  determined  to  go  to 
"St.  Louis  and  deliver  himself  up  where  he  said  they 
might  put  him  to  death.  His  long  repentance,  the 
great  confidence  of  the  nation  in  him,  would  perhaps 
protect  him  from  a  punishment  which  the  crime  merited. 
But  as  the  crime  was  committed  long  before  the  United 
States  assumed  its  authority,  and  as  no  law  of  theirs 
could  affect  it,  unless  it  was  ex  post  facto,  and  had  a 
retrospective  effect,  I  conceived  it  would  certainly  be 
dispunishable  now.  I  did  not  think  proper,  however, 
to  inform  him  so.  I  here  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
RoUet,  partner  of  Mr.  Cameron,  with  a  present  of  some 
brandy,  coffee,  and  sugar.  I  hesitated  about  receiving 
those  articles  from  the  partner  of  the  man  I  intended 
to  prosecute;  their  amount  being  trifling,  however,  I 
accepted  of  them,  offering  him  pay.  I  assured  him  that 
the  prosecution  arose  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  not 
from  any  personal  prejudice.  My  canoe  did  not  come 
up  in  consequence  of  the  head  wind.  Sent  out  two 
men  in  a  canoe  to  set  fishing  lines ;  the  canoe  overset, 
a,nd  had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  assistance  of  the 
savages,  who  carried  them  into  their  lodges,  undressed 
them,  and  treated  them  with  the  greatest  humanity  and 


ATTEMPT  TO  TAKE  PIKE'S  LIFE. 


271 


kindness,  they  must  inevitably  have  perished.  At  this 
place  I  was  informed,  that  the  rascal  spoken  of  as  hav- 
ing threatened  my  life,  had  actually  cocked  his  gun  to 
shoot  me  from  behind  the  hills,  but  was  prevented  by 
the  others. 

"  April  fourteenth,  Monday. — Was  invited  to  a  feast 
by  the  Roman  Nose.  His  conversation  was  interesting, 
and  shall  be  detailed  hereafter.  The  otlier  Indians  not 
yet  arrived.  Messrs.  Wood,  Frazer,  and  myself,  ascended 
a  high  hill  called  the  Bam,  from  which  we  had  a  view 
of  Lake  Pepin ;  the  valley  through  which  the  Missis- 
sippi by  numerous  channels  wound  itself  to  the  St.  Croix ; 
the  Cannon  river,  and  the  lofty  hills  on  each  side. 

"April  fifteenth,  Tuesday. — Arose  very  early  and 
embarked  about  sunrise,  much  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  Indians,  who  were  entirely  prepared  for  the  council 
when  they  heard  I  had  put  off;  however,  after  some 
conversation  with  Mr.  Frazer,  they  acknowledged  that 
it  was  agreeably  to  what  I  had  said,  that  I  would  sail 
early,  and  that  they  could  not  blame  me.  I  was  very 
positive  in  my  word,  for  I  found  it  by  far  the  best  way 
to  treat  the  Indians.  The  Aile  Rouge  had  a  beaver 
robe  and  pipe  prepared  to  present,  but  was  obliged  for 
the  present  to  retain  it.  Passed  through  Lake  Pepin 
with  my  barges;  the  canoe  being  obliged  to  lay  by,  did 
not  come  on.  Stopped  at  a  prairie  on  the  right  bank 
descending,  about  nine  miles  below  Lake  Pepin.  Went 
out  to  view  some  hills  which  had  the  appearance  of  the 
old  fortifications  spoken  of;  but  I  will  speak  more  fully 
of  them  hereafter.  In  these  hollows  I  discovered  a 
flock  of  elk,  took  out  fifteen  men,  but  we  were  not  able 
to  kill  any.     Mr.  Frazer  came  up  and  passed  on  about 


272 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


two  miles.  We  encamped  together.  Neither  Mr.  Wood's 
nor  my  canoe  arrived.     Snowed  considerably. 

"April  sixteenth,  Wednesday. — Mr.  Frazer's  canoes 
and  my  boats  sailed  about  one  hour  by  sun.  We  waited 
some  time  expecting  Mr.  Wood's  barges  and  my  canoe, 
but  hearing  a  gun  fired  first  just  above  our  encamp- 
ment, we  were  induced  to  make  sail.  Passed  the  Aile 
Prairie,  also  La  Montagne  qui  Trompe  k  L'eau,  the 
prairie  De  Cross,  and  encamped  on  the  west  shore,  a 
few  hundred  yards  below,  where  I  had  encamped  on  the 

day  of  September,  in  ascending.     Killed  a  goose 

flying.  Shot  at  some  pigeons  at  our  camp,  and  was 
ans  ^ered  from  behind  an  island  with  two  guns ;  we  re- 
turned them,  and  were  replied  to  by  two  more.  This 
day  the  trees  appeared  in  bloom.  Snow  might  still  be 
seen  on  the  sides  of  the  hills.  Distance  seventy-five 
miles. 

"  April  seventeenth,  Thursday. — Put  ofi"  pretty  early 
and  arrived  at  Wabasha's  band  at  eleven  o'clock,  where 
I  detained  all  daj  for  him;  but  he  alone  of  all  the 
hunters  remained  out  all  night.  Left  some  powder  and 
tobacco  for  him.  The  Sioux  presented  me  with  a  kettle 
of  boiled  meat  and  a  deer.  I  here  received  information 
that  the  Puants  had  killed  some  white  men  below.  Mr. 
Wood's  and  my  canoe  arrived. 

"April  eighteenth,  Friday. — Departed  from  our  en- 
campment very  early.  Stopped  to  breakfast  at  the 
Painted  Rock.  Arrived  at  the  Prairie  Des  Chiens  at 
two  o'clock ;  and  were  received  by  crowds  on  the  bank. 
Took  up  my  quarters  at  Mr.  Fisher's.  My  men  received 
a  present  of  one  barrel  of  pork  from  Mr.  Campbell,  a 
bag  of  biscuit,  twenty  loaves  of  bread,  and  some  meat 


■7"»" 


GREAT  BALL  PLAY  AT  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN. 


J73 


from  Mr.  Fisher.  A  Mr.  Jearreau,'  from  Cahokia,  is 
here)  who  embarks  to-morrow  for  St.  Louis.  I  wrote  to 
General  Wilkinson  by  him.  1  was  called  on  by  a  num> 
ber  of  chiefs,  Reynards,  Sioux  of  the  Des  Mt»yan.  The 
Winnebagoes  were  here  intending,  as  I  wa;i  informed, 
to  deliver  some  of  the  murderers  to  me.  T^eceive  I  a 
great  deal  of  news  from  the  States  and  Europe,  both 
civil  and  military. 

"  April  nineteenth,  Saturday. — Dined  at  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's in  company  with  Messrs.  Wilmot,  Blakely,  Wood, 
Rollet,  Fisher,  Frazer,  and  Jearreau.  Six  canoes 
arrived  from  the  upper  part  of  the  St.  Peter's  with  the 
Yanctong  chiefs  from  the  h2ad  of  that  river.  Their 
appearance  was  indeed  savage,  much  more  so  than  any 
nation  I  have  yet  seen.  Prepared  my  boat  for  sail. 
Gave  notice  to  the  Puants  that  I  had  business  to  do  with 
them  the  next  day.  A  band  of  the  Gena  du  Lac 
arrived.  Took  into  my  pay  as  interpreter  Mr.  Y.  Rein- 
ville. 

"  April  twentieth,  Sunday. — Held  a  council  with  the 
Puant  chiefs,  and  demanded  of  them  the  murderers  of 
their  nation ;  they  required  till  to-morrow  to  consider 
on  it ;  this  afternoon  they  had  a  great  game  of  the  cross 
on  the  prairie,  between  the  Sioux  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  Puants  and  Reynards  on  the  other.  The  ball  is 
made  of  some  hard  substance  and  covered  with  leather, 
the  cross  sticks  are  round  and  net-work,  with  handles 
of  three  feet  long.  The  parties  being  ready,  and  bete 
agreed  upon  (sometimes  to  the  amoun<^  of  some  thou- 
sand dollars),  the  goals  are  set  up  on  the  prairie  at  the 
distance  of  half  a  mile.  The  ball  is  thrown  up  in  the 
middle,  and  each  party  strives  to  drive  it  to  the  opposite 


18 


Or  Jarrob 


m 


274 


HISTORY  OF  MINNBBOTA. 


goal;  and  when  either  party  gains  the  first  rubber, 
which  is  driving  it  quick  round  the  post,  the  ball  is 
again  taken  to  the  centre,  the  ground  changed,  and  the 
contest  renewed ;  and  this  is  continued  until  one  side 
gains  four  times,  which  decides  the  bet.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting sight  to  see  two  or  three  hundred  naked  savages 
contending  on  the  plain  who  shall  bear  ofi"  the  palm  of 
victory;  he  who  drives  the  ball  round  the  goal  is 
much  shouted  at  by  his  companions.  It  sometimes  hap- 
pens that  one  catches  the  ball  in  his  racket,  and  depend- 
ing on  his  speed  endeavours  to  carry  it  to  the  goal,  and 
when  he  finds  himself  too  closely  pursued,  he  hurls  it 
with  great  force  and  dexterity  to  an  amazing  distance, 
whery  there  are  always  flankers  of  both  parties  ready 
CO  receive  it ;  it  seldom  touches  the  ground,  but  is  some- 
tim* ',  kept  in  the  air  for  hours  before  either  party  can 
gain  ibe  vi-' or^  In  the  game  I  witnessed,  the  Sioux 
were  victorious,  more  I  believe  from  the  superiority  of 
their  skill  in  throwing  the  ball,  than  by  theit  swiftness, 
for  I  thought  the  ruants  and  Reynards  the  swiftest 
runners.  I  made  a  written  demand  of  the  magistrates 
to  take  deposition  concerning  the  late  murders.  Had  a 
private  conversation  with  Wabasha. 

"  A.pril  twenty-fifth,  Monday. — Was  sent  for  by  La 
Feulile,  and  had  a  long  and  interesting  conversation 
with  him,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the  general  jealousy  of 
his  nation  towards  their  chiefs ;  and  that  although  he 
knew  it  might  occasion  some  of  the  Sioux  displeasure, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  he  looked  on  the  Nez 
Corbeau  as  the  man  of  most  sense  in  their  nation ;  and 
that  he  beUeved  it  would  be  generallj'  acceptable  if  he 
was  reinstated  in  his  rank.  Upon  my  return  I  was  sent 
for  by  the  Red  Thunder,  chief  of  the  Yanctongs,  the 


RED  THUNDER'S  (TANKTON  CHIEF)  SPEECH. 


276 


most  savage  band  of  the  Sioux.  He  was  prepared  with 
the  most  elegant  pipes  and  robes  I  ever  saw;  and 
shortly  he  declared,  that  *  That  white  blood  had  never 
been  shed  in  the  village  of  the  Yanctongs,  even  Avhen 
rum  was  permitted ;  that  Mr.  Murdoch  Cameron  arrived 
at  his  village  last  autumn ;  that  he  invited  him  to  eat, 
gave  him  com  as  a  bird;  that  he  (Cameron)  informed 
him  of  the  prohibition  of  rum,  and  was  the  only  person 
who  afterwards  sold  it  in  the  village.'  After  this  I  had 
a  council  with  the  Puants.  Spent  the  evening  with 
Mr.  Wilmot,  one  of  the  best  informed  and  most  gentle- 
manly men  in  the  place. 

"  April  twenty-second,  Tuesday. — Held  a  council  with 
the  Sioux  and  Puants,  the  latter  of  whom  (Vurered  up 
their  medals  and  flags.    Prepared  to  depart  to-mori'ow." 


27<t 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


The  traders  of  the  North-west  Company,  though 
they  treated  Lieutenant  Pike  with  the  respect  due  his 
commission,  and  extended  to  him  their  hospitality,  did 
not  approve  of  the  policy  that  the  United  States  govern- 
ment were  intending  to  inaugurate. 

They  were  well  aware  if  the  system  of  establishing 
central  depots  of  trade,  with  goods  furnished  by  the 
government  at  low  rates,  was  successful,  that  "  their 
occupation  was  gone."  Influence  was  consequently 
employed  to  prevent  the  tribes  from  patronizing  the 
United  States  factories,  and  cultivating  friendly  inter- 
course with  the  Americans. 

Pike  liad  scarcely  disappeared  from  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi,  before  Dickson,  Rolette,  and  Cameron  dis- 
regarded the  regulations  which  had  been  established. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  century  Cameron  was 
the  principal  British  trader  on  the  Upper  Minnesota,  and 
the  spot  where  he  was  buried  in  1811,  is  known  among 
voyageurs  as  "  Cameron's  Grr.ve."  He  was  a  shrewd  and 
daring  Scotchman.  One  of  his  employees  was  an  old 
Canadian,  familiarly  called  Milor,  who  has  recently 
died  at  Mendota. 

He  relateJ  a  circumstance  which  occurred  while  in 
the  service  of  Cameron,  which  well  exhibits  the  hard- 


f^m 


SUFFERINGS  OF  CAMERON'S  VOTAOEURS. 


277 


ships  to  which  the  engag^es  of  the  fur  trade  are  often 
exposed. 

While  at  one  of  the  outposts  of  Cameron,  on  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Minnesota,  the  winter  suddenly  set  in,  and 
it  was  impossible  to  use  the  canoe.  Hoping  that  there 
would  be  a  thaw,  he  and  his  companions  waited  from 
day  to  day,  until  their  provisions  were  exhausted.  The 
weather  remaining  cold,  their  only  alternative  was  to 
place  their  packs  of  furs  beneath  the  upturned  canoe, 
and  seek  the  shelter  of  the  woods,  in  the  hope  that 
Cameron  would  send  relief. 
•  With  their  last  meal  in  their  pockets,  they  com- 
menced their  journey  through  the  deep  snow.  Meeting 
with  no  game,  when  they  gicamped  on  the  evening  of 
the  second  day,  they  were  compelled  by  hunger  to  eat 
of  the  bark  of  a  tree. 

During  the  thi^d  day  two  of  the  party  began  to  fail 
in  strength,  and  to  beg  the  others  to  stop  and  show  that 
they  were  losing  their  judgment.  Milor  gave  no  heed 
to  their  entreaties,  but  pushing  ahead  came  at  dusk 
to  a  place  sheltered  from  the  piercing  wind,  and  there 
found  an  Indian  frozen  to  death  beside  the  remnants  of 
a  small  fire. 

Milor  now  shouted  to  his  fellow  voyageurs,  and  told 
them  that  to  stop  was  to  secure  a  similar  fate. 
Frightened  by  the  scene,  they  quickened  their  pace,  until 
late  at  night.  Milor  and  another  succeeded  in  catching 
two  muskrats,  and,  building  up  a  good  fire,  they  fea  ^ted 
on  one  of  the  rats,  and  rested  till  the  break  of  day. 
'*i  Making  a  breakfast  on  the  remaining  rat,  the  party 
resumed  their  march,  Milor  encouraging  them  by  saying 
that  they  would  soon  come  to  a  place  where  there  waa 
an  abundance  of  muskrats,  and  that  as  soon  as  they  had 


278 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


"iii'tC 


laid  in  a  supply  of  them,  they  would  strike  for  Traverse 
des  Sioux,  when  they  would  be  sure  to  hear  of  Cameron 
and  obtain  food. 

For  several  days  they  found  but  one  muskrat ;  but  on 
the  morning  of  the  eighth  day,  after  they  had  been 
marching  an  hour,  Milor,  looking  attentively  in  a  south- 
east direction,  declared  that  he  saw  smoke,  and  that 
there  must  be  a  fire.  This,  for  a  time,  had  the  exhila- 
rating eflfect  of  wine ;  but  after  two  or  three  hours  the 
sign  disappeared,  and  they  began  to  despond ;  when  the 
thought  came  to  Milor  that  if  there  was  a  party  coming 
to  their  relief,  they  would  be  on  the  lookout  also.  In 
less  than  half  an  hour  he  had  ascended  a  bluff,  and 
descried  a  thick  column  of  smoke,  about  three  miles 
distant.  Waving  his  cap  to  his  companions,  and  shout- 
ing for  joy,  he  hurried  in  that  direction,  and  found  a 
party  who  had  come  to  their  aid.  Two  men  were  there, 
each  >vith  a  pack  of  pork  and  biscuit,  which  had  been 
despatched  from  Traverse  des  Sioux,  while  Cameron 
and  three  others  were  expecting  to  start  with  an  addi- 
tional supply.  When  the  fatigued  party  came  into 
camp,  they  literally  danced  for -joy.  Feathers  tonhaugh, 
who  relates  the  story,  remarks :  "This  incident  is  very 
much  to  the  credit  of  Cameron,  who  made  so  resolute 
an  attempt  to  relieve  his  poor  engag^es,  when  the 
chances  of  success  were  so  few." 

As  early  as  the  year  1807,  it  was  evident  that  uiidei 
some  secret  influence  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  North- 
west were  combining  with  hostile  intentions  towards 
the  United  States.  In  the  year  1809,  a  trader  by  the 
name  of  Nicholas  Jarrot,  who  frequently  visited  Prairie 
du  Chien,  made  an  affidavit  at  Saint  Louis,  that  the 
British  traders  at  that  place  were  furnishing  the  Indians 


DICKSON— HIS  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE. 


279 


with  guns  for  hostile  purposes.  Messengers  from  the 
Prophet,  brother  of  Tecumseh,  painted  black,  were  sent 
among  the  O^ibways,  and  in  solemn  council  they  told 
the  astonished  natives  that  the  Prophet  who  sent  them 
had  been  told  by  one  of  the  great  spirits  that  it  was 
the  will  of  the  gods  that  Indians  should  live  independent 
of  the  whites,  and  return  to  primitive  usages.  The 
flint  and  steel  were  to  be  discarded ;  and  fire  obtained 
as  of  old,  by  the  friction  of  two  sticks.  To  those  who 
believed  the  message,  blessings  were  promised.  They 
also  claimed  that  the  Prophet  could  resuscitate  the  dead. 
The  late  William  Warren  asserts  that  a  dead  child  was 
taken  from  Lake  Ottawa  to  K*»weena,  on  Lake  Superior, 
for  the  purpose  of  having  it  brought  to  life  by  the  Pro- 
phet ;  but  putrefaction  Ifaving  taken  place,  the  project 
was  abandoned. 

At  this  period,  a  red-haired  Scotchman,  of  strong 
intellect,  good  family,  and  ardent  attachment  to  the 
crown  of  England,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Indian  trade 
in  Minnesota.  Pike,  who  visited  him  in  1806,  at  one 
of  his  trading  posts  near  Sauk  Eapids,  describes  him  as 
"  a  gentleman  of  general  commercial  knowledge,  and  of 
open,  frank  manners."  Governor  Edwards  of  Illinois, 
writing  to  the  secretary  of  war,  says :  "  The  opinion  of 
Dickson,  the  celebrated  British  trader,  is,  that,  in  the 
event  of  a  war  with  Great  Britain,  all  the  Indians  Avill 
be  opposed  to  us,  and  he  hopes  to  engage  them  in  hos- 
tility by  making  peace  between  the  Sioux  and  Chippe- 
ways,  and  in  having  them  to  declare  war  against  us." 
A  source  of  influence  among  the  Dahkotahs  of  Minne- 
sota was  the  fact  that  he  had  married  a  sister  of  Red 
Thunder,  one  of  their  bravest  chiefs,  and  that  the 


wmm 


280 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


British  government  had  appointed  him  agent  and  super- 
intendent of  the  western  tribes. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1812,  two  Indians  were  appre- 
hended at  Chicago,  who  were  on  their  way  to  meet 
Dickson  at  Green  Bay.  They  had  taken  the  precaution 
to  put  their  letters  in  their  moccasins,  and  bury  them 
in  the  ground,  and  were  allowed  to  proceed. 

A  Mr.  Frazer,  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  who  was  present 
at  the  portage  of  the  Wisconsin,  when  the  Indians  deli- 
vered the  letters,  stated  that  Dickson  was  informed  that 
the  British  flag  would  soon  be  flying  on  the  American 
garrison  at  Mackinaw.  About  this  time,  Cadotte,  Deace, 
and  John  Askin  were  at  Fond  du  Lac,  Minnesota, 
collecting  Ojibway  warriors.  At  Green  Bay,  Black 
Hawk  was  formally  created  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Indian  forces,  by  Dickson  presenting  him  with  a  medal 
and  certificate,  a  British  flag  of  silk. 

The  garrison  at  Mackinaw  was  composed  of  fifty-seven 
soldiers,  with  a  lieutenant  in  command.  Before  Lieu- 
tenant Hanks  was  aware  that  war  had  been  proclaimed 
by  the  United  States,  he  was  surprised  by  a  force  of 
British  soldiers  and  Indians  landing  from  a  ship  that 
belonged  to  the  North-west  Company,  and  numerous 
batteaux  and  birch  canoes.  With  the  British  army 
were  traders  who  had  long  been  familiar  with  the  tribes 
of  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  Askin,  Langlade,  Michael 
Cadotte,  and  Joseph  Rolette.  The  American  ofiicer, 
perceiving  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy,  which 
consisted  of  forty  regulars  of  the  royal  veteran  batta- 
lion, two  hundred  and  sixty  Canadians,  with  their  bour- 
geois or  employees,  and  several  hundred  Dahlwtah,  Ojib 
way,  Winnebago,  and  Menomonee  Indians,  capitulated 
without  firing  a  single  gun  on  July  the  seventeenth,  1812. 


INVITATION  TO  EAT  AN  AMERICAN. 


281 


An  American  gentleman,  who  had  been  made  pris- 
oner, writes  from  Detroit  on  August  sixth,  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War : — 

"  The  persons  who  commanded  the  Indians  are  Robert 
Dickson,  Indian  trader,  and  John  Askin,  Jr.,  Indian 
agent,  and  son.  The  latter  two  were  painted  and  dressed 
after  the  manner  of  the  Indians.  Those  who  com- 
manded the  Canadians  are  John  Johnson,  Crawford, 
Pothier,  Armitinger,  La  Croix,  Rolette,  Franks,  Living- 
ston and  other  traders,  some  of  whom  were  lately  con- 
cerned in  smuggling  British  goods  into  the  Indian 
country,  and,  in  conjunction  with  others,  have  been 
using  their  utmost  eflForts,  several  months  before  the 
declaration  of  war,  to  excite  the  Indians  to  take  up 
arms.  The  least  resistance  from  the  fort  would  have 
been  attended  with  the  destruction  of  all  the  persons 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  as  I  have  been 
assured  by  some  of  the  British  traders." 

The  next  year  Dickson,  Renville,  and  other  Minne- 
sota traders,  are  present  with  the  Kaposia,  Wapashaw, 
and  other  bands  of  Dahkotahs,  at  the  siege  of  Fort 
Meigs. 

While  Renville  was  seated  one  afternoon  with  Wapa- 
shaw, and  the  then  chief  of  the  Kaposia  band,  a  deputa- 
tion came  to  invite  them  to  meet  the  other  allied  Indians, 
with  which  the  chiefs  complied. 

Frazer,  an  old  trader  in  Minnesota,  came  and  told 
Renville  that  the  Indians  were  about  to  eat  an  Ame- 
rican. On  repairing  to  the  spot,  the  flesh  was  found 
carved  up,  and  apportioned  in  dishes,  one  for  each 
nation  present.  The  bravest  man  of  each  tribe  was 
urged  to  step  forward  and  partake  of  the  heart  and 


282 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


head,  and  only  one  warrior  of  a  tribe  was  allowed  to 
partake  of  these  rarities. 

Among  those  assembled  there  was  a  nephew  of  the 
Kaposia  chief,  known  among  the  traders  as  the  Grand 
Chasseur,  who  was  pressed  by  a  Winnebago  to  partake 
of  the  human  flesh.  In  a  moment  his  uncle  told  him 
to  leave  the  feast,  and,  arising,  made  a  speech  creditable 
to  his  humanity : — 

"  My  friends,"  said  he,  "  we  came  here  not  to  eat 
Americans,  but  to  wage  war  against  them;  that  will 
suffice  for  us ;  and  could  we  do  that  if  left  to  our  own 
forces  ?  We  are  poor  and  destitute,  while  they  possess 
the  means  of  supplying  themselves  with  all  that  they 
require ;  we  ought  not  therefore  to  do  such  things." 

Wapashaw  then  spoke  in  these  words,  "  We  thought 
that  you,  Avho  live  near  to  white  men,  were  wiser  and 
more  refined  than  we  are  who  live  at  a  distance ;  but 
it  must  indeed  be  otherwise  if  you  do  such  deeds." 

Col.  Dickson,  sending  for  the  Winnebago,  who  origi- 
nated the  disgusting  feast,  asked  what  impelled  him  to 
such  a  course.  To  which  the  savage  replied,  that  it 
was  better  for  him  to  kill  the  American  and  eat  him, 
than  it  was  for  the  Americans  to  bum  his  house,  ravish 
and  murder  his  wife  and  daughters. 

The  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  now  began  to  feel  uneasy ;  and  in  the  Mis- 
souri Gazette  of  July  thirty-first,  1813,  published  at 
St.  Louis,  there  is  a  plea  by  the  editor,  for  the  defence 
of  Prairie  du  Chien : — 

"  Laat  winter,"  he  says,  "  we  endeavoured  to  turn  the 
attention  of  the  government  toward  Prairie  du  Chien, 
a  position  which  we  ought  to  occupy  by  establishing  a 
miUtary  post  at  the  village,  or  on  the  Ouisconsin.     For 


FIRST  AMERICAN  FORT  AT  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN. 


28» 


several  mouths  we  have  not  been  able  to  procure  any 
other  than  Indian  information  from  the  prairie,  the 
enemy  having  cut  oflF  all  communication ;  but  we  are 
persuaded  that  permanent  subsistence  can  be  obtained 
for  one  thousand  regular  troops  in  the  upper  lake  coun- 
try. At  Prairie  du  Chien  there  are  about  fifty  families, 
most  of  whom  are  engaged  in  agriculture.  Their  com- 
mon field  is  four  miles  long  by  half  a  mile  in  breadth. 
Besides  this  field  they  have  three  separate  farms,  and 
twelve  horse-mills  to  manufacture  their  produce." 

In  February,  1814,  the  Americans  captured  St.  Jo- 
seph's, in  Lake  Huron,  not  far  from  Sault  St.  Marie, 
and  Mr.  Bailly  and  five  others  connected  with  the 
Mackinaw  Company  were  taken  prisoners. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1814,  Governor  Clark,  with  two 
hundred  men,  left  St.  Louis,  to  build  a  fort  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Wisconsin  and  Mississippi.  Twenty  days 
before  he  arrived  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Dickson  had 
started  for  Mackinaw  with  a  band  of  Dahkotahs  and 
Winnebagoes.  The  place  was  left  in  command  of 
Captain  Deace  and  the  Mackinaw  Tincibles.  The 
Dahkotahs  refusing  to  co-operate,  when  the  Americans 
made  their  appearance  they  fled.  The  Americans  took 
possession  of  the  old  Mackinaw  house,  in  which  they 
found  nine  or  ten  trunks  of  papers  belonging  to  Dick- 
son.    From  one  they  took   the  following  extract: — 

"  Arrived,  from  below,  a  few  Winnebagoes  with  scalps. 
Gave  them  tobacco,  six  pounds  powder,  and  six  pounds 
ball." 

A  fort  was  immediately  commenced  on  the  site  of  the 
residence  of  H.  L.  Dousman,  which  was  composed  of  two 
block-houses  in  the  angles,  and  another  on  the  jank  of 
the   river,   with   a   subterranean   communic^  cion.     In 


284 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


hoiiour  of  the  governor  of  Kentucky  it  was  named 
"  Shelby." 

The  fort  was  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Perkins,  and 
sixty  rank  and  file,  and  two  gun-boats,  each  of  which 
carried  a  six-pounder ;  and  several  howitzers  were  com- 
manded by  Captains  Yeiser,  Sullivan,  and  Aid-de-camp 
Kennerly. 

The  traders  at  Mackinaw,  learning  that  the  Ameri- 
cans had  built  a  fort  at  the  Prairie,  and  knowing  that 
as  long  as  they  held  possession  they  would  be  cut  off 
from  the  trade  with  the  Dahkotahs,  they  immediately 
raised  an  expedition  to  capture  the  garrison. 

The  captain  was  an  old  trader  by  the  name  of  McKay, 
and  under  him  was  a  sergeant  of  artillery,  with  a  brasa 
six-pounder,  and  three  or  four  volunteer  companies  of 
Canadian  voyageurs,  commanded  by  traders  and  officered 
by  their  clerks,  all  dressed  in  red  coats,  with  a  number 
of  Indians. 

The  Americans  had  scarcely  completed  their  rude 
fortification,  before  the  British  force,  guided  by  Joseph 
Rolette,  Sr.,  desf ended  in  canoes  to  a  point  on  the  Wis- 
consin, several  miles  from  the  Prairie,  to  which  they 
marched  in  battle  array.  McKay  sent  a  flag  demand- 
ing a  surrender;  Lieutenant  Perkins  replied  that  he 
would  defend  it  to  the  hist. 

At  three  o'clock,  on  the  afternoon  of  July  seventeenth, 
the  British  and  Indians  attacked  the  gun-boat  of  Captain 
Yeiser ;  the  Indians  firing  from  behind  the  houses  and 
pickets.  The  boa^  moved  up  toward  the  head  of  the 
village,  discharging  volleys,  which  were  quickly  an- 
swered by  the  British.  The  enemy  now  crossed  the 
river,  and  commenced  an  attack  from  the  opposite  side, 


AMERICANS  RETREAT  FROM  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN. 


286 


which  caused  Captain  Yeiser  to  run  his  boat  through 
the  enemy's  lines  to  a  point  a  few  miles  below. 

Lieutenant  Perkins,  in  the  meantime,  fought  bravely 
in  the  fort  for  three  days  and  nights.  Pi  )vision8,  am- 
munition, and  water,  began  to  fail^  and  the  enemy  were 
approaching  the  pickets  by  mining.  He  therefore  wisely 
surrendered,  capitulating  that  they  were  to  retain  their 
private  property,  and  not  to  serve  until  duly  exchanged. 
After  placing  them  on  parol,  the  British  commander 
escorted  them  to  the  gun-boat  "Governor  Clark,"  in 
which  they  had  arrived  only  a  month  before,  and  sent 
them  down  the  river. 

In  their  descent  they  were  followed  by  a  party  of  the 
blood-thirsty  savages  in  canoes,  who  did  not  turn  back 
until  they  reached  Rock  Island. 

About  the  time  of  the  capture,  a  detachment  of  troops 
were  on  their  way  from  St.  Louis,  under  the  command 
of  a  Lieut.  Campbell,  to  strengthen  the  garrison.  Ar- 
riving at  Rock  Island,  he  held  a  conference  with  Black 
Hawk  at  his  village.  A  few  moments  after  his  depar- 
ture, runners,  by  way  of  Rock  River,  brought  the  news 
to  the  Sauk  village  that  the  Americans  had  been  de- 
feated at  Prairie  du  Chien. 

Immediately  they  started  in  pursuit  of  Campbell's 
party,  which  they  overtook  at  a  small  island  near  the 
Illinois  shore,  about  three  miles  above  their  village. 
A  fierce  encounter  took  place,  in  which  the  Americans 
were  worsted.  The  ofl&cer  was  wounded,  several  men 
were  killed,  and  one  of  their  boats  captured,  so  that  it 
became  necessary  to  retreat  to  St.  Ijouis.  Fort  Shel- 
by, after  the  capture,  was  called  Fort  McKay.  After 
the  attack  of  Black  Hawk  on  Campbell,  the  commander 
of  Fort  McKay  erected  a  battery,  with  two  twelve- 


^m 


^l^n 


\H 


286 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


pounders  and  six  painted  wooden  guns,  near  Rock 
Island,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river. 

Late  in  August,  1814,  Major  Zachary  Taylor,  the 
late  [jresident  of  the  United  States,  proceeded  in  some 
gun-boats  to  punish  the  Indians  who  had  attacked 
Campbell ;  but  on  his  arrival  he  was  astonished  to  find 
the  British  there  with  a  large  force  of  Indians.  It  was 
a  bright,  beautiful  morning  in  September  when  the 
engagement  began,  and  the  first  cannon  ball  fired  from 
the  British  battery  passed  through  one  of  Taylor's  gun- 
boats, commanded  by  Captain  Hempstead. 

Ta>'lor,  like  Campbel'.,  soon  had  his  boats  disabled, 
and  was  obliged  to  drop  down  the  stream  about  three 
miles  to  repair,  and  attend  to  the  wounded.  During 
the  conflict  it  became  necessary  for  some  one  to  carry 
a  cable  from  a  disabled  boat  which  was  drifting  towards 
the  Indians  to  one  commanded  by  Captain  Whiteside. 
A  youth  of  twenty-three,  named  Paul  Harpole,  per- 
formed the  undertaking  successfully,  but  having  done 
this,  he  lingered  and  fired  fourteen  guns  which  were 
handed  him  at  the  enemy,  when  he  himself  was  shot. 
His  body,  floating  down  the  stream,  was  seized  by  yell- 
ing savages  and  cut  into  many  pieces.  In  the  engage- 
ment eleven  Americans  were  badly  wounded. 

Among  those  who  came  in  Captain  Yeiser's  gun-boat 
to  St.  Louis,  after  the  surrender  of  Prairie  du  Chien, 
was  a  friendly  "one-eyed  Sioux,"  who  had  behaved 
gallantly  when  the  boat  was  attacked  by  British  artil- 
lery. In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  this  one-eyed  Sioux, 
with  another  of  the  same  nation,  ascended  the  Missouri 
under  the  protection  of  the  distinguished  trader.  Manual 
Lisa,  as  far  as  the  Au  Jacques  river,  and  from  thence 
lie  struck  across  the  country,  enlisting  the  Sioux  in 


DICKSON  AND  THE  "ONESYED  SIOUX." 


28T 


favour  of  the  United  States,  and  at  length  arrived  at 
Prairie  du  Cliien.  On  hie  arrival,  Dickson  nccoeted  him, 
and  inquired  from  whence  he  came,  and  what  was  his 
businesa ;  at  the  same  time  rudely  snatching  his  bundle 
from  his  shoulders,  and  searching  for  letters.  The 
"one-eyed  warrior"  told  him  that  he  was  from  St.  Louis, 
and  that  he  had  promised  the  white  chiefs  there  that 
he  would  go  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  smd  that  he  had  kept 
his  promise. 

Dickson  then  placed  him  in  confinement  in  Fort  Mc- 
Kay, as  the  garrison  was  called  by  the  British,  and 
ordered  him  to  divulge  what  information  he  possessed, 
or  he  would  put  him  to  death.  But  the  faithful  fellow 
said  he  would  impart  nothing,  and  that  he  was  ready 
for  death  if  he  wished  to  kill  him.  Finding  that  con- 
finement had  no  effect,  Dickson  at  last  liberated  him. 
He  then  left,  and  visited  the  bands  of  Sioux  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi,  with  which  he  passed  the  winter. 
When  he  returned  in  the  spring,  Dickson  had  gone  to 
Mackinaw,  and  Captain  Bulger  was  in  command  of  the 
fort. 

While  there,  on  May  twenty-third,  1815,  the  British 
evacuated  the  fort,  the  news  of  peace  having  arrived. 
As  they  retired,  they  fired  the  fort  with  the  American 
colours  flying;  and  the  brave  Sioux,  exposing  himself 
to  the  flames,  rushed  in  and  bore  off  the  American  flag 
and  an  American  medal. 

This  one-eyed  Sioux,  if  Dr.  Foster  of  Hastings  is 
correct,  is  still  living.  In  an  article  published  in  the 
Minnesota  Democrat,  May,  1854,  he  speaks  of  the  sign- 
ers of  the  treaty  between  Pike,  on  the  part  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  the  Dahkohtahs,  and  says : — 

"  I  have  omitted  till  the  last,  mention  of  Le  Orig- 


288 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


nal  Lev6.  who,  next  to  Little  Crow,  appears  to  have 
been  the  most  prominent  individual  present.  Pike  calls 
him  '  my  friend,'  and  seems  to  have  made  him  some 
marked  presents — indeed,  the  Indian  relationship  and 
tie  of  comradeship  was  probably  adopted  between  them. 
Pike  says  he  'was  a  war  chief,  and  that  he  gave  him 
my  [his]  father's  tomahawk,'  though  what  he  means  by 
that,  passes  my  comprehension.  In  the  table  of  Indian 
chiefs,  in  the  appendix  to  Pike's  Journal,  he  is  set  down 
as  belonging  to  the  Meday wokant'wans ;  his  Indian 
name  is  given  a:  Taharaie,  his  French  as  L'Orignal  Lev6, 
and  his  English  as  the  *  Rising  Moose,'  which  is  stated 
to  be  literally  translated. 

"I  beUeve  this  war  chief  to  be  identical  with  the 
aged  Indian,  with  whom  most  of  the  old  settlers  are 
familiar  by  the  name  of  T,  h-mah-haw,  whose  character- 
istics are  one  eye,  an^  Uid  always  wearing  a  stove-pipe 
hat.  He  is  remarkable  among  the  Sioux — and  it  is  his 
greatest  pride  and  boast,  that  he  is  the  only  American 
in  his  tribe.  This  is  explained  by  the  fact,  that  in  the 
',var  with  Great  Britain  in  1812,  when  the  rest  of  the 
Sioux  sided  with  the  British,  and  when  Little  Crow, 
with  Joseph  Renville,  led  on  a  war  party  to  join  the 
British  army  against  us,  he  refused  to  participate  on 
that  side,  and  joined  the  Americans  at  St.  Louis,  where 
he  was  employed  by  General  Clarke,  in  the  American 
service. 

"  He  has  now  in  his  possession,  and  carefully  keeps  a 
commission  from  General  Clarke,  datod  in  1814,  as  a 
chief  of  the  Sioux;  the  commission  says  of  the  Red 
Wing  band  of  Indians — which  was  originally  part  of 
Wabashaw's  band. 

"  K  he  is  the  sam'^*  person  as  L'Orignal  Lev4,  then 


FOSTER'S  ACCOUNT  OP  T  AM  AH  AW. 


289 


Pike  and  his  Indian  comrade  fought  in  the  same  ranks, 
and  the  friendship  the  latter  imbibed  at  Pike's  visit  for 
the  Americans,  stood  the  test  of  time  and  vicissitudes. 

"  He  deserves  on  this  account  to  receive  from  the  go- 
vernment authorities,  special  and  marked  attention. 

"Joseph  Mojou,  an  old  Canadian  of  Point  Prescott, 
told  me  that  Tamahaw  was  called  by  the  voyageurs, 
the  'Old  Priest,'  because  he  was  a  great  talker  on  all 
occasions.  In  Sioux,  tamwamda  means  to  talk  earnestly ; 
to  vociferate ;  and  this  bears  some  resemblance  to  his 
Indian  name  as  at  present  pronounced. 

"  My  friend  Mr.  Hatch  informs  me,  when  he  traded 
with  the  Winnebagoes  and  with  the  Sioux  of  Wabashaw 
band,  he  knew  him,  and  has  seen  his  commission  from 
General  Clarke.  The  Winnebagoes,  who  were  ac- 
quainted with  him,  translated  his  name  to  mean  the 
pike  fiiih,  and  therefore  called  him  Nazeekah — though 
iah-mah-hat/  and  not  tahrmah-haw,  is  the  word  for ' pike' 
in  the  Dakotah  tongue. 

"  It  may  be  thought  more  pains  are  taken  to  elucidate 
this  persona]  history  of  an  old  Indian^  than  the  subject 
warrants.  But  when  we  reflect  that  this  old  Indian 
was  the  contemporary,  if  not  personal  friend  of  Pike; 
that  he  arid  one  other  Sioux  were  of  all  his  tribe  who 
sided  with  the  Americans  in  the  war  of  1812;  there  is 
an  interest  justly  attached  to  his  identity  and  history, 
wh'ch  deserves  more  than  ordinary  attention.  The 
other  Sioux  who,  like  Tamahaw,  joined  the  Americans 
in  1812,  was  Hay-pee-dan,  who  belonged  to  Wakootay's 
band.     He  is  now  deceased." 

As  late  as  1817,  Colonel  Dickson  was  living  in  Min- 
nesota, at  Lake  Traverse,  and.  the  Indian  agent  at 
Praiiie  du  Chien  suspected  that  he  was  alienating  the 

19 


290 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Dahkotahs  from  the  United  States,  and  in  company  with 
Lord  Selkirk,  striving  to  secure  their  trade,  as  the  fol- 
lowing extract  from  his  letter  of  February  sixteenth, 
1818,  to  the  governor  of  Illinois  will  show: — 

"  What  do  you  suppose,  sir,  has  been  the  result  of  the 
passage  through  my  agency  of  this  British  nobleman  ?* 
Two  entire  bands,  and  part  of  a  third,  all  Sioux,  have 
deserted  us  and  joined  Dickson,  who  has  distributed  to 
them  large  quantities  of  Indian  presents,  together  with 
flags,  medals,  etc.  Knowing  this,  what  must  have  been 
my  feelings  on  hearing  that  his  lordship  had  met  with 
a  favourable  reception  at  St.  Louis.  The  newspapers 
announcing  hia  arrival,  and  general  Scottish  appearaace, 
all  tend  to  discomj.ose  me;  believing  as  I  do,  that  he  is 
plotting  with  his  friend  Dickson  our  destruction — 
sharpening  the  savage  scalping  kni^'c,  and  colonizing  a 
tract  of  country,  so  remote  as  that  of  the  Red  River,  for 
the  purpose,  no  doubt,  of  monopolizing  the  fur  and 
peltr^  trade  of  this  river,  the  Missouri  and  their  waters ; 
9  traue  of  the  first  importance  to  our  Western  States 
and  Territories.  A  courier  who  had  arrived  a  few  days 
since,  confirms  the  belief  that  Dickson  is  endeavouring 
to  undo  what  I  have  done,  and  secure  to  the  British 
government  the  affections  of  the  Sioux,  and  subject  the 
North-west  Company  to  his  lordship.  ***** 
Dickson,  as  I  have  before  observed,  is  situated  near  the 
head  of  the  St.  Peter's,  to  which  place  he  transports  his 
goods  from  Selkirk's  Red  River  establishment,  in  carts 
made  f'  the  purpose.  The  trip  is  performed  in  five 
days,  sometimes  less.  He  is  directed  to  build  a  fort 
on  the  highest  land  between  Lac  du  Traverse  and  Red 


'  Earl  of  Selkirk.    The  agent'8  fears  were  entirely  groundless. 


'^<ww"piwwip^ppfr*' 


DICKSON'S  TEDE  CHARACTER. 


291 


River,  which  he  supposes  will  be  the  established  line  be- 
tween the  two  countries.  This  fort  will  be  defended  by- 
twenty  men,  with  two  small  pieces  of  artillery." 

It  is  said  that  after  this,  Dickson  was  arrested  be- 
tween the  Minnesota  and  St.  Croix,  and  carried  to  St. 
Louis.  '    -      ^ 

Dickson,  though  an  active  partisan,  is  believed  to 
have  been  a  humane  mail.  The  American  papers  were 
naturally  prejudiced  against  him,  and  all  the  cruelties 
of  the  savages  were  charged  upon  him.  Says  one  editor 
at  that  day :  "  How  will  the  English  government,  and 
their  agent,  Robert  Dickson,  a  native  of  Scotland,  appear 
when  it  is  announced  to  the  world,  that  he  employed  a 
Sauk  warrior  to  assassinate  Governor  Clarke  at  Prairie 
du  Chien  ?  The  governor's  timely  shifting  of  his  sword 
alarmed  and  deterred  from  the  commission  of  the  act." 
There  appears  to  have  been  no  real  foundation  for  any 
such  impression.  On  the  contrary,  when  Black  Hawk 
expressed  a  desire  to  attack  the  defenceless  settlements 
on  the  Mississippi,  Dickson  remonstrated,  saying  "  that 
he  had  been  a  trader  on  the  Mississippi  many  years ; 
had  always  been  kindly  treated ;  and  could  not  consent 
to  send  brave  men  to  murder  women  and  children. 
That  there  was  no  soldiers  there  to  fight,  but  where  he 
was  going  to  send  the  Indians  there  were  a  number  of 
soldiers,  and  if  they  defeated  tJiem,  the  Mississippi 
country  should  be  given  up  to  them."' 


'  Ramsay  Crooks  of  New  York 
city,  in  a  letter  to  Hon.  H.  M.  Rice, 
October  16,  1857,  writes. 

"  I  first  went  to  Mackinaw  in 
1805,  as  a  olerk  to  Robert  Dickson 
&  Co.,  who  were  then  engaged  in  the 
trade  with  the    Indians  from  the 


Lakes  to  the  Missouri,  and  from  the 
Wabash  to  the  boundary  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 
Dickson's  connection  as  a  trader 
with  the  Indians  was  almost  entire- 
ly with  the  Scioux,  (Dnhcotahs)  of 
St.  Peters,  (Minnesota)  *  «  •  ♦  » 


292 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


In  1815,  Wapashaw  and  Little  Crow,  of  the  Kaposia 
band,  visited  the  British  post  at  Drummond's  Island  in 
Lake  Huron,  at  the  request  of  the  commanding  officer, 
who  desired  to  thank  them  in  the  name  of  his  majesty, 
for  the  services  the  Dahkotahs  had  rendered  during  the 
war.  After  his  remark,  he  pointed  to  a  few  presents  on 
the  floor,  which  called  forth  the  following  speeches : — 

"  My  Father,"  said  Wapashaw,  "  what  is  this  I  see 
before  me?  A  few  knives  and  blankets!  Is  this  all 
you  promised  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  ?  Where  are 
those  promises  you  made  at  Michilimackinac,  and  sent 
to  our  villages  on  the  Mississippi  ?  You  told  us  you 
would  never  let  fall  the  hatchet  until  the  Americans 
were  driven  beyond  the  mountains;  that  our  British 
Father  would  never  make  peace  without  consulting  his 
red  children.  Has  that  come  to  pass  ?  We  never  knew 
of  this  peace.  We  are  told  it  was  made  by  our  Great 
Father  beyond  the  water,  without  the  knowledge  of  his 
war  chiefs;  that  it  is  your  duty  to  obey  his  orders. 
What  is  this  to  us  ?  Will  these  paltry  presents  pay  for 
the  men  we  have  lost  both  in  the  battle  and  in  the  war  ? 
Will  they  soothe  the  feelings  of  our  friends  ?  Will  they 
make  good  your  promises  to  us  ?  For  myself  I  am  an 
old  man.  I  have  lived  long  and  always  found  the  means 
of  subsistence,  and  I  can  do  so  still !" 

The  Little  Crow,  whose  residence  at  that  time  was 
just  below  St.  Paul,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  was 
more  indignant.  With  vehemence  he  said,  "  After  we 
have  fought  for  you,  endured  many  hardships,  lost  some 


I  was  proud  to  call  Robert  Dickaon  ferocity  of  the  IrdianH  on  the  fron- 

my  friend,  and  I  shall  ever  cherish  tier,  in  the  war  of  1812,  although  he 

his  memory  as  a  man  who  exerted  was  branded  as  the  worst  of  savages, 

himself  in  restraining  the  natural  at  the  very  time." 


FORMATION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  FUR  COMPANY. 


293 


of  our  people,  and  awakened  the  vengeance  of  our  power- 
ful neighbours,  you  make  a  peace  for  yourselves,  and 
leave  us  to  obtain  such  terms  as  we  can !  You  no  longer 
need  our  services,  and  offer  these  goods  as  a  compensa- 
tion for  having  deserted  us.  But  no !  we  will  not  take 
them;  we  hold  them  and  yourselves  in  equal  contempt!" 
So  saying,  he  spumed  the  presents  with  his  foot,  ancJ 
walked  away.  On  the  nineteenth  of  July,  at  Portage 
des  Sioux ,  a  treaty  was  concluded  between  the  Dahko- 
tahs  of  the  Mississippi,  Minnesota,  and  the  Yankton 
division,  and  the  United  States,  in  which  it  was  stipu- 
lated that  there  should  be  perpetual  peace  between 
them,  and  that  all  previous  acts  of  hostility  should  be 
mutually  forgiven  and  forgotten. 

After  the  fame  of  the  North-west  Company  was  esta- 
blished, another  association  of  traders  was  formed,  called 
the  Mackinaw  Company.  In  1809  Astor  organized  the 
American  Fur  Company,  and  after  two  years  bought 
out  the  Mackinaw  Company,  and  created  a  new  com- 
pany distinguished  as  the  South-west.  During  the 
winter  of  1815-16  Congress  enacted  a  law,  that  no 
foreigner  should  engage  in  the  Indian  trade  who  did 
not  tecome  a  citizen.  Astor,  after  this,  established  a 
company  with  a  former  title,  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany. 

The  Indian  trade  of  the  North-west  was  so  completely 
in  the  hands  of  British  subjects,  that  it  was  discovered 
that  the  trade  could  not  be  carried  on  without  their  aid, 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  issued  a  circular, 
allowing  the  Indian  agents  to  license  interpreters  and 
voyageurs,  who  might  be  employed  by  the  American 
traders. 

Under  the  new  arrangements,  American  citizens  began 


m 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


to  identify  themselves  with  the  fur  trade  of  Minnesota. 
As  early  as  1816  the  late  Judge  Lockwood  of  Prairie 
du  Chien,  in  the  capacity  of  clerk,  took  charge  of  a 
trading  post,  near  the  sources  of  the  Minnesota.  His 
remarks,  in  relation  to  the  Indian  trade,  which  are 
given  in  his  personal  reminiscences,'  show  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  trader's  life : — 

"  Tradition  says  that  many  years  since,  when  there 
were  many  wintering  traders  in  both  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Mississippi,  it  was  the  custom  of  every  trader 
vioiting  Prairie  du  Chien,  to  have  in  store  a  keg  of 
eight  or  nine  gallons  of  good  wine  for  convivial  purposes 
when  they  should  again  meet  in  the  spring,  on  which 
occasions  they  would  have  great  dinner  parties,  and,  as 
is  the  English  custom,  drink  largely.  But,  when  I  came 
into  the  country,  there  were  but  few  of  the  old  traders 
remaining,  and  the  storing  of  wine  at  Prairie  du  Chien 
had  become  almost  obsolete,  although  the  traders  were 
then  well  supplied  with  wine,  and  that  of  the  best  kind, 
of  which  they  made  very  free  use.  It  was  then  thought 
that  a  clerk  in  charge  of  an  outfit  must  have  his  keg  of 
wine ;  but,  after  the  American  Fur  Company  got  fairly 
initiated  into  the  trade,  they  abolished  the  custom  of 
furnishing  their  clerks  with  this  luxury  at  the  expense 
of  the  outfit.  As  I  have  already  said,  the  Indian  trade 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  and  their  tributaries  was 
carried  on  from  Mackinaw  as  the  grand  dep6t  of  the 
trade  of  the  North-west. 

"  The  traders  and  their  clerks  were  then  the  aristo- 
cracy of  the  country ;  and,  to  a  Yankee  at  first  sight, 
presented  a  singular  state  of  society.     To  see  gentle- 


'  Wis.  His.  Soc.  Collections,  vol.  ii. 


VOYAQEURS'  FOOD,  DRESS,  SALARY. 


29£- 


men  selecting  wives  of  the  nutrbrown  natives,  and 
raising  chil'iren  of  mixed  blood,  the  traders  and  clerks 
living  in  as  much  luxury  as  the  resources  of  the  country 
would  admit,  and  the  engagees  or  boatmen  living  upon 
soup  made  of  hulled  com  with  barely  tallow  enough  to 
season  it,  devoid  of  salt,  unless  they  purchased  it  them- 
selves at  a  high  price — all  this  to  an  American  was  a 
novel  mode  of  living,  and  appeared  to  be  hard  fare; 
but  to  a  person  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  life  of  the 
Canadian  peasantry,  it  would  not  look  so  much  out  of 
the  way,  as  they  live  mostly  on  pea  soup,  seasoned  with 
a  piece  of  pork  boiled  down  to  grease ;  seldom  eating 
pork  except  in  the  form  of  grease  that  seasons  their 
soup.  With  this  soup,  and  a  piece  of  coarse  bread, 
their  meals  were  made;  hence  the  change  from  pea 
soup  to  com  is  not  so  great,  or  the  fare  much  worse 
than  that  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to,  as  the 
corn  is  more  substantial  than  peas,  not  being  so  flatu- 
lent. These  men  engaged  in  Canada  generally  for  five 
years  for  Mackinaw  and  its  dependencies,  transferable 
like  cattle  to  any  one  who  winted  them,  at  generally 
about  five  hundred  livres  a  year,  or,  in  our  curi'ency, 
about  eighty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents ;  fur- 
nished with  a  yearly  equipment  or  outfit  of  two  cotton 
shirts,  one  three  point  or  triangular  blanket,  a  portage 
collar,  and  one  pair  of  beef  shoes ;  being  obliged,  in  the 
Indian  country,  to  purchase  their  moccasins,  tobacco, 
pipes,  and  other  necessaries,  at  the  price  the  trader  saw 
fit  to  charge  for  them.  Generally,  at  the  end  of  five 
years,  these  poor  voyageurs  were  in  debt  from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  could  not  leave  the 
country  until  they  had  paid  their  indebtedness ;  and  the 
policy  of  the  traders  was  to  keep  as  many  of  them  in 


296 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  country  as  they  could ;  and  to  this  end  they  allowed 
and  encouraged  their  engagees  to  get  in  debt  during  the 
five  years,  which  of  necessity  required  them  to  remain. 

"  These  new  hands  were  by  the  old  voyageurs  called 
in  derision,  mangeurs  de  lard — -pork^aters — as  on  leaving 
Montreal,  and  on  the  route  to  Mackinaw,  they  were  fed 
on  pork,  hard  bread,  and  pea  soup,  while  the  old  voya- 
geurs in  the  Indian  country  ate  corn  soup,  and  such 
other  food  as  could  conveniently  be  procured.*  These 
mangeurs  de  lard  were  brought  at  considerable  expense 
and  trouble  from  Montreal  and  other  parts  of  Canada, 
frequently  deserting  after  they  had  received  some  ad- 
vance in  money  and  their  equipment.  Hence  it  was 
the  object  of  the  traders  to  keep  as  many  of  the  old 
voyageurs  in  the  country  as  they  could,  and  they  gene- 
rally permitted  the  mangeurs  de  lard  to  get  largely  in 
debt,  as  they  could  not  leave  the  count/y  and  get  back 
into  Canada,  except  by  the  return  boats  or  canoes  which 
brought  the  goods,  and  they  would  not  take  them  back 
if  they  were  in  debt  anywhere  in  the  country,  which 
could  be  easily  ascertained  from  the  traders  at  Macki- 
naw. But  if  a  man  was  prudent  enough  to  save  his 
wages,  he  could  obtain  passage,  as  he  was  no  longer 
wanted  in  the  country. 

''  The  engagements  of  the  men  at  Montreal  were  made 
in  the  strongest  language ;  they  bound  themselves  not 
to  leave  the  duties  assigned  them  by  their  employers  or 
assigns  either  by  day  or  night,  under  the  penalty  of  for- 
feiting their  wages ;  to  take  charge  of,  and  safely  keep, 
the  property  put  into  their  trust,  and  to  give  notice  of 
any  portending  evil  against  their  employers,  or  their 


'  The  experienced   voyageurs  are    ing  to  Snelling's  work  on  the  North- 
called  hivernant  or  winterers,  accord-    west. 


CHARACTER  OF  EARLT  TRADERS. 


297 


interests,  that  should  come  to  their  knowledge.  It  was 
the  practice  of  the  traders,  when  anj^hing  was  stolen 
from  the  goods  during  the  voyage,  whether  on  the  boat 
or  on  shore,  to  charge  the  boat's  crew  with  a  good  round 
price  for  it ;  and,  if  anything  not  indispensable  was  ac- 
cidentally left  on  shore  at  the  encampment,  they  did 
not  return  for  it,  but  charged  it  to  the  crew,  as  it  was 
understood  to  be  their  duty,  not  the  employer's,  to  see 
that  everything  was  on  board  the  boat.  These  people 
in  the  Indian  country  became  inured  to  great  hardships 
and  privations,  and  prided  themselves  upon  the  distance 
they  could  travel  per  day,  and  the  small  quantity  of  pro- 
visions they  could  subsist  on  while  travelling,  and  the 
number  of  days  they  could  go  without  food.  They  are 
very  easily  governed  by  a  person  who  understands 
something  of  their  nature  and  disposition,  but  their 
burgeois  or  employer  must  be  what  they  consider  a 
gentleman,  or  superior  to  themselves,  as  they  never  feel 
much  respect  for  a  man  who  has,  from  an  engagee,  risen 
to  the  rank  of  a  clerk. 

■  "  The  traders  in  this  country,  at  the  time  I  came  into 
it,  were  a  singular  compound ;  they  were  honest  so  far 
as  they  gave  their  word  of  honour  to  be  relied  upon ; 
and,  in  their  business  transactions  between  themselves, 
seldom  gave  or  took  notes  for  balances  or  assumptions. 
It  rarely  happened  that  one  of  them  was  found  who 
did  not  fulfil  his  promises ;  but  when  trading  in  the  In- 
dian country,  any  advantage  that  could  be  taken  of 
each  other  in  a  transaction  was  not  only  considered 
lawful — such  as  trading  each  other's  credit — but  an  in- 
dication of  tact  and  cleverness  in  business.  Two  traders 
ha\nng  spent  the  winter  in  the  same  neighbourhood, 
and  thus  taken  every  advantage  they  could  of  each 


mmmmmi 


298 


fllSTOKY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


other,  would  meet  in  the  spring  at  Prairie  du  Chien,^ 
and  amicably  settle  all  difficulties  over  a  glass  of  wine." 

After  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  enterprise  made  a 
few  attempts  to  develope  the  resources  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi.  In  1818  the  lirtt  grist-mill  was  built  at 
Fisher's  Coulee,  four  miles  above  Prairie  du  Chien. 
The  next  year  the  first  saw-mill  in  the  country  was 
erected  at  the  Falls  of  Black  river,  which  was  soon 
burned  by  the  Indians. 

While  the  Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs  now  acknow- 
ledged the  authority  of  the  United  States,  they  still 
continued  their  destructive  warfare  upon  each  other. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1818  one  of  their  terrible 
conflicts  took  place,  between  Lac  Traverse  and  the  head 
waters  of  the  Mississippi.  During  the  summer  a  Yank- 
ton chief,  called  by  the  French  the  Grand,  held  a  couu- 
cil  with  some  Ojibways,  and  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace. 
When  the  latter  were  returning  home,  some  of  the 
Dahkotahs  sneaked  after  them,  scalped  a  few,  and  took 
a  woman  prisoner. 

When  the  receipt  of  the  intelligence  reached  Leech 
Lake,  thirteen  young  warriors,  whose  leader  was  Black 
Dog,  started  for  the  Dahkotah  land,  having  vowed  that 
they  would  not  return  imtil  they  had  avenged  the 
insult.  For  four  weeks  they  travelled  without  meeting 
any  of  their  foes;  but  at  length,  on  the  Pomme  de  Terre 
river,  on  a  very  foggy  morning,  they  thought  a  buffalo 
herd  was  in  sight,  which  proved  to  be  a  large  Dahkotah 
camp.  Some  of  the  latter,  who  were  on  horseback,  saw 
them,  and  gave  the  alarm.  The  Ojibways,  finding  that 
they  were  discovered,  and  that  their  enemies  were  nume- 
rous, sent  one  of  their  number  to  their  homes  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  to  announce  their  probable  death.    The 


8PABTAN  BRAVERY. 


twelve  who  remained  now  began  to  dig  holes  in  the 
ground,  and  prepare  for  the  conflict,  from  which  they 
could  not  hope  to  escape. 

Soon  they  were  surrounded  by  the  Dahkotahs ;  but 
as  they  drew  nigh  many  were  mortally  wounded  by 
the  Spartan  band.  The  leader  of  the  Dahkotah  party, 
exasperated  by  their  continual  loss,  gave  orders  for  a 
general  onset,  when  the  whole  Ojibway  party  were 
tomahawked  in  their  holes.  The  thirteenth  returned 
home,  and  related  the  circumstances;  and  though  their 
friends  mourned  their  death,  they  delighted  in  theii 
bravery. 


On  July  9th,  1817,  Major  S.  H. 
Long  and  his  friend,  Mr,  Hemp- 
stead, left  Prairie  du  Chien  in  a  six- 
oared  boat  for  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 
They  reached  Carver's  Cave  on  the 
16th,  and  found  the  entrancu  ho 
low  that  they  had  to  lie  down  and 
creep  in.  Its  greatest  width  was 
eight,  and  its  height  seven  feet. 


Messrs.  Gun  and  King,  grandsons 
of  Carver,  visited  the  cave  a  few 
days  after,  to  find  some  basis  for 
urging  the  alleged  land  grant  to 
Carver  by  the  Indians,  but  they 
could  find  but  one  Indian  disposed 
to  know  anything  relative  to  the 
claim. 


■(!,'r  i-)';;r 


""■•1 


800 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


While  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Bri- 
tain, speaking  the  same  langunge,  and  having  many 
common  associations,  were  engaged  in  war  near  the 
southern  limits  of  Minnesota,  a  disgraceful  strife  was 
beginning  between  the  employees  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
and  North-west  Companies,  on  the  northern  border. 

The  channel  of  trade,  west  of  Lake  Superior,  followed 
the  line  of  the  Algonquin  settlements,  and  entered  the 
interior  chiefly  by  way  of  Pigeon  river,  and  the  chain 
of  lakes  that  wpa  rates  the  British  possessions  from 
Minnesota. 

Veranderie,  the.  French  officer,  as  we  have  seen  in  a 
previous  chapter,  was  the  first  that  pushed  his  way  to-* 
ward  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  is  said  to  have  built  a 
fort  at  the  junction  of  the  Assineboine  and  Red  River. 
As  soon  as  1762  maps  designate  Fort  la  Reine  at  the 
confluence,  and  here  at  an  early  period  coureurs  des  bois, 
from  the  French  establishment  at  Mackinaw,  used  to 
trade  with  the  Omahaws  and  Assineboines.  On  the  east 
side  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  before  the  cession  of  Canada 
to  the  English,  there  was  a  French  post  called  Mau  re- 
pas.  On  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  there  was  Fort  St. 
Charles,  and  in  the  lake  was  an  island,  near  the  south- 


'-T 


T 


■•■*■ 


|E- 


•'">* 


^'■r 


•%, 


s  '^ 


MASSACRE  IN  LAKE  OF  THE  WOODS. 


301 


JT 


>J5:> 


eastern  extremity,  called  Massacre  Island,  from  the  fol- 
lowing circumstance  :— 

About  the  year  1736,  a  birci^  canoe  with  eight  French- 
men, left  the  post  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  and  had  proceeded  to  this  island,  which  is  not 
far  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  which  leads  to  Eainy 
Lake.  It  was  quite  early  when  they  arrived,  and  there 
was  not  a  breeze  perceptible.  Kindling  a  fire  to  cook 
their  repast,  the  smoke  rose  like  a  lofty  column,  and 
attracted  a  war  party  of  the  Dahkotahs,  who,  landing 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  isle,  surprised  the  French 
and  massacred  them.  At  the  junction  of  Rainy  Lake 
river  with  the  lake,  there  was  Fort  St.  Pierre,  and  at 
the  grand  portage  of  Lake  Superior  there  was  the  trad- 
ing establishment  of  Kamanistigoya.  This  region  of 
country  was  claimed  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
under  a  charter  granted  to  them  by  Charles  11.  on  May 
second,  1670;  but  during  the  eighteenth  century  they 
did  not  establish  posts  in  the  region  bordering  on  Min- 
nesota. 

Before  the  American  Revolution,  private  traders,  who 
obtained  their  outfits  at  Mackinaw,  gained  possession 
of  the  trade,  and,  after  the  consolidation  of  several  com- 
panies with  the  North-west  Company  of  Montreal  in 
1 783,  there  was  a  larger  business  transacted  with  the 
Indians  who  lived  in  this  region  so  abundant  in  furs. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk,  a  v:ealthy,  kind-hearted,  but  visionary 
nobleman  of  Scotland,  wrote  several  tracts,  urging  the 
importance  of  colonizing  British  emigrants  in  these  dis- 
tant British  possessions,  and  thus  check  the  disposition 
to  settle  in  the  United  States.     In  the  year  1811,  he 

*  Appendix  S 


fl02 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


obtained  a  grant  of  land  from  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, described  as  follows :—     —•  y:-«;wi'Uj;.r.'i:j  ^n 

"  Beginning  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Winipie, 
,f  I.  'nt  in  52''  30'  north  latitude,  and  thence  running 
due  dt  to  the  Lake  Winipigashish,  otherwise  called 
Little  Winipie,  thence  in  a  southerly  direction,  through 
the  said  lake,  so  as  to  strike  its  western  shore  in  lati- 
tude 52°,  thence  due  west  to  the  place  where  the  par- 
allel 52°  intersects  the  western  branch  of  Red  river, 
otherwise  called  Assiniboine  river,  thence  due  south 
from  that  point  of  intersection,  to  the  height  of  land 
which  separates  the  waters  running  into  Hudson's  Bay 
from  those  of  the  Missouri  and  Missisippi  rivers,  thence 
in  an  easterly  direction  along  the  height  of  land  to  the 
source  of  the  river  Winipie,  meaning  by  such  last-named 
river  the  principal  branch  of  the  waters  which  unite  in 
ti  3  Lake  Saginagas,  thence  along  the  main  stream  of 
those  waters,  and  the  middle  of  the  several  lakes 
through  which  they  pass,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Winipie 
river,  and  thence  in  a  northerly  direction  through  the 
middle  of  Lake  Winipie,  to  the  place  of  beginning, 
which  territory  is  called  Ossiniboia"  or  Assiniboia. 

Previous  to  this  time  the  only  inhabitants  besides  the 
Indians,  were  Canadians,  who,  by  long  intercourse  with 
savages,  had  learned  all  their  vices,  and  imitated  none 
of  their  admirable  traits.  Unwilling  to  return  to  the 
restraints  of  well-ordered  society,  from  which  they  had 
fled  in  youth,  they  were  fond  of  '-  vrt^-T^' 
, :i.., .  .  ,  ■,    . ,  -   „.  ■^'  'in  '.: 


"Vaat 
And  sudden  deeds  of  violence, 
Adventares  wild,  and  wonders  of  the  moment." 


SUFFERINGS  OF  HIGHLANDERS. 


808 


They  were  proud  of  the  title  "  Gens  Libres,"  the  free 
people. 

The  oflFspring  of  their  intercourse  with  Indian  females 
was  numerous.  The  "bois  bruits"  were  athletic,  ex- 
pert hunters,  good  boatmen,  fine  horsemen,  and  able  to 
speak  the  native  language  of  both  father  and  mother. 
Their  chief  delight  and  mode  of  subsistence  was  in 
fishing  and  snaring  the  buflFalo. 

In  the  autumn  of  1812,  a  small  advance  party  of 
colonists  proceeded  to  a  point  in  latitude  50°  north  near 
the  confluence  of  the  Assineboine,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Red  river,  whose  head  waters  after  heavy  rains  inter- 
lock with  those  of  the  Minnesota  river,  and  commenced 
the  erection  of  houses  and  preparations  for  the  expected 
colonists.  But  their  work  was  soon  stopped  by  a  party 
of  men  of  the  North-west  Company,  attired  in  Indian 
costume,  ordering  them  to  desist.  The  affrighted  emi- 
grants were  persuaded  to  take  refiige  at  Pembina,  Min- 
nesota, by  a  company  of  men  that  they  thought  were 
savages.  The  latter  agreed  to  carry  the  children,  but 
the  men  and  women  were  obliged  to  walk.  The  exac- 
tions of  the  guides  were  cruel.  One  Highlander  had  to 
relinquish  a  gun  that  had  been  carried  by  his  father  at 
the  battle  of  CuUoden,  and  which  was  prized  next  to 
the  family  Bible,  and  a  shrinking  woman  had  to  part 
with  the  marriage  ring  which  had  been  placed  upon  her 
finger  in  the  bloom  of  her  youth,  by  a  devoted  lover  in 
the  Highlands.  For  the  sake  of  creating  alarm,  the 
guides  would  run  off  with  the  babes  and  children,  and 
the  distracted  mothers  refused  to  be  comforted,  because 
their  children  were  not  to  be  seen  any  more,  as  they 
supposed.' 

'  "  Ked  River  Settlement,  bj  Alexander  Rosa.    London,  1856." 


S04 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


This  sport,  more  worthy  of  bears  than  of  men,  so 
shocked  the  nervous  system  of  the  more  dehcate  that 
they  never  recovered,  and  found  an  early  and  cold 
grave. 

At  Pembina  the  more  hardy  lived  during  the  winter 
in  tents,  and  in  the  spring  returned  to  the  colony  to 
resume  their  labours. 

Returning  in  the  spring  to  the  site  of  the  colony,  they 
in  the  sweat  of  their  brow  cultivated  the  soil,  but  the 
fowls  of  the  air  anticipated  the  harvest,  and  the  winter 
of  1813-14  was  again  passed  at  Pembina.' 

Their  success  in  the  chase  was  however  limited,  and 
when  they  returned  to  their  settlement  in  the  spring 
they  were  in  appearance  half  starved,  and  all  tattered 
and  torn. 

By  the  month  of  September,  1815,  the  number  of 
settlers  was  about  two  hundred,  and  the  colony  was 
called  Kildonan,  after  the  old  parish  in  Scotland  in 
which  many  were  born.  With  increased  numbers  all 
things  seemed  auspicious.  Houses  wijre  built,  a  mill 
was  erected,  imported  cattle  and  sheep  began  to  graze 
on  the  undulating  plains.  The  Highlander  was  pleased 
when  he  discovered  that 


jii 


•'  Here  no  stony  ground  provokes  the  wrath  of  the  farmer. 
Smoothly  the  ploughshare  runs  through  the  soil,  as  a  keel  through  the 

water. 
Here,  too,  numberless  herds  run  wild,  and  unclaimed  in  the  prairies ; 
Here,  too,  lands  may  be  had  for  the  asking,  and  forests  of  timber 
With  a  few  blows  of  the  axe,  are  hewn  and  framed  into  houses." 

'        .       -       .    ;  A^W^. 

'  Tliis  word  is  pronounced  as  if    name  of  a  red  berry  that  grows  ia 
written  Pembinuaw,  and  is  a  con-    the  vioinity. 
vraction  of  an  Ojibway  word,  the  '  ' '  jM)fetS?<IW8 


CAMERON  PRODUCES  DISCONTENT. 


805 


The  employees  of  the  North-west  Company  Avere 
however  exceedingly  restive  under  the  march  of  im- 
provement, and  the  proprietors  of  the  company  sus- 
pected that  it  was  a  ruse  of  their  powerful  rival,  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  to  oust  them  from  the  lucrative 
l)osts  they  were  occupying. 

As  early  as  1813  the  clerks  and  engag^es  of  the  Mon- 
treal traders  endeavoured  to  excite  the  suspicions  of  the 
Indians,  but  without  success.  ^^  ^''' '^' 

At  a  meeting  of  the  partners  of  the  Northwest 
Company,  held  at  Fort  William,  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Superior,  in  the  summer  of  1814,  Duncan  Cameron  and 
Alexander  McDonell  were  appointed  to  concert  mea- 
sures to  stop  the  progress  of  the  colony.' 

About  the  last  of  August,  they  arrived  at  the  North- 
west Company's  post,  about  a  half  mile  from  the  Kil- 
donan  settlement,  at  the  forks  of  the  Red  and  Assine- 
boine  rivers. 

Cameron,  during  the  winter  and  spring  of  1815,  with 
great  art  obtained  the  confidence  of  the  Highlanders. 
He  spoke  their  native  Gaelic  tongue,  extended  hospi- 
tality to  their  families,  and  insinuated  rather  than 
evinced  direct  hostility  to  the  plans  of  Selkirk.  To 
give  the  air  of  authority,  he  wore  a  suit  of  regimentals 
that  belonged  to  a  disbanded  corps  of  voyageurs,  and  in 
his  communications,  subscribed  himself  "  D.  Cameron, 
Captain  Voyageur    Corps,   Commanding  Officer,    Red 


'  Alexander  McDonell,  in  a  letter 
ivritten  to  a  friend  at  Montreal,  from 
»ne  of  the  portages  west  of  Lake 
Siiperior,8ay8,  "  You  see  myself  and 
vur  mutual  friend  Mr.  Cameron,  so 
far  on  our  way  to  commence  hostili- 
20 


ties  against  the  enemy  in  Red  river.  * 
*  *  *  *  Nothing  but  the  complete 
downfall  of  the  colony  will  satisfy 
some  by  fair  or  foul  means.  So  here 
is  at  them  with  all  my  heart  and 
energy." 


306 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


fl. 


Eiver."  The  fair  promises  he  made  unsettled  the  minds 
of  the  colonists,  and  seduced  many  to  leave  the  spot. 
As  soon  as  the  free  Canadians  and  half-breeds  learned 
that  their  employers  were  not  favourable  to  the  colony, 
they  grew  insolent.  One  of  the  disaffected  Selkirkers, 
by  the  name  of  George  Campbell,  one  Sunday,  immedi- 
ately after  a  sermon  had  been  read  in  accordance  with 
a  venerable  Scotch  custom*  to  the  assembled  settlement, 
rose  and  read  an  order  issued  by  Cameron,  and  directed 
to  the  temporary  superintendent  of  the  colony,  demand- 
ing the  surrender  of  their  brass  field-pieces. 

On  Monday  morning,  the  governor's  house  being 
guarded,  the  employees  of  the  North-west  Company 
went  to  the  store-house,  broke  it  open,  and  carried  off 
to  their  post,  field-pieces,  swivel,  and  a  small  howitzer; 
in  all  amounting  to  nine.  This  was  a  signal  for  the 
desertion  of  the  disaffected  Selkirkers,  who  repaired  to 
the  quarters  of  the  North-west  Company. 

In  the  spring  of  1815,  McKenzie  and  Morrison,  of 
the  North-west  Company  at  Sandy  Lake,  Minnesota,  told 
the  chief  Kawtawabetay,  that  they  would  give  him  and 
his  people  all  the  goods  or  merchandise  and  rum  they 


'  The  first  emigrants  were  all 
Presbyterians.  Their  expected  min- 
ister having  been  delayed,  a  worthy 
and  pious  elder,  James  Sutherland, 
"  was  appointed  to  marry  and  bap- 
tize, from  which  functions  he  was 
never  released  by  the  arrival  of  the 
ordained  minister,  in  consequence 
of  the  difliculties  in  which  the  colony 
was  placed.  *  *  *  On  his  arrival 
at  York  Factory,  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship  was  held  out  to  him  by 


the  governor-in-chief  of  the  country, 
as  well  as  by  the  governor  of  the 
colony.  These  men  with  their  fol- 
lowers gladly  heard  him  expound 
the  Scriptures.  *  *  *  *  Of  all  men, 
clergymen  or  others,  that  ever  en- 
tered this  country,  none  stood  higher 
in  the  estimation  of  the  settlers,  both 
for  sterling  piety,  and  Christian  con- 
duct, than  Mr.  Sutherland." — Bed 
River  Settlement,  p.  31. 


THE  MARCH  OF  THE  EXILES. 


80t 


had  at  Leech  Lake,  SanJy  Lake,  and  Fort  William,  if 
they  would  declare  war  against  the  settlers  on  Red 
river.' 

On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  June  the  eleventh,  a  party 
of  North-west  employees,  armed  with  loaded  muskets, 
stationed  themselves  in  a  grove  near  the  governor's 
house,  and  commenced  an  attack,  wounding  four  in- 
mates, one  of  whom  died.  After  this  unprovoked 
assault,  they  demanded  Miles  McDonell,  the  governor, 
who  was  delivered,  and  subsequently  carried  to  Mon- 
treal. This  step  did  not  at  all  satisfy  the  traders  of 
the  North-west  Company,  but  as  soon  as  the  governor 
was  carried  off  toward  Canada  by  Duncan  Cameron,  his 
partner,  Alexander  McDonell,  commenced  new  aggres- 
sions, such  as  seizing  the  horses,  driving  off  the  cattle, 
and  pillaging  the  farms  of  the  colonists.  Opposite  the 
settlement  he  erected  a  battery,  upon  which  he  mounted 
two  of  the  Selkirk  field-pieces,  and  established  a  camp 
of  about  fifty  or  sixty  of  the  Canadian  servants,  clerks, 
and  bois  bruMs. 

Dispirited  by  constant  annoyance,  the  broken-hearted 
settlers  sent  word  to  the  head  of  the  North-west  Com- 
pany, that  they  would  leave  their  farms  and  homes  in 
a  few  days.  About  this  time,  toward  the  latter  part  of 
the  pleasant  month  of  June,  two  Ojibway  chiefs  arrived 
with  forty  braves,  and  strange  as  it  may  seem,  they 
offered  to  escort  the  persecuted  colonists  with  their  pro- 
perty to  Lake  Winnipeg.  Guarded  by  the  grim  children 
of  the  forest  from  the  assault  of  their  foes,  they,  like 
the  Acadian  peasants  in  Evangeline,  were  "  friendless, 
hopeless,  homeless." 


*  Earl  of  Selkirk's  statement. 


808 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


"  Driving  in  ponderous  waina,  tlieir  household  goods  to  the  sea-shore, 
Pausing,  and  looking  book  to  gaze  once  moro  on  their  dwellings, 
Ere  they  were  shut  from  sight,  by  the  winding  road,  and  the  woodland ; 
Close  ut  their  sides,  their  children  ran,  aud  urged  on  the  oxen. 
While  in  their  little  hands  they  clasped  some  fragments  of  playthings." 

After  they  had  embarked  in  the  boats,  "sheeted 
smoke  with  flashes  of  flame  intermingled,"  announced 
that  the  mill  and  their  houses  were  fired  by  the  torch 
of  the  incendiary. 

When  the  fugitives  from  persecution  had  been  some- 
time at  the  northern  extremity  of  Lake  Winnipeg, 
Colin  Robertson,  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  arrived, 
and  offered  to  lead  them  btujk  to  the  settlement  from 
which  they  had  been  expelled.  Accepting  his  proposal, 
they  returned,  and  were  soon  augmented  by  a  party  of 
emigrants  just  arrived  from  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 
During  the  winter  of  1816,  a  majority  remained  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Pembina  river,  in  Minnesota,  for  the 
purpose  of  hunting  the  bufialo.  But  early  in  the  spring 
they  returned  to  the  Kildonan  settlement. 

In  the  spring  of  1816,  Duncan  Cameron,  who  had 
returned,  was  arrested  by  Colin  Robertson,  and  taken 
towards  the  coast  of  Hudson's  Bay,  for  the  purpose  of 
being  sent  to  England  for  trial. 

The  Earl  of  Selkirk,  hearing  of  the  distressed  condi- 
tion of  his  colony,  sailed  for  America,  and  on  his  arrival 
at  New  York,  in  the  fall  of  1815,  heard  that  they  had 
been  bribed  or  compelled  tx)  leave  the  settlement. 

Proceeding  to  Montreal,  he  found  some  of  the  settlers 
who  had  been  under  the  influence  of  the  North-west 
Company,  in  great  poverty.  While  here  he  gained  the 
information  that  a  remnant  of  the  colony  had  returned 
and  re-established  themselves,  and  immediately  sent  an 
express  to  announce  his  arrival  and  determination  to  be 


SELKIRK  SENDS  AN  ARMED  FORCE. 


800 


with  thtjm  in  the  spring.  These  glad  tidings  were  sent 
by  Laguimoniere,  who,  in  the  depths  of  winter,  had  tra- 
velled on  foot  from  the  Red  River,  by  way  of  Red  Lake 
and  Fond  dji  Lac,  Minnesota,  to  bring  the  intelligence  to 
Montreal  that  the  colony  had  reoccupied  their  settlement. 

The  messenger  never  reached  his  destination  with  the 
kind  words  of  Selkirk.  In  the  night  he  was  way-laid 
near  Fond  du  Lac,  brutally  beaten,  and  robbed  of  his 
canoe  and  despatches.  At  a  council  held  by  the  super- 
intendent of  Indian  affairs,  at  Drummond's  Island,  on 
the  twenty-second  of  July,  1816,  an  Ojibway  chief 
of  Sandy  Lake,  Minnesota,  stated  that  Grant,  one  of 
the  North-west  Company,  offered  him  two  kegs  of  rum, 
and  two' carrots  of  tobacco,  if  he  would  send  some  of  his 
young  men  in  search  of  some  persons  taking  despatches 
to  Red  River,  and  pillage  the  letters  and  papers. 
Shortly  after  this,  the  chief  testified  that  Laguimoniere 
was  brought  in  by  a  negro  and  a  party  of  Ottawas. 

Failing  to  obtain  military  aid  from  the  British  autho- 
rities in  Canada,  Selkirk  made  an  engagement  with  four 
officers  and  eighty  privates,  of  the  discharged  Meuron 
regiment,  twenty  of  the  De  Watteville,  and  a  few  of 
the  Glengary  Fencibles,  which  had  served  in  the  late 
war  with  the  United  States,  to  accompany  him  to  Red 
River.  They  were  to  receive  monthly  wages  for  navi- 
gating the  boats  to  Red  River,  to  have  lands  assigned 
them,  and  a  free  passage  if  they  wished  to  return. 

When  he  reached  Sault  St.  Marie,  he  received  the 
intelligence  that  the  colony  had  again  been  destroyed. 

In  the  spring  of  1816,  Semple,  a  mild,  amiable,  but 
not  altogether  judicious  man,  the  chief  governor  of  the 
factories  and  territories  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
arrived  at  Red  River.     In  the  month  of  April  he  sent 


810 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


|i  \k 


a  Mr.  Pambrun  to  a  trading  post  on  a  neighbouring 
river,  and  as  he  was  returning  with  five  boats,  a  quan- 
tity  of  furs,  and  six  hundred  bags  of  pemmican,  he 
was  attacked,  on  the  twelfth  of  May,  by  an  armed  party 
of  the  iulherenta  of  the  North-west  Company,  and  cap- 
tured. This  act  was  in  retaliation  for  the  attack  made 
by  Robertson  on  their  post,  at  the  junction  of  the  Red 
and  Assineboine  rivers,  during  the  previous  autumn. 
On  the  eighteenth  of  June  a  portion  of  this  party  left 
Fort  Qui  Appele,  under  the  guidance  of  Cuthbert  G  t, 
Lacerte,  Frazer,  Hoole,  and  Thomas  McKay,  anc  ^. 
toward  Red  River.  Information  had  been  brought  by 
friendly  Indians  and  others,  that  an  attack  was  intended, 
and  an  almost  constant  watch  was  kept  up  night  and 
day,  to  discover  the  approach  of  any  of  the  parties  of 
the  enp'iuy.  About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  on  the 
nineteenth  of  June,  a  man  in  the  watch-house  of  the 
fort  of  the  Selkirkers,  called  out  to  Governor  Semple 
that  horsemen  were  approaching.  The  governor,  per- 
ceiving with  a  spy-glass  sixty  or  seventy  men,  ordered 
twenty  men  to  accompany  him,  and  meet  them.  After 
Semple  had  proceeded  half  a  mile,  some  of  the  settlers 
were  met  moving  toward  the  fort,  saying  that  a  party 
was  coming  with  cannon.  One  of  the  governor's  party 
was  requested  to  go  back  and  obtain  a  field-piece  from 
the  fort.  As  the  messenger  was  returning  with  the 
cannon.  Governor  Semple  was  surrounded.  The  hostile 
party  first  sent  forward  the  reckless  son  of  a  Montreal 
tavern-keeper,  to  inquire  what  the  governor  was  about 
Semple  inquired  what  his  party  wanted?  Boucher 
insultingly  asked,  "  Why  did  you,  rascal !  destroy  our 
fort  ?"  The  governor,  laying  hold  of  his  h  >r8e's  bridle, 
said,  "  Scoundrel !  do  you  talk  thus  to  me  ?"     Instantly 


ea  rtuawaiif  j-'-ua"^  m" 


GOVERNOR  8E.MPLE  KILLED. 


811 


Boucher  sprang  from  his  horse,  and  the  firing  com- 
menced. Semple  waa  soon  wounded,  and  called  to  his 
men  to  take  care  of  themselves ;  but  they  gathered  in 
ii  knot  around  their  bleeding  leader,  and  while  they 
collected,  the  North-west  party  fired  a  volley,  by  which 
the  greater  part  were  instantly  killed.  The  remnant 
called  for  mercy,  but  in  vain;  all  were  massacred  but 
four  or  five.  Among  those  who  were  spared,  was  John 
Pritchard.  In  his  narration  he  remarks,  that  "  the 
knife,  axe,  or  ball  put  an  end  to  he  existence  of  the 
wounded,  and  on  the  bodies  of  the  dead  Avere  practised 
all  those  horrible  barbarities,  which  characterize  the  in- 
human heart  of  the  savage.  The  amiable  and  mild  Mr. 
Semple,  with  broken  thigh,  lying  on  his  side,  supporting 
his  head  upon  his  hand,  said  to  Grant,  the  leader  of  the 
attacking  party,  *I  am  not  mortally  wounded,  and  if 
you  could  get  me  conveyed  to  the  fort,  I  think  I  should 
live.'  Grant  promised  he  would  do  so,  and  immediately 
left  him  in  the  care  of  a  Canadian,  who  afterwards  told, 
that  an  Indian  of  their  party  came  up  and  shot  Mr.  Sem- 
ple in  the  breast.  I  entreated  Grant  to  procure  me  the 
watch  or  even  the  seals  of  Mr.  Semple,  for  transmitting 
them  to  his  friends,  but  I  did  not  succeed.  Our  force 
amounted  to  twenty-eight  persons,  of  whom  twenty-one 
were  killed." 

The  Indian  who  killed  the  kind-hearted  Semple  was 
an  Ojibway  of  Minnesota.  Schoolcraft,  in  1832,  says, 
he  saw,  at  Leech  Lake,  Majegabowi,  the  man  who  had 
killed  Governor  Semple,  after  he  fell  wounded  from  his 
horse. 

The  morning  after  the  massacre.  Grant  and  Bourassa, 
with  sixteen  or  seventeen  others,  insisted  upon  the' 
abandonment  of    Fort   Douglas,  and   the   settlement. 


312 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


i 


Two  days  afterwards  the  settlers,  to  the  number  of  two 
hundred,  mcluding  women  and  childreii,  were  compelled 
to  embark  in  boats,  to  be  conveyed  to  the  searcoast. 
On  the  second  day's  voyage  they  were  met  by  Norman 
McLeod,  a  partner  of  the  North-west  Company,  with 
nine  oi  ten  canoes,  and  a  batteau  with  two  pieces  of 
artillery,  formerly  belonging  to  the  Selkirk  settlement, 
and  a  hundred  armed  men.  As  his  party  perceived  the 
settlers  they  raised  the  warwhoop,  ana  McLeod  inquired 
whether  Robertbuii  or  Semple  was  in  the  boats.  In- 
formed of  the  death  of  the  governor,  they  broke  open 
h'.s  trunks,  and  took  his  papers. 

On  his  way  to  Red  River,  McLeod  held  a  council 
with  the  Ojibways  at  Rainy  Lake,  and  persuaded  the 
Round  Lake  Chief  and  some  fifteen  or  twenty  others 
to  join  his  party.  Among  those  who  accompanied  Mc- 
Leod in  the  capacity  of  clerk  waa  Charles  de  Reinhard, 
once  a  sergeant  in  the  De  Meuron  regiment.  He  was 
sent  to  a  station  of  the  company,  at  "  Bas  de  la  riviere 
Winipic."  In  August  some  deserters  from  the  employ 
of  Owen  Keveny,  a  Hudson  Bay  trader,  arrived  there. 
They  told  McLeod  that  they  had  been  badly  treated, 
and  he  deputed  Reinhard  to  act  as  constable  and  seize 
seize  Keveny. 

Six  bois  bruMs  accompanied  him,  and  he  soon  re- 
turned with  the  trader,  who  was  then  placed  in  a  canoe 
with  three  half-breed  voyageurs,  and  consigned  to  Fort 
William  on  Lake  Superior.  On  their  way  they  were 
met  by  a  partner  of  the  North-west  Companv ,  who  re- 
moved the  half-breeds  and  substituted  two  Canadians 
and  an  Indian,  who  was  to  act  as  guide.  The  canoe 
was  again  mtjt  by  traders  of  thp  company,  who  ordered 
them  back.     The  two  Canadians^  on  their  return,  quar- 


THE  MUEDBR  OF  KEVENY. 


818 


reled  with  the  Indian  who  left  them,  and  losing  their 
way,  they  landed  Keveny  on  a  small  island  and  de- 
serted him. 

Mr.  McLellan  now  started  in  search  of  the  missing 
party,  and  first  found  the  Indian  and  two  Canadians 
and  at  last  Keveny,  who  was  with  an  encampment  of 
Indians.  McLellan  apprehended  him,  and  purchasing 
a  canoe  placed  him  alone  in  company  with  Reinhard,  a 
bois  brul^,  and  an  Indian.  He  then  told  Reinhard  to 
put  Keveny  to  death  at  the  first  favourable  spot.  A 
short  distance  above  a  deep  gorge  of  granite  through 
which  thi)  Winnipeg  river  rushes,  the  traveller  used 
to  pass  a  cross,  which  marked  the  spot  where  Keveny 's 
life  was  taken. 

It  seems,  from  the  confession  of  Reinhard,  that  he 
had  desired  to  go  on  shore  for  a  few  moments,  and 
when  he  was  returning  to  the  canoe,  the  half-breed  took 
aim  and  shot  him  through  the  neck.  As  he  fell  against 
the  canoe,  Reinhard,  seeing  that  he  wished  to  speak, 
drew  his  sword,  and  twice  plunging  it  in  his  back,  soon 
rendered  him  speechless. 

Joining  their  employer  McLellan,  t!iey  detailed  the 
circumstances,  and  a  distribution  of  his  bloody  clothes 
and  other  efiecta  took  place.  McLeiian,  opening  the 
writing  desk  of  the  murdered  man,  spent  the  night  in 
reading  and  burning  his  letters  and  papers.  Reinhard, 
after  a  protracted  trial  in  Canada,  was  convicted  and 
executed.  During  the  trial  stress  was  laid  upon  the 
question  whether  the  scene  of  the  murder  was  in  the 
province  of  Upper  Canada.  After  much  testimony  from 
the  best  geographers  in  the  country,  ii  was  decided  that 
the  limits  of  Canada  did  not  extend  to  that  point. 

Previous  to  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Grovernor 


J 


814 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Semple,  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  had  made  arrangements  to> 
visit  his  colony  by  way  of  Fond  du  Lac,  the  St.  Louis 
river,  and  Red  Lake  of  Minnesota;  but  he  now  changed 
his  mind,  and  proceeded  with  his  force  to  Fort  William, 
the  chief  trading  post  of  the  North-west  Company  on 
Lake  Superior;  and  apprehending  the  principal  part- 
ners, warrants  of  commitment  were  issued,  and  they 
were  forwarded  to  the  attorney-general  of  Upper  Car 
nada. 

While  Selkirk  was  engaged  at  Fort  William,  a  party 
of  emigrants  in  charge  of  Miles  McDonnel,  governor, 
and  Captain  D'Orsomen,  went  forward  to  reinforce  the 
colony.  At  Rainy  Lake  they  obtained  the  guidance  of 
a  man  who  had  all  the  characteristics  of  an  Indian,  and 
yet  had  a  bearing  which  suggested  a  different  origin. 
By  his  efficiency  and  temperate  habits,  he  secured  the 
respect  of  his  employers,  and  on  the  Earl  of  Selkirk's 
arrival  at  Red  river,  his  attention  was  called  to  him, 
and  in  his  welfare  he  became  deeply  interested.  By 
repeated  conversations  with  him,  memories  of  a  differ- 
ent kind  of  existence  were  aroused,  and  the  light  of 
other  days  began  to  brighten.  Though  he  had  forgo1> 
ten  his  father's  name,  he  furnished  sufficient  data  for 
Selkirk  to  proceed  with  a  search  for  his  relatives. 
Visiting  the  United  States  in  1817,  he  published  a  cir- 
cular in  the  papers  of  the  Western  States,  which  led  to 
the  identification  of  the  man.         •    ■     •■  "<  » 

It  appeared  from  his  own  statement,  and  those  of  his 
friends,  that  his  name  was  John  Tanner,  the  son  of  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  who,  about  the  year  1790,  lived 
on  the  Ohio  river,  near  the  Miami.  Shortly  after  bis 
residence  there  a  band  of  roving  Indians  passed  r.ear 
the  house,  and  found  John  Tanner,  then  a  little  boy, 


JOHN  TANNER  CARMED  OFF  BY  INDIANS. 


315 


filling  hife  hat  with  walnuts  which  he  had  picked  from 
a  tree.  Seizing  him,  they  kept  him  quiet  by  threats, 
and  fled.  The  party  was  led  by  an  Ottawa  Indian, 
wliose  wife  had  lost  a  son.  To  compensate  for  his 
death,  the  mother  begged  her  husband  to  capture  one 
about  the  same  age.  To  accomplish  this  was  the  object 
of  the  Indian's  visit  to  the  white  settlements,  and  great 
was  the  joy  of  the  wife,  when  he  brought  her  the  desired 
gift.  Adopted  into  the  tribe.  Tanner  grew  up  as  an 
Indian,  and  became  expert  with  the  gun,  and  noted  for 
bravery.  In  time  the  band  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected wandered  into  the  Red  River  country.  Declin- 
ing the  position  of  chief  which  was  offered  to  him,  he 
was  esteemed  by  all  of  his  companions.  After  Lord  Sel- 
kirk found  his  relatives  he  '  "  ited  them,  but  soon 
returned  to  the  Indian  country. 

The  harvest  of  1817  was  luxuriant ;  Mie  sped  that  had 
been  sown  proved  good  seed,  bearing  forty  .ud  sixty  fold, 
but  so  little  had  been  sown  that  it  again  becaaie  neces- 
sary for  the  settlers  to  pass  the  winter  in  hunting. 

From  Pembina  they  proceeded  into  the  open  prairies 
of  North-western  Minnesota,  to  join  a  camp  of  Indian 
and  half-breed  hunters.  Unprovided  with  snow  shoes, 
the  road  was  truly  a  "  via  dolorosa."  Without  a  par- 
ticle of  food  remaining,  the  half-starved  colonists  at 
last  reached  the  long-sought  camp.      '  i   Ahsv-o 

The  night  of  their  arrival  was  Christmas  eve  of 
1817,  and  the  Indians  and  mixed  bloods  were  touched 
by  their  haggard  faces,  and  shared  with  them  their  own 
scanty  fare.  The  buflFalo  this  winter  was  very  scarce, 
and  the  Scotch  dragged  through  it,  a  set  of  mere  camp 
slaves.  '--t. •'.';:       •  .         v->'  ' 

With  the  mild  rays  of  the  spring  of  1818,  hope  re- 


ill 


I 

i 


I 


816 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


vived,  and  once  more  they  trudged  back  to  their  settle- 
ment. They  worked  with  pleasant  anticipations  as 
they  beheld  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear  develope ;  but, 
one  afternoon,  just  as  the  harvest  was  ripe,  and  they 
were  about  to  put  in  the  sickle,  "behold,  the  Lord 
formed  grasshoppers,  in  the  beginning  of  the  shoot- 
ing up  of  the  latter  growth," '  and  their  joy  was  turned 
to  mourning.  The  air  was  filled  with  these  insects; 
"the  earth  did  quake  before  them,  like  the  noise  of 
chariots  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  or  like  the  noise 
of  a  flame  of  fire  that  devoureth  the  stubble,"  was 
the  sound  of  their  movements.  When  the  next  morn- 
ing arose,  it  was  "  a  day  of  darkness  and  of  gloominess ; 
a  day  of  clouds  and  thick  darkness,"  and  strong  men 
were  bowed  down ;  and,  like  the  Hebrew  captives,  by 
the  waters  of  Babylon,  they  lifted  up  their  voices  and 
wept. 

The  next  year  the  calamity  was  worse.  "  They  were 
produced  in  masses,  two,  three,  and  four  inches  in  depth. 
The  water  was  infected  by  them.  Along  the  river  they 
were  to  be  found  in  heaps  like  sea-weed,  and  might  be 
shovelled  with  a  spade.  Every  vegetable  substance 
was  either  eaten  up,  or  stripped  to  the  bare  stalk;  the 
leaves  of  the  bushes,  and  the  bark  of  the  trees,  shared  the 
«ame  fate ;  and  the  grain  vanished  as  fast  as  it  appeared 
above  ground.  Even  fires,  if  kindled  out  of  doors,  were 
immediately  extinguished  by  them."  ^ 

The  old  Highlander  understood,  as  he  never  had 
fjefore,  the  imagery  of  the  prop,  t,  which  he  had  often 
read  in  his  well-thumbed  Bible,  for  truly  "  the  land  was 
as  the  garden  of  Eden  before  tLem,  and  behind  them  a 


'  Amos,  ohap.  vii.,  verse  2.    Joel,  chap.  ii. 


Ross 


GRASSHOPPER  INVASION. 


817 


desolate  wilderness,  nothing  did  escape  them."  They 
ran  upon  the  wall ;  they  climbed  up  on  the  houses ;  they 
entered  in  at  the  windows  like  a  thief. 

With  the  whole  head  sick,  and  the  whole  heart  faint, 
the  brawny  Scotchmen  sought  once  more  the  plains  of 
Minnesota,  and  became  sons  of  Nimrod,  chasing  the 
deer  and  the  buffalo.  But,  when  they  reflected  upon 
the  influence  of  this  "  vagabond"  life  upon  their  child- 
ren, they  were  impelled  by  their  consciences  to  make 
one  more  attempt  to  establish  a  home  for  their  wives 
and  little  ones. 

During  the  winter  of  1819-20,  a  deputation  of  their 
number,  mounted  on  snow  shoes,  passed  through  the 
then  wilderness  of  Minnesota,  and  came  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  a  journey  of  a  thousand  miles,  to  purchase  wheat 
for  seed. 

In  1820,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  April,  three  Macki- 
naw boats,  manned  with  six  hands  each,  laden  with  two 
liundred  bushels  of  wheat,  one  hundred  bushels  of  oats, 
and  thirty  bushels  of  peas,  under  the  charge  of  Messrs. 
Graham  and  Laidlaw,  left  Prairie  dn  Chicn  for  Selkirk's 
colony,  on  the  Red  River  of  the  North.  Detained  by 
ice  at  Lake  Pepin,  they  planted  the  May  pole  thereon. 
On  the  third  of  May,  the  boats  passed  through  the  lake. 
The  voyage  was  continued  up  the  Minnesota  to  Big  Stone 
Lake,  from  which  a  portage  was  made  into  Lake  Tra- 
verse, a  mile  and  a  half  distant,  the  boats  being  placed 
on  wooden  rollers.  Then  descending  the  Sioux  Wood 
river  to  the  Red  river,  the  party  arrived  at  Pembina  in 
safety,  with  their  charge,  on  the  third  day  of  June. 
Pembina  was,  at  tljat  time,  as  now,  a  small  hamlet,  the 
rival  companies  of  the  North-west  and  of  Hudson's  Bay 
having  each  a  trading  post,  at  the  confluence  of  the 


i1 


¥ 


\ 


j  .f- 


S18 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


stream  with  the  Red  river,  but  on  opposite  sides.  The 
crop  :.L  Selkirk's  colony  having  entirely  failed  the  pre- 
vious year,  the  grain  was  much  needed  for  seed  the  en- 
suing season.  The  trip  performed  in  these  boats  is 
worthy  of  mention,  as  it  is  the  only  instance  of  heavy 
articles  being  transported  the  entire  distance  from  Prairie 
du  Chien  to  the  Red  River  settlement,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  portage  between  Big  Stone  and  Traverse 
Lakes  by  water  Charles  St.  Antoine,  who  was  one  of 
the  crew,  became  a  citizen  of  Dahkotah  county,  and  is 
one  of  the  few  survivors  of  that  eventful  voyage.  The 
party  returned  across  the  plains  on  foot  as  far  as  Big 
Stone  Lake,  from  which  point  they  descended  to  Prairie 
du  Chien  in  canoes.'     >>;  ;w!r  V>  i^^'mrn 

The  cost  of  this  expedition  was  about  six  thousand 
dollars,  and  was  borne  by  Lord  Selkirk. 

In  1820,  Captain  R.  May,  a  citizen  of  Berne,  in  the 
British  service,  was  commissioned  by  Selkirk  to  visit 
Switzerland,  and  engage  persons  to  repair  to  his  colony. 

After  years  of  bloodshed,  heart  burnings,  fruitless  liti- 
gations, and  vast  expense,  the  strife  was  concluded  by 
compromise.  In  the  year  1821,  the  two  companies,  in 
the  language  of  the  articles  of  settlement,  finding  "  that 
the  competition  in  the  said  trade  had  been  found  for  some 
years,  then  past,  to  be  productive  of  great  inconvenience 
and  loss,  not  only  to  the  said  company  and  association, 
but  to  the  said  trade  in  general,  and  also  of  great  injury  to 
the  native  Indians,  and  of  other  persons  his  Majesty's 
subjects,"  they  did  enter  into  an  agreement  for  putting 
an  end  to  competition,  and  carrying  on  the  trade  to- 


gether. 


'  Sibley's  HiBtorioal  Souiety  Addreso. 


i'    t'l  ')i>i:\^'.-ih''nv 


,  J/; 


UNITED  STATES  TROOPS  STATIONED  IN  MINNESOTA.      319 


■'''j'miiuj/).'  Qiii 
/■.iio..v.jij,!->ifti!  CHAPTER 


f|^^. 


The  rumour  that  Lord  Selkirk  was  founding  a  colony 
on  the  borders  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  had  posts  within  the  region  of  country 
comprised  within  the  boundaries  of  Minnesota,  did  not 
fail  to  reach  the  authorities  at  Washington. 

Under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe,  the  head 
of  the  war  department  was  the  intellectual  and  dis- 
tinguished John  C.  Calhoun.  At  that  period  he  was 
deeply  interested  in  developing  the  resources  of  every 
section  of  the  Union.  During  his  term  of  office,  the 
efficiency  of  the  army  was  increased ;  the  condition  of 
the  aborigines  noted,  and  the  power  of  the  United 
States  felt  in  remote  regions  where  it  had  not  been 
acknowledged. 

On  the  tenth  of  February,  1819,  an  order  was  issued 
from  the  war  department,  concentrating  the  Fifth  Eegi- 
ment  of  Infantry  at  Detroit,  with  a  view  to  transporta- 
tion by  way  of  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers  to  Prairie 
du  Chien.  After  garrisoning  that  post  and  Rock  Island, 
the  remainder  were  to  proceed  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Minnesota,  then  designated  the  Saint  Peter's,  to  esta- 
blish a  post  at  which  the  head-quarters  of  the  regiment 
were  to  be  located.     About  the  time  of  this  order,  the 


820 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


ill 


portion  of  Illinois  territory  not  included  within  the 
state  of  that  name,  was  attached  to  Michigan,  of  which 
Lewis  Cass  was  governor. 

In  the  spring  of  1819,  the  county  of  Crawford  was 
organized,  which  included  a  large  portion  of  Minnesota. 
Colonel  Leavenworth,  wifh  the  troops  on  their  way  to 
build  the  new  post  at  the  junction  of  the  Minnesota, 
brought  blank  commissions  for  county  officers  to  be 
filled  up  by  the  inhabitants.  With  difficulty  officers 
were  obtained.  Johnson,  United  States  factor,  was 
made  Chief  Justice  of  the  County  Court,  and  his  asso- 
ciates were  Michael  Brisbois  and  Francis  Bouthillier  j 
Wilfred  Owens  was  appointed  Judge  of  Probate  ;  John 
S.  Findley,  Clerk  of  the  Court,  and  Thomas  McNair, 
Sheriff.  ■■  nnK  »t  ju  isifmimmmm  'tm  ivnwi'  ■ 

Colonel  Leavenworth,  having  attendied  to  his  duties 
at  the  Prairie,  ascended  the  Mississippi  with  his  soldiers 
in  keel-boats.  The  water  was  so  low  at  that  period, 
that  for  weeks  they  "dragged  their  slow  length  along," 
not  reaching  Mendota  until  September,  the  contem- 
plated site  for  temporary  barracks,  the  remains  of  which 
are  visible  above  the  present  village  of  Mendota,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river.  The  officers  with  their  wives 
lived  in  the  boats  until  rude  huts  and  pickets  were 
erected.  Before  the  quarters  were  completed,  the  rigour 
of  winter  was  felt,  and  the  removal  from  the  open 
boats  to  the  log  cabins,  plastered  with  clay,  was  con- 
sidered a  privilege.  Though  the  first  winter  was  ex- 
tremely cold,  the  garrison  remained  cheerful,  and  the 
officers  maintained  pleasant  social  intercourse.*    During 


'  Mrs.  Ellet,  in  a  sketch  of  the  wife  "  Huts  had  also  to  be  built,  though 
of  the  first  commissary  of  this  post,  in  the  rudest  manner,  to  serve  as  n 
Bays :  shelter  during  the  winter,  from  the 


CANTONMENT  AT  MENDOTA. 


821 


the  winter,  that  dreadful  disease,  scurvy,  appeared 
among  the  troops,  and  raged  so  extensively,  that  for  a 
few  days  military  duty  was  suspended.  It  is  said  that 
"  so  sudden  was  the  attack,  that  soldiers  apparently  in 
good  health  when  they  retired  at  night,  were  found  dead 
iu  the  morning.  One  man  who  was  relieved  from  his 
tour  of  sentinel  duty,  and  stretched  himself  upon  a 
bench,  when  he  was  called  four  hours  after  to  resume 
his  duties,  was  found  lifeless."* 

The  colonel  at  this  time  displayed  his  humanity,  and, 
with  a  few  friends,  spent  several  days  searching  the 
country  for  antiscorbutics.* 

In  the  month  of  May,  1820,  they  entered  into  summer 
imcampment  at  a  spring  not  far  from  the  old  Baker 
trading  house.  The  camp  was  named  Cold  Water.  On 
the  tenth  of  September  the  corner  stone  of  Fort  Snel- 
ling  was  laid.  The  winter  of  1820-21  found  them 
again  at  the  cantonment  on  the  south  side  of  the  river ; 
the  present  fort  not  being  sufficiently  advanced  for 
occupation  by  the  troops.     The  first  pine  lumber  ever 


rigours  of  a  severe  climate.  After 
living  with  her  family  in  the  boat 
for  a  month,  it  was  a  highly  apprecia- 
ted luxury  for  Mrs.  Clark  to  find 
lierself  at  home  in  a  log  hut,  plastered 
with  clay,  and  chinked  for  her  re- 
ception. It  was  December  before 
tlicy  got  into  winter  quarters,  and 
the  fierce  winds  of  that  exposed 
region,  with  terrific  storms  now  and 
tlien,  were  enough  to  make  them 
l<eep  within  doors  as  much  as  possi- 
ble. Once  in  a  violent  tempest,  the 
roof  of  their  dwelling  was  raised  by 
the  wind,  and  partially  slid  off;  there 


was  no  protection  for  the  inmates, 
but  the  baby  in  the  cradle  was 
pushed  under  the  bed  for  safety. 
Notwithstanding  these  discomforts 
and  perils,  the  inconveniences  they 
had  to  encounter,  and  their  isolated 
situation,  the  little  party  of  emi- 
grants were  not  without  the  social 
enjoyments ;  they  were  nearly  all 
young  married  persons,  cheerful, 
and  fond  of  gayety,  and  had  their 
dancing  assemblages  once  a  fortr 
night," 

*  Sibley's  Address  before  Minne 
sota  Historical  Society. 


21 


Appendix  L 


I  I 


i 


822 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


cut  on  Rum  River  was  by  soldiers  for  the  use  of  the  for- 
tifications,       ■r.vrr'ify  .    p„..i    u.,,.-  >   ^,.; 

On  the  eighteenth  of  November,  1819,  Governor  Cass 
addressed  a  communication  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  secretary 
of  war,  proposing  an  exploration  of  the  territory 
recently  attached  to  Michigan,  for  the  purpose  of  becom- 
ing better  acquainted  with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  its 
mineral  and  agricultural  resources.  The  suggestions 
were  approved,  and  on  the  morning  of  July  fifth,  1820, 
the  expedition,  on  the  forty-third  day  of  their  journey 
by  the  lakes  from  Detroit,  entered  the  St.  Louis  river 
of  Minnesota.  The  expedition  consisted  of  Governor 
Cass,  Dr.  Wolcott,  Indian  agent  at  Chicago  and  surgeon, 
Captain  Douglass,  military  engineer,  H.  R.  Schoolcraft, 
mineralogist,  Lieutenant  Mackay,  James  Doty,  Esq., 
secretary.  Major  Forsyth,  private  secretary  to  the 
governor,  C.  C.  Trowbridge,  topographer,  besides  the 
voyageurs,  soldiers,  and  Indians,  amounting  in  all  to 
about  forty  persons. 

Three  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Louis  they 
came  to  an  Ojibway  village  of  fourteen  lodges.  Among 
the  residents  were  the  children  of  an  African,  by  the 
name  of  Bungo,  the  servant  of  a  British  officer  who 
once  commanded  at  Mackinaw.  Their  hair  was  curled 
Hnd  skin  glossy,  and  their  features  altogether  African. 
A  short  distance  above  there  Avas  the  abandoned  esta- 
blishment of  the  old  North-west  Company. 

On  the  evening  of  the  first  day's  ascent  of  the  stream, 
the  expedition  lodged  at  the  American  Fur  Company's 
houses,  twenty-four  miles  from  the  lake.  The  establish- 
ment consisted  of  a  range  of  log  buildings,  enclosing 
three  sides  of  a  square,  open  towards  the  river,  and 
contained  the  warehouse,  canoe   and  boat  yard,  and 


GENERAL  CASS  AT  SANDY  LAKE. 


928 


dwelling-house  of  the  resident  clerk.  The  company 
uad  also  three  horses,  two  oxen,  three  cows,  and  four 
bulls  at  this  post. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  the  month  they  arrived  at 
Sandy  Lake,  and  were  received  at  the  post  of  the 
American  Company,  in  the  temporary  absence  of  the 
trader  Morrison,  by  two  of  his  clerks.  They  occupied 
the  establishment  of  the  old  North-west  Company, 
which  was  built  in  1794,  and  has  been  described  in  a 
previous  chapter.  On  the  appearance  of  the  exploring 
party,  in  accordance  with  custom,  the  Sandy  Lake 
Ojibways  saluted  them  with  a  discharge  of  fire-arms 
loaded  with  balls. 

The  population  of  the  Indian  village  at  that  time  was 
one  hundred  and  twenty,  and  their  principal  men  were 
Broken  Arm  and  De  Breche. 

On  th*>  "ixteenth  a  council  was  held,  and  Governor 
Cass  proposed  that  they  should  send  a  deputation  of 
tbeir  best  men  to  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota,  and  con- 
clude a  peace  with  the  Dahkotahs,  to  which  they  cheer- 
fully consented.  The  next  day  the  officers  of  the  expe- 
dition, with  nineteen  voyageurs  and  Indians,  and  pro- 
visions for  twelve  days,  left  the  post  with  a  view  to 
exploration  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  On  the  nine- 
teenth, the  atmosphere  in  the  region  of  Pokeguma 
Rapids  was  so  cold  that  the  canoes  in  the  morning  were 
coated  with  a  scale  of  ice.  On  the  twenty-first  of 
July  they  reached  Upper  Red  Cedar  Lake,  which  they 
considered  the  true  source  of  the  Mississippi,  and  named 
Cass  Lake.  •  v:   -^ 

On  the  north  shore  of  the  lake  was  a  village  of  sixty 
Ojibways,  of  whom  Wiscoup,  or  the  Sweet,  was  the 
chief     Here  were  found  two  employees  of  the  Fur 


824 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


Company,  one  of  whom,  during  the  previous  winter, 
having  been  caught  in  a  snow  storm,  had  his  feet  frozen 
so  badly  that  they  had  sloughed  off.  For  a  time  his 
Indian  wife  felt  an  interest  in  his  sad  condition,  and 
supported  him  by  catching  fish ;  but  at  last  he  became 
a  weariness  to  her,  and  she  deserted.  For  months,  as 
he  was  unable  to  walk,  he  had  subsisted  upon  the  coarse 
weeds  about  his  hut.  '    '>.l.   •    ■  'k>.  . 

The  expedition  discovered  him  seated  on  a  mat  of 
rushes,  in  a  cabin  of  bark,  with  the  stumps  of  his  legs 
wrapped  in  deer  skins.  With  long  beard,  sunken  eyes, 
hollow  cheeks,  and  bones  ready  to  protrude  through 
the  skin,  he  was  more  to  be  pitied  than  Job.  In  the 
words  of  the  patriarch,  his  "flesh  was  clothed  with 
worms  and  clods  of  dust;  his  skin  was  broken  and 
loathsome ;  by  night  he  was  full  of  tossings  to  and  fro 
unto  the  dawning  of  the  day."  The  sympathies  of  the 
whole  party  were  aroused,  and  Governor  Cass  took 
means  to  make  him  comfortable,  and  have  him  trans- 
ported to  the  Fur  Company's  post  at  Sandy  Lake. 

The  next  day  they  commenced  the  descent  of  the 
river,  and  returned  to  Sandy  Lake  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  twenty-fourth.  On  the  twenty-fifth,  with  a  delegar 
'ion  of  Ojibways,  they  entered  the  canoes  once  more, 
and  steered  towards  the  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Min- 
nesota. The  twenty-eighth  was  passed  in  hunting  buf- 
falo, between  Elk  river  and  the  Little  Falls.  Having 
spent  several  hours  in  hunting,  they  descended  the 
river  until  three  o'clock,  when  they  landed  again  to 
hunt  at  the  site  of  a  recent  Dahkotah  encampment.  In 
the  centre  of  the  deserted  camp,  on  a  long  pole,  was  a 
letter  of  birch  bark,  addressed  to  the  Ojibways,  in  which 
fhey  were  informed  that  a  peace  party,  at  the  solicitor 


CASS  AT  FORT  SNELLING.— RAPID  VEGETATION. 


820 


tion  of  the  commander  of  the  fort,  had  proceeded  to 
that  spot,  but  not  finding  any  of  their  nation,  had  re- 
turned. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  thirtieth,  they  reached  the 
garrison  at  "  Camp  Cold  Water,"  near  the  present  St. 
Louis  House,  near  Fort  Snelling,  and  Governor  Cass 
was  received  with  the  customary  national  salute.  They 
found  here  a  busy  scene :  officers  and  their  men  were 
all  occupied.  In  addition  to  building  the  fort,  ninety 
acres  of  ground  were  under  cultivation,  and  the  soil 
proved  very  fertile.  Green  peas  had  been  ready  for 
the  table  on  the  fifteenth  of  June ;  the  com  was  ripe  on 
the  fifteenth  of  July,  and  the  wheat  was  now  ripe  for 
the  harvest. 

On  the  first  of  August,  at  the  winter  barracks  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Minnesota,  which  were  then  being 
occupied  by  Taliaferro  as  an  Indian  agency,  a  council 
was  held  with  the  Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways.  Go- 
vernor Cass,  Colonel  Leavenworth,  and  other  officers 
represented  the  United  States.  Shokpay  and  other 
chiefs  spoke  for  the  Dahkotahs,  and  Babasikurasiba  for 
the  Ojibways.  Though  the  Dahkotahs  agreed  to  a  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  against  the  Ojibways,  they  were 
very  indifferent,  and  some  of  the  chiefs  and  braves  re- 
fused to  smoke  the  pipe  of  peace. 

On  the  second  of  August,  the  party  continued  their 
descent  of  the  Mississippi,  and  visited  the  cave  near  the 
upper  limits  of  the  city  of  Saint  Paul,  which  they  were 
erroneously  told  was  "Carver's  Cave."'  Four  miles  be- 
low, at  a  point  now  called  Pig's  Eye,  they  found  the 
village  of  Little  Crow.  "Here,"  says  Schoolcraft,  in 
liis  narrative  of  the  expedition,  is  a  "Sioux  (Dahkotah) 

' '     *^?         '  Carver's  cave,  is  in  Uie  lower  suburb. 


% 


826 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


n 


ZMm 


band  of  twelve  lodges,  and  consisting  of  about  two  hun- 
dred souls,  who  plant  corn  on  the  adjoining  plain,  and 
cultivate  the  cucumber  and  pumpkin.  They  sallied 
from  their  lodges  on  seeing  us  approach,  and  manifested 
the  utmost  satisfaction  in  our  landing.  Le  Petit  Cor- 
beau  was  among  the  first  to  greet  us.  He  is  a  man  be- 
low the  common  size,  but  brawny  and  well  proportioned ; 
and  although  rising  of  fifty  years  of  age,  retains  the 
looks  and  vigour  of  forty.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  fire 
in  his  eyes,  which  are  black  and  piercing.  His  nose  is 
prominent  and  has  the  aquiline  curvo,  his  forehead  fall- 
ing a  little  from  the  facial  angle,  and  his  whole  counte- 
nance animated,  and  expressive  of  a  shrewd  mind.  We 
were  conducted  into  his  cabin,  which  is  spacious,  being 
about  sixty  feet  in  length  and  thirty  in  width,  built  in 
a  permanent  manner  of  logs,  and  covered  with  bark. 
Being  seated,  he  addressed  Governor  Cass  in  a  speech 
of  some  length,  in  which  h^  expressed  his  satisfaction 
in  seeing  him  there,  and  said  that  in  his  extensive 
journey,  he  must  have  experienced  a  good  many  hard 
ships  and  difficulties,  and  seen  a  great  deal  of  the  In- 
dian way  of  living.  He  said  he  was  glad  that  the  go- 
vernor had  not,  like  many  other  officers  and  agents  of 
the  United  States,  who  had  lately  visited  those  regions, 
passed  by  without  calling.  He  acquiesced  in  the  treaty 
which  had  lately  been  concluded  vath  the  Cluppeways, 
and  was  happy  that  a  stop  had  been  put  to  the  effusion 
of  human  blood.  He  then  adverted  to  a  recent  attack 
of  a  party  of  Fox  Indians  upon  some  of  their  people 
towards  the  sources  of  the  river  Minnesota,  in  which 
nine  men  had  been  killed.  He  considered  it  a  dastardly 
act,  and  said  that  if  that  little  tribe  should  continue  to 
haunt  their  territories  in  a  liostile  manner,  they  would 


'-i^i^L: 


'ELLING  ARRIVES— WANATA  ARRESTED. 


327 


and 


at  length  drive  hiir  into  anger,  and  compel  him  Lo  do  a 
thing  he  did  not  wish." 

The  next  day  they  arrived  at  the  village  of  Rem- 
nichah,  or  Red  Wing.  Tatankimani,  or  the  Walking 
Buffalo,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  treaty  of  friendship  at 
Portage  des  Sioux,  in  1815,  was  the  principal  man,  and 
about  sixty  years  of  age.  One  of  his  granddaughters 
married  a  Mr,  Crawford,  who  was  a  prominent  British 
trader  during  the  war  of  1812, 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  fourth,  they  stopped  a  few 
minutes  at  Wapashaw  village,  the  site  of  the  town  of 
Winona ;  and  on  the  evening  of  the  fifth,  their  canoes 
grated  on  the  pebbly  banks  of  the  village  of  Prairie  du 
Chien.  At  ihis  point  Colonel  Snelling  was  met  on  his 
way  to  relieve  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leavenworth  of  the 
command  of  the  troops  at  Camp  Cold  Water,  opposite 
Mendota,  His  wife,  a  few  dty  s  after  her  arrival  at  the 
post,  gave  birth  to  the  first  infant  of  white  parents  in 
Minnesota,  which,  after  a  brief  existence  of  thirteen 
months,  departed  to  a  better  land.  The  dilapidated 
monument  which  marks  the  remains  of  the  "  little  one," 
is  still  visible  in  the  grave-yard  of  the  fort.  Beside 
Mrs.  Snelling,  the  wife  of  the  Commissary,  and  of  Cap- 
tain Gooding,  were  in  the  garrison,  the  first  American 
ladies  that  ever  wintered  in  Minnesota. 

hu  >itly  after  Colonel  Snelling  assumed  command  of 
the  garrison,  the  Dahkotahs  appeai-ed  unfriendly.  A 
large  body  of  warriors  under  the  leadership  of  the  cele- 
brated Yaukton  Wanata,  hovered  around  the  barracks 
for  some  time,  and  at  last  the  chief  presentt^d  himself 
at  the  gates,  ostensibly  desiring  to  have  a  friendly  talk 
with  the  commander.  The  gates  were  opened,  and  suf- 
ficient information  having  been  obtained  to  warrant  the 


828 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


'   I 


suspicion  that  they  meditated  an  attack,  he  and  his 
companions  were  seized,  and  marched  to  the  council 
hall  under  a  guard  of  glittering  bayonets.  In  the 
council  chamber  his  treachery  was  fully  exposed,  and 
he  was  deprived  of  his  badges  and  medals  which  he  had 
received  from  the  British,  and  they  were  destroyed  in 
his  presence.  In  their  mortification,  the  Indians  with 
the  chief  gashed  their  flesh  with  knives.  By  this 
decided  step,  Wanata  was  impressed  with  the  folly  of 
opposing  the  United  States  troops,  and  from  that  time 
showed  himself  friendly  to  all  American  officers  with 
whom  he  was  brought  in  contact. 

Not  far  from  this  period  two  persona  were  shot  by  a 
party  of  Sissetoan  Dahkotahs,  near  Council  Blufts,  on  the 
Missouri.*  The  United  States  authorities,  to  compel  the 
surrender  of  the  murderers,  notified  the  Sissetoan  bands, 
that  no  traders  should  visit  them  till  the  guilty  ones 
were  delivered.  iiMi.  h..;;  va;  ;.,  ;*.<.; 

Deprived  of  blankets,  powder,  and  tobacco,  they  held 
a  council,  at  Big  Stone  Lake,  to  determine  what  should 
be  done,  and  listened  to  the  arguments  of  a  trader  named 
Colin  Campbell.  Mahzah  Khotah,  and  another  of  the 
band,  announced  themselves  as  the  guilty  ones,  and 
exjtressed  a  willingness  to  deliver  themselves  to  the 
soldier,*  at  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota.  The  aged 
father  of  the  latter  then  offered  himself  as  a  substitute, 
which  was  agreeable  to  the  council.  The  next  day 
Mahzah  Khotah,  and  the  old  man,  started  for  the  gar 
rison,  accompanied  by  friends  and  relatives. 

On  the  twelfth  of  November,  1820,  when  about  a 
mile  distant,  thi»  part}'  halted,  smoked,  and  the  death 
dirge  was  chanted.  Blackening  their  faces,  and  gashing 
their  armn,  as  a  token  of  grief,  tliey  formed  a  proces- 

*  Appendix  M 


i  m 


A  FATHER'S  ATONEMENT  FOR  HIS  SON. 


329 


sion,  and  marched  to  the  centre  of  the  soldier's  parade 
ground.  First  came  a  Sissetoan,  bearing  a  British  flag, 
and  then  one  of  the  murderers  and  the  aged  chief,  who 
had  become  an  atonement  for  his  only  son.  Their  arms 
were  secured  by  ro])es  of  buffalo  hair,  and  large  splinters 
of  oak  w^ere  thrust  through  the  flesh,  above  the  elbows,  to 
indicate  their  contempt  of  death.  As  they  approached, 
singing  death-songs,  a  company  of  soldiers  was  drawn 
up,  and  Colonel  SneUing  came  out  to  meet  them.  A  fire 
was  then  kindled,  and  the  British  flag  burned,  after 
which  the  medal  of  the  murderer  was  gi\en  up,  and 
then  both  surrendered  themselves.  The  old  chief  was 
detained  as  a  hostage,  and  the  murderer  sent  to  St. 
Louis,  for  trial.*     Placed  in  a  boat,  he  was  rowed  by 


*  The  following  letter  addressed 
to  the  secretary  of  war,  contains 
most  of  the  facts  narrated. 

"Cantonment  St.  Peter's, 
November  13,  1820. 

"  Sir — when  I  had  the  honour  to 
address  you  on  the  tenth,  from  the 
disposition  then  manifested  by  the 
Sussitongs,  I  had  no  hope  of  obtain- 
ing the  surrender  of  the  murderers 
uf  our  people  on  the  Missouri,  but 
contrary  to  my  expectation,  one  of 
the  murderers,  and  an  old  chief  self- 
devoted  in  the  place  of  his  son,  were 
voluntarily  brought  in  and  delivered 
up  yesterday. 

"The  ceremony  of  delivery  was 
conducted  with  much  solemnity.  A 
procession  was  formed  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  garrison,  and  marched 
to  the  centre  of  our  parade.  It  was 
preceded  by  a  Sussitong  bearing  the 
British  flag ;  the  murderer  and  de- 
voted ch'ef  followed  with  their  arms 


pinioned,  and  large  spl.'nters  of  wood 
thrust  through  them  above  the  el- 
bows, to  indicate  as  I  understood  their 
contempt  of  pain  and  de.\th.  The 
relatives  and  friends  followed,  and 
on  their  way  joined  them  in  siuging 
their  death-song.  When  they  ar- 
rived in  front  of  the  guard  the 
British  flag  was  laid  on  a  fire,  pre- 
pared for  the  occasion,  and  consumed ; 
the  murderer  gave  up  his  medal,  and 
both  the  prisoners  were  surrendered. 
The  old  chief  I  have  detained  as  a 
hostage,  the  murderer  I  have  sent  to 
St.  Lewis,  under  a  proper  guard,  for 
trial,  presuming  it  is  a  course  you 
will  approve. 

"I  am  much  indebted  'o  Mr.  Colin 
Campbell,  the  interpreter,  ;'j-  his 
great  exertions  in  bringing  this  affair 
to  a  speedy  issue.  The  delivery  of 
the  murderer  is  to  be  solely  attri- 
buted to  his  influence  over  the  Suhsv 
tongs." 


m 


330 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


^i 


ftoldiors  to  the  place  of  destination,  but  no  witness 
appearing  against  him,  he  was  discharged,  and  while 
retuming,  is  said  to  have  been  killed  by  a  frontiersman, 
in  Missouri. 

In  1822  a  man  by  the  name  of  Perkins,  of  Kentucky, 
)btained  permission  of  Taliaferro,  the  agent  for  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  to  build  a  saw-mill  in  the  Chippeway  valley. 
His  partners  were  Lockwood  and  Rolette,  of  Prairie  du 
Chien.  For  the  privilege  of  cutting  timber  they  agreed 
to  T>ay  Wapashaw's  band,  who  claimed  the  country,  one 
thousand  dollars  annually,  in  goods.  The  spot  selected 
for  the  mill,  was  on  a  small  stream  running  into  the 
Menomonee,  about  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth. 

After  the  coalition  of  the  two  great  British  Fur  Com- 
panies, some  of  those  who  had  been  in  their  service, 
Renville,  Jeffries,  McKenzie^  and  others,  in  company 
with  a  few  American  traders,  formed  a  new  company 
called  the  Columbia,  whose  central  establishment  was 
at  Lake  Traverse.  They  were  licensed  by  the  proper 
authorities,  to  trade  with  the  Indians  south  of  the  British 
boundary  line.  The  only  rival  in  the  trade,  was  the 
American  Fur  Company.'  They  also  had  a  trading-post 
on  the  Minnesota,  about  a  mile  above  Fort  Snelling. 

'  One  of  their  number  furnished    of  furs  formerly  obtained   in  this 
to  the  historian  of  Long's  expedition,     region, 
the  following  statementof  theamount 


4 


Namea. 

No.  of  packa. 

of  each  pack. 

Talueofpack. 

ToUI. 

Beaver  .    . 

...    10    . 

100  lbs.  weight 

.      $400  . 

14000 

Bear,     .    . 

...    20    . 

12  skins      .    . 

75  . 

1500 

Buffalo,      . 

.    .    .  400    . 

10  skins     .     .     . 

40  . 

16,000 

Martin, 

...    10    . 

100  lbs.    .     .    . 

.      300  . 

3000 

Otter     .     , 

.    .    .    10    . 

100  lbs.    .     .    . 

.      600  . 

6000 

Fisher    .     . 

.    .    .    25    . 



.      450  . 

11,250 

Elk,       .    . 

.    .    .    40    . 

16  skins     .    .    . 

.        80  . 

3200 

FIRST  MILL  IS  MINNESOTA. 


881 


It  was  during  this  year,  the  fort  being  sufficiently 
completed  for  occupancy,  that  the  first  mill  in  Minnesota 
was  erected.  It  was  built  under  the  supervision  of 
officers  of  the  fort,  on  the  site  of  Minneapolis,  and  was 
guarded  by  a  sergeant  and  a  few  privates.  i     .,;.fj , 

'.  ,,,^.  Joseph  R.  Brown,  who  afterwards  was  a  noted 
citizen,  at  this  time  a  soldier  in  the  army,  in  company 
with  a  son  of  Colonel  Snelling,  and  one  or  two  others, 
explored  the  rivulet  that  supplies  the  cascade  of  Minne 
HarHa,  as  far  as  Lake  Minne  Tonka. 

The  settlers  at  the  Selkirk  colony  were,  as  has  been 
seen,  reduced  to  great  straits.  Owing  to  their  fratricidal 
strife  agriculture  had  been  neglected,  and  at  one  time 
they  were  forced  to  live  upon  salt  and  lettuce. 

Among  others  at  Pembina  was  a  trader  by  the  name 
of  Hess,  who,  finding  provisions  scarce,  determined  to 
go  and  join  a  party  who  had  gone  out  on  a  bufialo  hunt. 
He  commenced  his  journey  with  two  daughters  and  two 
other  settlers.  As  he  had  married  an  Ojibway  woman, 
he  travelled  through  the  Dahkotah  country  with  the 
greatest  precaution,  knowing  the  hereditary  feud  that 
existed  bt.  tween  the  nation  of  his  mother's  children  and 


r 
Name. 

Mynx,   .    .    . 

■  ''-■■-    t   .  ■  1 

No.  ar,ji>cks. 
.     .     10     . 

No.  of  (kioB. 

Value  of  park. 
.      .      .     1200     . 

ToUI.. 

12000 

Muskrat,    .    . 
Lvnx.    .    .    . 

.    .    40    . 
.    .    20    . 

.    500  skins 

...        200      . 

...      280    . 

8000 
5600 

Swan,    .     .    , 

.    .      2    . 

t      60  skins 

.    400  skins 

.    400  skins 

16  skins 

...       60    . 

>•••••            • 

...       80    . 
.    •    .       40    , 

120' 

Kftbbit,      .    . 
Wolverine, 
Cowskins,  .    • 
Wolves,      .    . 

.    .      4    . 
.    .      1    . 

.    .    20    . 
.    .    10    . 

32 

75 

1600 

400 

Moose,  .    .    • 

.    .    10    . 

.  '.    .  '    80    . 

800 

Fox, .... 

.    .      5    . 

...      260 

1300 

1  ■y^.i-.f^i'i'^i' 

164.877 

^82 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  Dahkotahs,  On  the  sixth  day  of  the  journey  he 
left  his  companions  to  chase  some  buffaloes  that  were  iu 
sight.  He  did  not  return  for  some  time,  but  after  a 
long  ride  across  the  prairie  he  saw  the  primitive  cart  in 
which  his  family  had  travelled,  and  hoped  to  find  them 
and  recount  his  success  in  the  hunt.  On  his  approach 
he  found  one  of  his  companions  scalped,  and  deprived 
of  both  his  feet.  A  few  steps  beyond,  lay  one  of  his 
beloved  daughters  with  a  knife  lodged  in  her  heart.  He 
then  discovered  the  lifeless  form  of  his  other  fellow- 
traveller,  but  could  not  find  his  second  daughter. 

Horrified  and  helpless  he  returned  to  Pembina,  after 
travelling  three  days  and  three  nights  on  foot,  without 
a  morsel  of  food.  Reciting  his  melancholy  story,  the 
."eitlers  were  seized  with  a  panic,  and  not  one  would 
accompany  him  to  the  scene  of  slaughter  and  bury  the 
dead. 

Obtaining  an  intimation  that  one  daughter  yet  lived, 
a  captive  in  a  Yankton  lodge,  with  the  energy  of  despair 
he  started  for  the  camp,  determined  to  rescue  her  or  to 
die  in  the  attempt.  After  a  long  '  ramp  he  descried  the 
cone-shaped  teepee,  and  before  he  reached  the  spot  a 
Yankton  accosted  him  and  asked  whether  he  was  a 
friend  or  foe.  Hess,  nerved  to  the  highest  physical 
courage,  said,  "  You  know  me  as  your  foe ;  you  know 
me  by  the  name  of  Standing  Bull ;  you  know  you  have 
killed  one  of  my  daughters  and  taken  the  other  prisoner." 
The  Dahkotah  was  impressed  by  his  fearlessness,  and 
extended  his  hand,  and,  taking  him  to  the  camp,  all 
complinjented  him.  Finding  his  daughter,  he  was 
cheered  to  learn  that  she  had  been  treated  with  kind- 
ness. Her  owner  was  at  first  unwilling  to  release  her, 
but  at  last  consented  for  a  certain  ransom. 


HESS'S  DAUGHTER  RANSOMED. 


383 


Seeking  the  neighbouring  trading  posts  of  the  Columbia 
Fur  Company,  the  traders  sympathized  with  him,  and 
furnished  him  the  necessary  amount  of  goods  on  a  long 
credit,  and  bearing  the  merchandise  to  the  camp,  the 
Dahkotah,  true  to  his  word,  delivered  the  daughter ;  but 
now  the  maiden  had  become  attached  to  those  with 
whom  she  had  been  dwelling,  and  reluctantly  left  their 


lodges.    i\ik\i\tnr-'^r 


■  ^ffi-  :  'Ahv 


f^. 


On  the  appearance  of  spring  in  the  year  1823,  a  num- 
ber of  emigrants  who  had  been  induced  by  the  prospec- 
tus of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk's  agent  to  leave  their  mountain 
homes  in  Switzerland,  and  settle  in  the  valley  of  the 
Red  river,  determined  to  seek  the  United  States.  After 
a  long  journey  from  Pembina,  by  way  of  Lake  Traverse, 
they  reached  what  is  now  Fort  Snelling,  in  a  state  of 
great  destitution,  and  were  there  aided  by  the  officers 
of  the  garrison.' 


^-W.v.'' 


fjjr 


'  "  In  1823,  news  was  brought  by 
the  traders  that  two  white  children 
were  with  a  party  of  Sioux  on  the  St. 
Peter's.  It  appeared  from  'vhat 
they  could  learn,  that  a  family  from 
lied  river — Selkirk's  settlement — 
had  been  on  their  way  to  the  fort, 
when  a  war  party  of  Sioux  met  them, 
murdered  the  parents  and  an  infant, 
and  made  the  boys  prisoners.  Col. 
Snelling  sent  an  officer  with  u  party 
of  soldiers  to  rescue  the  children. 
After  some  delay  in  the  ransom, 
they  were  finally  brought.  An  old 
B<iuaw,  who  had  the  youngest,  was 
very  unwilling  to  give  him  up,  and 
indeed  the  child  did  not  wish  to  leave 
her.  The  oldest,  about  eight  years 
old,  said  his  name  was  John  TuUy, 
and  his  brother,  five  years  old,  Abra- 


ham. His  mother  had  an  infant, 
but  he  saw  the  Indians  dash  its 
brains  out  against  a  tree,  then  killed 
his  father  and  mother.  Because  he 
cried  they  took  him  by  his  hair,  and 
cut  a  small  piece  from  his  head, 
which  was  a  running  sore  when  ho 
was  retaken.  Col.  Snelling  took 
John  into  his  family.  Major  Clark 
the  other,  but  he  was  afterwards 
sent  to  an  orphan  asylum  in  New 
York.  The  eldest  died  of  lockjaw, 
occasioned  by  a  cut  in  the  ankle 
while  using  an  axe.  His  death-bed 
conversion  was  afiecting  and  remark- 
able. One  day,  after  he  had  been  ill 
several  weeks,  he  said,  '  Mrs.  Snel- 
ling, I  have  been  a  very  wicked  boy ; 
I  once  tried  to  poison  my  father  be- 
cause he  said  he  would  whip  me.    1 


884 


**^  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA.   '' 


It  was  during  this  year  that  it  was  demonstrated  that 
it  was  practicable  to  navigate  the  Mississippi  from  St. 
Louis  to  the  junction  of  the  Minnesota  river.  Pre- 
viously it  had  been  supposed  that  the  rapids  at  Rock 
Island  would  prove  an  insurmountable  barrier.  On 
the  second  of  May,  according  to  a  printed  announce- 
ment, the  Virginia,  a  steamer  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
feet  in  length  and  twenty-two  in  width,  drawing  six 
feet  of  water,  left  her  moorings  at  the  St.  Louis  levee 
destined  for  Fort  Snelling. 

Among  the  passengers  were  Major  Taliaferro,  the 
tigent  of  the  Dahkotahs ;  Beltrami,  an  Italian  Count, 
once  a  judge  of  the  Royal  Court,  then  a  political  refu- 
gee ;*    Great    Eagle,  a  Sauk  chief,   returning  to  his 


stole  a  ring  from  you  which  you 
valued  much,  and  sold  it  to  a  soldier, 
and  then  I  told  you  a  lie  about  it.  I 
have  given  you  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  I  have  been  very  wicked. 
1  am  going  to  die  the  day  after  to- 
morrow, and  don't  know  where  I 
shall  go.    Oh,  pray  for  me.' 

"  His  benefactress  answered, '  John, 
God  will  forgive  you,  if  you  repent ; 
but  you  must  pray  too,  for  yourself. 
God  is  more  willing  to  hear  than  we 
are  to  pray.  Christ  died  to  save  just 
such  a  sinner  as  you  are,  and  you 
must  call  upon  that  Saviour  to  save 
you.'  All  his  sins  appeared  to  rise 
before  him  as  he  confessed  them,  and 
he  seemed  to  feel  that  he  was  too 
great  a  sinner  to  hope  for  pardon. 
Mrs.  Snelling  read  to  him,  and  in- 
structed him.  He  never  had  re- 
ceived any  religious  instruction,  ex- 
cept in  the  Sunday  school  taught  by 
Mrs.  Clark  and  herself,  and  being 
accustomed  to  say  his  prayers  with 


her  children,  and  always  be  present 
when  she  road  the  church  service  on 
Sundays.  The  next  morning  after 
the  above  conversation,  when  she 
asked  him  how  he  had  rested  during 
the  night,  he  said,  'I  prayed  very 
often  in  the  night ;  I  shall  die  to- 
morrow, and  I  know  not  what  shall 
become  of  me.'  For  several  hours 
he  remained  tranquil,  with  his  eyes 
closed,  but  would  answer  whenever 
spoken  to ;  then  suddenly  he  ex- 
claimed, 'Glory!  glory  I'  His  friend 
said,  'John,  what  do  you  mean  by 
that  word  V  '  Oh  1  Mrs,  Snelling,  I 
feel  so  good — I  feel  so  good  1  Oh ! 
I  cannot  tell  you  how  good  I  feel.'  " 
— Mrs.  Snelling's  Reminiscences  in 
"  Pioneer  Women  of  the  West." 

'  "  An  Italian  gentleman  came  on 
the  boat,  who  professed  to  be  travel- 
ling for  the  purpose  of  writing 
a  book,  and  .brought  letters  of 
introduction  from  Mrs.  Snelling's 
friends  in   St.  Louis.    The  colonel 


FIRST  STEAMBOAT  ON  UPPER  MISSISSIPPI. 


335 


village  from  a  conference  with  Governor  Clark ;  and  a 
family  from  Kentucky,  with  their  children,  guns,  chests, 
cats,  dogs,  and  chickens,  emigrating  to  Galena,  which 
was  then  the  extreme  froiitier.  At  Dubuque,  the  In- 
dians held  possession  of  their  mines,  and  watched  all 
who  visited  them  with  a  jealous  eye. 

After  the  steamer  had  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Tjpper 
Iowa,  a  grand  illumination  greeted  the  appearance  of 
the  ''  great  fire  canoe,"  as  it  glided  along  the  confines 
of  Minnesota.  An  eye-witness  writes:  "It  was  per- 
fectly dark,  and  we  were  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
loway,  when  we  saw  at  a  great  distance  all  the  com- 
bined images  of  the  infernal  regions  in  full  perfection. 
I  was  on  the  point  of  exclaiming  with  Michael  Angelo^ 
'  How  terrible !  but  yet  how  beautiful !' 


invited  him  to  his  house  to  remain 
as  long  as  he  pleased,  and  he  was 
with  them  several  months.  He 
could  not  speak  English,  but  spoke 
French  fluently,  and  seemed  much 
pleased  when  he  found  his  fair 
hostess  could  speak  the  language, 
she  having  learned  it  when  a  child  at 
St.  Louis.  A  French  school  was 
the  first  she  ever  attended,  and  she 
thus  early  acquired  a  -perfectly  cor- 
rect pronunciation.  She  lamented 
on  one  occasion  to  Mr.  Beltrami, 
that  her  teacher  had  received  his 
discharge,  and  was  about  leaving, 
and  he  politely  offered  his  services 
In  that  capacity.  She  was  then 
translating  the  life  of  Caesar  in  an 
abridged  form,  and  from  the  emotion 
betrayed  by  the  foreigner  at  a  por- 
tion of  the  reading,  it  was  concluded 
he  had  been  banished  from  the 
Pope's  dominions  at  Rome,  and  that 
the  lesson  reminded  him  of  bis  mis- 


fortunes. The  passport  he  showed, 
gave  him  the  title  of '  Le  Chevalier 
Count  Beltrami.' 

"When  at  the  fort  he  was  busy  in 
collecting  Indian  curiosities.  One 
day  he  brought  a  Sioux  chief  into 
Mrs.  Snelling's  room,  who  had  on 
his  neck  a  necklace  of  bears'  claws 
highly  polished,  saying,  'I  cannot 
tempt  this  chief  to  part  with  his 
necklace ;  pray  see  what  you  can  do 
with  him,  he  will  not  refuse  you.' 
'  He  wears  it,'  answered  the  lady, 
as  a  trophy  of  his  prowess,  and  a 
badge  of  honour;  however,  I  will 
try.'  After  some  time,  Wanata  said, 
'  On  one  condition  I  will  consent :  if 
you  will  cut  off  your  hair,  braid  it, 
and  let  it  take  the  place  of  mine,  you 
may  have  the  necklace.'  All  laugh- 
ed heartily  at  the  contrivance  to  get 
rid  of  further  importunity." — Mrs. 
Snelling's  Reminiscences  in  "  JVo> 
neer  Women  0/ the  West." 


m 


386: 


'  1' 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


"The  venerable  trees  of  these  eternal  forests  were 
on  fire,  which  had  communicated  to  the  grass  and 
brushwood,  and  these  had  been  borne  by  a  violent  north- 
west wind  to  the  adjacent  plains  and  valleys.  The 
flames  towering  above  the  tops  of  the  hills  where  the 
wind  raged  with  most  violence,  gave  them  the  appear- 
ance of  volcanoes  at  the  moment  of  their  most  terrific 
eruptions;  and  the  fire  nding  in  its  descent  through 
places  covered  with  gra, , ,  exhibited  an  exact  resem- 
blance to  the  undulating  lava  of  Etna  or  Vesuvius. 
Almost  all  night  we  travelled  by  the  light  of  this  su- 
perb torch." 

The  arrival  of  the  Virginia  at  Mendota,  is  an  era  in 
the  history  of  the  Dahkotah  nation,  and  will  probably 
be  transmitted  to  their  posterity  as  long  as  they  exist 
as  a  people.  They  say  that  some  of  their  sacred  men, 
the  night  before,  dreamed  of  seeing  some  monster  of 
the  waters,  which  frightened  them  very  much. 

As  the  boat  neared  the  shore,  men,  women,  and 
children  beheld  with  silent  astonishment,  supposing 
that  it  was  some  enormous  water  spirit  coughing,  puff- 
ing out  hot  breath,  and  splashing  water  in  every  direc- 
tion. When  it  touched  the  landing  their  fears  prevailed, 
and  they  retreated  some  distance,  but  when  the  blowing 
off  of  steam  commenced  they  were  completely  unnerved : 
mothers  forgetting  their  children,  with  streaming  hair, 
sought  hiding-places ;  chiefs,  renouncing  their  stoicism, 
scampered  away  like  affrighted  animals. 

The  peace  agreement  between  the  Ojibways  and 
Dahkotahs,  made  through  the  influence  of  Governor 
Cass,  was  of  brief  duration,  the  latter  being  the  first  to 
violate  the  provisions.  ;        /  s    t,  .   u..,;  i^f 


•iALlAFERBO,  UNITED  STATE?  AlJENT  FOR  DAHKOTAHS.  337 

Dn  the  fourth  of  June,  Taliaferro,*  the  Indian  agent 
iiiiiong  the  Dahkotahs,  took  advantage  of  the  presence 
of  a  large  number  of  Ojibways  to  renew  the  agreement 
for  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  The  council  hall  of  the 
agent  was  a  large  room  of  logs,  in  which  waved  con- 
spicuously the  flag  of  the  United  States,  surrounded  by 


'  Mr.  Taliaferro  ■wnR  the  flrat  Tndi..  n 
nsent  in  Minnesota,  and  what  is  re- 
uiurkable,  he  held  the  office  for 
twciity-one  years.  Having  left  the 
country  in  1S40,  he  visited  it  in  1S56, 
and  contributed  theaunexed  reminis- 
ceucoii  to  the  Pioneer  and  Democrat 
newspaper,  published  at  St.  Paul : — 

"It  may  not  be  deemed  out  of  place 
at  this  period  in  the  rapid  and  un- 
precedented growth  of  cities,  towns, 
liiiinlets,  and  population  in  Minne- 
sota, to  refer  to,  and  present  date  in 
reference  to  some  of  the  historical 
reminiscences  of  the  past. 

"  There  were  two  expeditions  or- 
ganized— that  for  the '  Yellow  Stone,' 
ill  ISld,  under  Colonel  Atkinson, 
and  the  second  in  1810,  under  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Leavenworth,  of  the 
Fifth  Infantry,  to  the  Falls  of  St. 
AntliDuy,  which  latter  expedition 
cantoned  at  the  entry  of  the  river  St. 
Peter's,  and  their  first  monthly  report 
■was  dated  September  thirtieth  1819. 
The  object  of  these  military  move- 
ments during  the  administration  of 
President  Monroe,  was  to  open  the 
country  to  the  fur  trade,  and  extend 
protection  to  our  hitherto  defenceless 
frontiers,  north  and  west.  Your  hum- 
ble writer  was  selected  by  the  presi- 
dent from  the  army,  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  March,  1819,  and  appoint- 
ed the  pioneer  Agent  for  Indian  Af- 
22 


fairs  for  the  North-west,  .ind  estab- 
lished his  agency  near  the  Minnesota, 
and  continued  his  arduous,  delicate, 
and  respor  ,ibi<>  duties  under  several 
Buccessi  .e  administrations  of  the  Ge- 
neral Government,  down  to  the  year 
1840,  when — though  appointed  for 
the  sixth  term — he  declined  longer  ser- 
vice, from  a  rapid  decline  in  health. 
"  In  the  summer  of  the  year  1820, 
Colonel  Snelling  relieved  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Leavenworth  from  the  com- 
mand of  what  was  then  called  '  Port 
St.  Anthony,'  though  not  a  stone 
had  been  set  for  the  permanent  work. 
This  was  left  for  the  action  of  the 
gallant  Snelling,  who,  as  actini;  As- 
sistant Quartermaster,  set  all  bauds 
at  work,  and  laid  the  corner  stone  of 
Fort  Snelling  on  the  tenth  day  of 
September,  1820,  with  due  ceremo- 
nies, in  presence  of  the  civil  and 
military  officers  of  the  post  and 
soveral  citizens.  It  is  known  that 
in  1805,  Pike  procured  from  the 
Sioux  (the  chief,  '  Little  Crow' 
being  present)  a  cession  of  nine  by 
eighteen  miles,  wintered  hi*  men 
below  the  Sauk  Rapids,  and  returned 
to  St.  Louis  in  the  spring  of  J  806. 
In  excavating  the  foundation  of  the 
circular  battery  in  rear  of  the  com- 
manding officer's  quarters,  at  the 
foot  of  a  small  oak  tree,  a  workman 
found  a  black  bottle,  and  upon  being 


838      ;,,/Tf,,«ii. 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


British  colouiH  and  medals  that  had  been  delivered  up 
from  time  to  time  by  Indian  chiefs. 

Among  the  Dahkotah  chiefs  present  were  Wapashaw, 
Little  Crow,  and  Penneshaw;  of  the  Ojibwaya  there 
were  Kendouswa,  Moshomene,  and  Pa8heskonoei)e. 
After  mutual  accusations  and  excuses  concerning  the 


placed  in  the  hanrlR  of  Colonel 
Snelling  it  wutt  found  to  contain  a 
synopsis  of  the  grant  made  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Indians. 

"To  recount  all  those  thrilling  inci- 
dents, which  occurred  in  the  course 
of  the  first  twenty-one  years  on  this 
then  remote  frontier,  would  fill  a  vol- 
ume from  our  seventeen  manuscript 
journals,  in  the  hands  of  a  ready  wri- 
ter. We  would  remark  upon  the  ever 
memorable  days  the  twenty-seventh 
and  twenty-eighth  of  May,  1827, 
when  the  Sioux,  shortly  after  night- 
fall, fired  into  the  lodges  of  a  party 
of  Chippewas  encamped  below,  and 
in  front  of  the  Agency,  killing  and 
wounding  some  eight  or  nine — and 
for  tills  unprovoked  attack  we  caused 
the  offenders  to  be  forthwith  given 
up  for  this  outrage,  and  insult  to  our 
flag  and  neutrality — and  four  Sioux 
were  shot,  within  two  hundred  paces 
from  the  spot  on  which  we  now  pen 
this  sketch  of  facts. 

"  We  thought  nothing  of  taking  a 
orew  of  brave  Medawakantons,  with 
Mr.  Alexander  Farribault  as  a  com- 
panion, and  passing  down  to  Du- 
buque, and  rescuing  a  Yankton  Sioux 
prisoner  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  had 
captured  in  1823, — performing  this 
act  of  humanity  in  a  few  days  ;  evad- 
ing the  vigilance  of  u  party  of  the 
Sac  braves  despatched  to  intercept 


and  cut  us  off.  It  was  a  dangerous 
efibrt,  but  ..'e  determined  to  risk  our 
lives  to  save  that  of  a  human  being, 
and  we  landed  safely  at  St.  Peter's, 
and  in  due  season,  despatched  her 
o£f  safely  to  her  friends  and  family 
on  the  Des  Moines. 

"  Some  are  curious  to  learn  how 
certain  locations  received  designated 
names.  Minnehaha  was  first  indi- 
cated as  the  Little  Falls,  then  as 
Brown's  Falls,  in  honour  of  Major 
General  Brown.  Lake  Calhoun  for 
the  distinguished  Secretary  at  tlie 
head  of  the  War  Department,  and 
other  smaller  lakes,  Harriet,  Elizn. 
Abigail,  Lucy,  &c.,  after  the  ladies 
of  the  civil  and  military  ofiicers  of 
the  post. 

"  The  first  measured  distance  from 
Fort  Snelling  to  Fort  Crawford 
(Prairie  du  Chien),  was  measured  in 
February,  1822,  by  Quartermaster 
Sergeant  Heckle,  with  a  perambula- 
tor on  a  wheel,  which  reported  tiie 
distance  by  a  sharp  crackling  every 
few  hundred  yards ;  it  was  invented 
by  this  good  old  German  soldier. 
The  distance  was  204  miles. 

"  Could  we  write  without  the  use 
of  the  personal  pronoun,  a  more  con- 
nected history  of  former  years  might 
be  noted ;  but  in  conclusion,  it  is  due 
the  Sioux  of  your  territory  to  record 
one  fact  as  to  them,  and  that  is,  from 


"FLAT  MOUTH"  AT  FORT  8NELLINQ. 


889 


infraction  of  the  previous  treaty,  the  Dahkotahs  lighted 
the  calumet,  they  having  been  the  first  to  infringe  upor 
the  agreement  of  1820.  After  smoking,  and  passing  the 
pipe  of  peace  to  the  Ojibways,  who  passed  through  the 
same  formalities,  they  all  shook  hands  as  a  pledge  of 
renewed  amity. 

The  morning  after  the  council.  Flat  Mouth,  the  dis- 
tin<fuished  Ojibway  chief,  arrived,  who  had  left  his  lodge 
vowing  that  he  would  never  be  at  peace  with  the  Dah- 
kotahs. As  he  stepped  from  his  canoe,  Penneshaw  held 
out  his  hand,  but  was  repulsed  with  scorn.  The  Dah- 
kotah  warrior  immediately  gave  the  alarm,  and  in  a 
moment  runners  were  on  their  way  to  the  neighbour- 
ing villages  to  raise  a  war  party. 

On  the  sixth  of  June,  the  Dahkotahs  had  assembled, 
stripped  for  a  fight,  and  surrounded  the  Ojibways.  The 
latter,  expecting  the  worst,  concealed  their  women  and 
children  behind  the  old  barracks  which  had  been  used 
hy  the  troops  while  the  fort  was  being  erected.  At  the 
soHcitation  of  the  agent  and  commander  of  the  fijrt,  the 
Dahkotahs  desisted  from  an  attack  and  retired. 

On  the  seventh,  the  Ojibways  left  for  their  homes ; 
but,  in  a  few  hours,  while  they  were  making  a  portage 
at  St.  Anthony,  they  were   again  approached  by  the 


tlift  commencement  of  our  agency  to 
its  close,  our  frontier  pioneers  were 
never  even  molested  in  their  homes, 
nor  did  they  shed  one  drop  of  Amer- 
ican blnod ;  while  the  Chippewas, 
Winnebagoes,  and  Sacs  and  Foxes, 
were  in  the  yearly  habit  of  the  most 
revolting  and  foul  murders  on  all 
will)  unfortunately  fell  in  their  war 
jiiith. 
"  We  were   in   St.    Paul  on   the 


twenty-fourth  of  June,  the  '  widow's 
son'  was  Irving's  Rip  Van  Winkle; 
after  a  nap  of  fifteen  years,  we  awoke 
in  the  midst  of  fast  times.  We 
truly  felt  bewildered  when  we  found 
all  the  haunts  and  resting-places  of 
the  once  noble  sons  of  the  forest, 
covered  by  cities,  towns,  and  hamlets. 
We  asked  but  few  questions,  being 
to  our  mind  received  as  a  strange 
animal,  if  nothing  worse." 


'»*!■ 


3J0 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Dahkotahs,  who  would  have  attacked  them,  if  a  detach- 
ment of  troops  had  not  arrived  from  the  fort. 

A  rumour  reaching  Penneshaw's  village  that  he  had 
been  killed  at  the  falls,  his  mother  seized  an  Ojibway 
maiden,  who  had  been  a  captive  from  infancy,  and,  with 
a  tomahawk,  cut  her  in  two.  Upon  the  return  of  the 
son  in  safety  he  was  much  gratified  at  what  he  con- 
sidered the  prowess  of  his  parent. 


LONG'S  EXPLORATION  OF  MINNESOTA  RIVER. 


841 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

'^  IE  interesting  information  procured  by  the  expedi- 
tion of  Lewis  and  Clarke  to  the  tributaries  of  the  Mis- 
bouri  and  Rocky  Mountains,  and  that  of  Governor  Cass 
through  the  north-eastern  district  of  Minnesota,  induced 
the  United  States  government  to  send  an  expedition  tc 
explore  the  Minnesota  river,  and  the  country  situated 
on  the  northern  boundaiy  -  ^the  United  States  between 
the  Red  river  of  Hudson's  r>ay,  and  Lake  Superior. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  w^as  intrusted  to 
Major  Stephet^  H.  Long,  and  the  scientific  corps  attached 
wer  Thomas  Say,  zoologist  and  antiquary,  William 
H.  Keating,  mineralogist  and  geologist,  Samuel  Sey- 
mour, landscape  painter  and  designer.  Late  at  night, 
on  the  second  of  July,  1823,  they  arrived  at  Mendota 
ojiposite  the  fort,  and  slept  in  the  open  air. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third.  Colonel  Snelling  and 
tlie  five  companies  of  the  5th  Infantry,  within  the  fort, 
were  much  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  the  explorini^ 
party ;  and,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  ninth  of  July,  they 
commenced  the  exploration  of  the  valley  of  the  Min- 
nesota. 

Joseph  Renville,  a  bois  brul6,  after  whom  one  of  the 
counties  of  the  state  is  named,  acted  as  interjireter  and 


:k.:'^ 


III 


ifi!" 


|s»  'i4 


'»"■ 
] 


•i 


.# 


.:    (-. 


<)42 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


guide ;  and  Joseph  *  a  son  of  Colonel  Snelling,  was 
assistant  interpreter,  and  Beltrami,  the  Italian  refugee, 
was  permitted  to  accompany  the  party.  To  make  the 
examination  as  accurate  as  possible,  a  portion  proceeded 
by  land,  and  a  portion  in  canoes.  On  the  first  evening 
the  river  detachment  encamped  near  Oanoska,  the  vil- 
lage known  as  Black  Dog's.  The  next  morning  they 
breakfasted  at  Penneshaw's.  At  dinner  time  they  were 
at  Shokpay,  called  by  the  French  Prairie  des  FrauQais ; 
this,  as  well  as  the  other  villages,  was  tenantless,  the 
inhabitants  being  absent  on  a  hunt. 

On  the  fourteenth,  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  the  land 
and  river  detachments  met,  and  after  a  reduction  of  the 
number  of  soldiers  they  united  anc^  proceeded  by  land, 
having  in  possession  twenty-one  horses.  They  travelled 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Minnesota,  and  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mahkahto  passed  the  residence  of  the  Sissetoan 
band,  one  of  whose  number,  in  1820,  had  been  sent  to 
St.  Louis  to  be  tried  for  murdering  a  white  man. 

On  the  twenty-second  they  arrived  at  Big  Stone  Lake, 
which  is  considered  the  source  of  the  Minnesota.  Fol- 
lowing up  the  bed  of  a  dried-up  stream,  they  found 
Lake  Traverse,  three  miles  distant.  Here  they  were 
impressed  by  beholding  within  sight  the  sources  of  two 
vast  streams,  the  one  discharging  its  waters  in  Hudson's 
Bay,  the  other  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  Big  Stone 
Lake,  for  the  fir.st  time  since  leaving  the  fort,  they  dis- 
covered a  large  party  of  Dahkotahs,  and,  by  invitation, 
the  expedition  visited  their  lodges  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  lake.  Upon  an  island  in  the  lake  this  band  culti- 
vated corn.  After  being  feasted,  the  party  proceeded  in 
the  afternoon  to  a  trading  post  of  the  American  Fur 
Company,  in  charge  of  Mr.  Mooers, where  presents  of 

*  Appendix  N 


WAHNAHTAH'S  APPEARANCE  AND  CHARACTER. 


343 


tobacco  were  distributed.  The  traders  of  the  C'dumbia 
Fur  Company,  at  Lake  Traverse,  received  the  party 
with  a  salute,  and  exhibited  the  most  hospitable  dis- 
position. Keating,  the  historian  of  the  expedition, 
remarks : — 

"  The  principal  interest  whicl  we  experienced  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Lake  Travers  was  from  an  acquaint- 
ance with  Wanotan,*  the  most  di  -finguished  chief  of  the 
Yanktoanan  tribe,  which,  as  we  were  informed,  is  sub- 
divided into  six  bands.  He  is  one  of  the  greatest  men 
of  the  Dahkotah  nation,  and  although  but  twenty-eight 
>ears  of  age,  he  has  already  acquired  great  renown  as 
a  warrior.  At  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  he  exhibited 
much  valour  in  the  war  against  the  Ameridans,  and 
was  wounded  several  times.  He  was  then  inexperi- 
enced and  served  under  his  father,  who  was  chief  of  his 
tribe,  and  bore  a  mortal  enmity  to  the  Americans. 
Wanotan  has  since  learned  to  form  a  better  estimate  of 
our  nation.  He  is  aware  that  it  is  the  interest  of  his 
people  to  remain  at  peace  with  us,  and  would,  probably, 
in  case  of  another  war  between  the  United  iStates  and 
England,  take  part  with  the  former.  Those  who  know 
lilm  well,  commend  his  sagacity  and  judgment,  as  well 
iiH  his  valour.  He  is  a  tall  man,  being  upwards  of  six 
feet  high ;  his  countenance  would  be  esteemed  hand- 
some in  any  country;  his  features  being  regular  and 
well  shaped.  There  is  an  intelligence  that  beams 
thi-ough  his  eye,  which  is  not  the  usual  concomitant  of 
Indian  features.  His  manners  are  dignified  and  re- 
se'rved;  his  attitudes  are  graceful  and  eosy,  though  they 
appear  to  be  somewhat  studied.     When  speaking  of  the 

'  This  chief's  name  is  spelled  Wahnahtah,  Wanata,  Wanotan. 


li 


■P 


n 


i4) 


844 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Dahkotahs,  we  purposely  postponed  mentioning  the  fre- 
quent vows  which  they  make,  and  their  strict  aaiierence 
to  them,  because,  one  of  the  best  evidences  which  we 
have  collected  on  this  point,  connects  itself  with  the 
character  of  Wanota>;,  and  may  give  a  favourable  idea 
of  his  extreme  fortitude  in  enduring  pain.     In  the  sum- 
mer of  1822,  he  undertook  a  journey,  from  which,  ap- 
prehending much  danger  on  the  part  of  the  Chippewas, 
he  made  a  vow  to  the  Sun,  that,  if  he  returned  safe,  he 
would  abstain  from  all  food  or  drink,  for  the  space  of 
four  successive  days  and  nights,  and  that  he  would  dis- 
tribute among  his  people  all  the  property  which  he  pos- 
sessed, including  all  his  lodges,  horses,  dogs,  etc.    On  his 
return,  which  happened  without  accident,  he  celebrated 
the  dance  of  the  Sun;  this  consisted  in  making  three 
cuts  through  his  skin,  one  on  his  breast,  and  one  on 
each  of  his  arms.     The  skin  was  cut  in  the  manner  of 
a  loop,  so  as  to  permit  a  rope  to  pass  under  the  strip  of 
skin  and  flesh  which  was  thus  divided  from  the  body. 
The  ropes  being  passed  through,  their  ends  were  secured 
to  a  tall  vertical  pole,  planted  at  about  tbrty  yards  from 
his  lodge.     He  then  began  to  dance  round  this  pok^  at 
the  commencement  of  his  fast,  frequently  swinging  him- 
self in  the  air,  so  as  to  be  supported  merely  by  the  cords 
which  were  secured  to  the  strips  of  skin  cut  otf  from 
his  arms  and  breast.     He  continued  this  exercise  with 
few  intermis.sion8,  during  the  whole  of  his  fast,  until  the 
fourth  day  about  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  when  the  strip  of 
skin  from  his  breast  gave  wa}-.    Notwithstanding  which, 
he  interrupted  not  his  dance,  althougli  supported  merely 
by  his   arms.     At   noon   the  strip   from  his  left  arm 
snapped  off.     His  uncle  then  thought  that  he  had  suf- 
fered enough  ;  he  drew  his  knife  and  cut  off  the  skin 


WAHNAHTAH'S  SUN  DANCE 


m 


from  his  right  arm,  upon  wliich  Wanotan  fell  to  the 
ground  and  swoon vjd.  The  heat  at  the  time  was  ex- 
treme. He  was  left  exposed  in  that  state  to  the  sun 
until  night,  when  ins  friends  brought  him  some  ])ro- 
visions.  After  the  ceremony  was  over,  he  distributed 
to  them  the  whole  of  his  property,  among  which  were 
live  fine  horses,  and  he  and  his  two  squaws  left  his 
lodge,  abandoning  over}-  article  of  their  furaiture. 

"  As  we  appeared  upon  the  brow  of  the  hill  which 
oonm\ands  the  company's  fort,  a  salute  was  fired  from  a 
number  of  Indian  tents  which  were  pitched  in  the  vi- 
cinity, from  the  largest  of  which  the  American  colours 
were  flying.  And  as  soon  as  we  had  dismounted  from 
<nu^  horses,  we  received  an  invitation  to  a  feast  which 
Wanotan  had  prepared  for  us.  The  gentlemen  of  the 
company  informed  us  that  as  soon  as  the  Indians  had 
heard  of  our  contemplated  visit,  they  had  commenced 
their  preparations  for  a  festival,  and  that  they  had  killed 
three  of  their  dogs.  We  repaired  to  a  sort  of  pavilion 
which  they  had  erected  by  the  union  of  several  largo 
.<kiii  lodges.  Fine  buffalo  robes  were  spread  all  around, 
and  the  air  was  perfumed  by  the  odour  of  sweet  scent- 
ing grass  which  had  been  burned  in  it.  On  entering 
the  lodge  we  saw  the  chief  seated  near  the  further  end 
of  it,  and  one  of  his  principal  men  pointed  out  to  us  the 
place  which  was  destined  for  our  accommodation :  it 
was  at  the  upper  end  of  the  lodge ;  the  Indians  wJiu 
were  in  it  taking  no  further  notice  of  us.  These  con- 
sisted of  the  chief,  his  son,  a  lad  about  eight  years  old, 
and  eight  or  ten  of  the  principal  warriors.  The  chief's 
dress  presented  a  mixture  of  the  European  and  abori- 
ginal costxmie;  he  wore  moccasins  and  leggings  of  splen- 
did scarlet  cloth,  a  blue  breech-doth,  a  fine  shirt  of 


346 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


i  ■ 


printed  muslin,  over  this  a  frock  coat  of  fine  blue  clotl> 
with  scarlet  facings,  somewhat  similar  to  the  undress 
uniform  coat  of  a  Prussian  officer ;  this  was  buttoned  and 
secured  round  his  waist  by  a  belt.  Upon  his  head  he 
wore  a  blue  cloth  cap,  made  like  a  German  fatigue  cap. 
A  very  handsome  Mackinaw  blanket,  slightly  ornar 
men  ted  with  paint,  was  thrown  over  his  person.  His  son, 
whose  features  strongly  favoured  those  of  his  father,  wore 
a  dress  somewhat  similar,  except  that  his  coat  was  party- 
coloured,  one  half  being  made  of  blue,  and  the  other 
half  of  scarlet  cloth.  He  wore  a  round  hat,  with  a 
plated  silver  band,  and  a  large  cockade.  From  his 
neck  were  suspended  several  silver  medals,  doubtless 
presents  to  his  father.  This  lad  appeared  to  be  a  great 
favourite  of  Wanotan's,  who  seems  to  indulge  hhn  more 
than  is  customary  for  the  Indians  to  do.  As  soon  as 
we  had  taken  our  seats,  the  chief  passed  his  pipe  round, 
and  while  we  were  engaged  in  smoking,  two  of  the  In- 
dians arose  and  uncovered  the  large  kettles  which  were 
standing  over  the  fire,  they  emptied  their  contents  into 
a  dozen  of  wooden  dishes  which  were  placed  all  round 
the  lodge.  These  consisted  of  buffalo  meat  boiled  with 
tepsin,  also  the  same  vegetable  boiled  without  the  mtiat, 
in  buffalo  grease,  and  finally,  the  much  esteemed  dog 
meat,  all  which  were  dressed  without  salt.  In  compli- 
ance with  the  established  usage  of  travellers  to  taste 
of  everything,  we  all  partook  of  the  latter  with  a  mixed 
feeling  of  curiosity  and  reluctance.  Could  we  have 
divested  ourselves  entirely  of  the  prejudices  of  educa- 
tion, we  should  doubtless  have  unhesitatingly  acknow- 
ledged this  to  be  among  the  best  meat  that  we  had  ever 
eaten.  It  was  remarkably  fat,  was  sweet  and  palatable. 
It  had  none  of  that  dry,  stringy  character,  which  we 


MAJOR  LONG  RELISHES  DOG  MEAT. 


347 


had  expected  to  find  in  it,  and  it  was  entirely  destitute 
of  the  strong  taste  which  we  liad  apprehended  that  it 
possessed.  It  was  not  an  unusual  appetite,  or  the  want 
of  good  meat  to  compare  with  it,  which  led  us  to  form 
this  favourable  opinion  of  the  dog,  for  we  had,  on  the 
same  dish,  the  best  meat  which  our  prairies  afford ;  but 
so  strongly  rooted  are  the  prejudices  of  education,  that, 
though  we  all  unaffectedly  admitted  the  excellence  of 
this  food,  yet  few  of  us  could  be  induced  to  eat  much 
o{  it.  Wc  were  warned  by  our  trading  friends  that  the 
bones  of  this  animal  are  treated  with  great  respect  by 
the  Dahkotahs ;  we  therefore  took  great  care  to  replace 
them  in  the  dishes;  and  we  are  informed  that,  after 
such  a  feast  is  concluded,  the  bones  are  carefully  col- 
lected, the  flesh  scraped  off  from  them,  and  that,  after 
being  wa«ihed,  they  are  buried  in  the  ground,  partly,  as 
it  is  said,  to  testify  to  the  dog  species,  that  in  feasting 
upon  one  of  their  number,  no  disrespect  was  meant  to 
the  species  itself;  and  partly  also  from  a  belief  that  the 
banes  of  the  animal  will  rise  and  reproduce  another 
one.  The  meat  of  this  animal,  as  we  saw  it,  was 
Th'  ught  to  resemble  that  of  the  finest  Welsh  mutton, 
except  that  It  was  of  a  much  darker  wlour.  Having 
So  far  overcome  cmr  repugnance  as  to  IumU:  >/f  it,  we  no 
longer  wonder  that  ihe  dt»g  should  be  r«^msidered  a 
dainty  dish  by  thos<  a  uhoni  education  has  not  created 
a  prejudit  e  against  this  fledi  iD  ^  'hina  t  is  said  that 
fattened  pups  a*"  freqi  ntly  old  m  the  n.arket  place; 
and  !t  apj^ear!^  aiai  th*  invitation  to  a  f!ei>.A  of  dog  meat 
is  the  grt^aiest  .iistinctwn  ruat  can  be  offered  to  a 
stranger  by  any  of  the  Indian  nations  eu«t  of  the  Kocky 
Mountains." 
On  the  morning  of  the  fifth  of  August,  the  expedi- 


aiH    ■■■■ 


m 


;tt 


f'*4Ui' 


848 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


tion  arrived  at  Pembina,  a  corruption  of  Anepeminan, 
an  Ojibway  word/  and  were  kindly  received  by  Mr. 
Nolen.  Thi.s  had  been  the  upper  settlement  of  the 
Selkirk  colony,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  had 
maintained  a  post  here  until  a  few  months  before  the 
vi.sit  of  Major  Long.  Observations  made  by  their  own 
astronomers,  led  to  the  supposition  that  it  was  within 
the  American  boundary  line.  At  the  time  of  the  ex- 
ploration, there  were  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  half- 
breeds  residing  in  fifty  or  sixty  log  huts. 

The  next  day  after  the  arrival  of  the  expedition,  the 
buffalo  hunters  returned  from  the  chase.  "  The  proces- 
sion consisted  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  carts,  each 
loaded  with  about  eight  hundred  pounds  of  the  finest 
buffi\lo  meat ;  there  were  three  hundred  persons  includ- 
ing the  women."  The  number  of  horses  was  about  two 
hundred.  Twenty  hunters  mounted  on  their  best  steeds 
rode  in  abreast,  firing  a  salute  as  they  passed  the  Ame- 
rican camp. 

Major  Long  and  his  party  remained  several  days,  de- 
termining the  boundary  line  of  the  United  States.  "  A 
fiag-staff  was  planted,  which  after  a  series  of  observations, 
made  during  four  days,  was  determined  to  be  in  latitude 
48°  59'  57J",  north.  The  distance  to  the  boundary  line 
was  measured  off,  and  an  oak  post  fixed  on  it,  bearing 
on  the  north  side  the  letters  G.  B.,  and  on  the  south  side 
those  of  U.  S." 

On  the  eighth  of  August  the  United  States  flag  was 
hoisted  on  the  staff,  a  national  salute  fired,  and  a  pro- 
clamation made  in  the  presence  of  all  the  inhabitants, 
that  all  the  country  on  the  Red  river,  above  that  point. 


'  Pronounced  as  if  written  Pembin-    known    to    botanist?    as    Viburnim 
naw.     Anepeminan,  is  a  red  berry,    oxycoccoa. 


tS^^M 


JOHN  TANNER  SHOT. 


34? 


was  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  As  far 
as  practicable  the  expedition  commenced  their  return, 
along  the  northern  boundary  line  of  what  is  now  Min- 
nesota. At  Kauiy  Lake  they  found  John  Tanner,  of 
whom  mention  has  been  made  in  another  chapter,  and  the 
father  of  that  erratic  bois  brul6  James  Tanner,  so  well 
known  to  the  older  residents  of  Minnesota,  severely 
wounded,  and  in  a  tent  attended  by  two  half-breed 
daughters.  An  Indian  had  shot  him,  and  the  ball  had 
passed  through  the  right  arm  and  breast.  At  his  re- 
quest he  was  transferred  to  the  camp  of  the  expedition. 
The  evening  preceding  the  departure  from  Rainy  Lake, 
his  daughters  went  over  to  the  Hudson  Bay  trading- . 
post,  to  visit  an  old  half-breed  woman ;  but  they  never 
returned.  All  eflforts  to  find  them  were  unavailing,  and 
the  father,  who  was  taking  them  to  Mackinaw,  to  attend 
a  mission  school,  seemed  much  distressed.  After  travel- 
ling a  few  miles  with  the  party,  the  pain  from  his  wounds 
was  so  great,  that  it  was  necessary  to  leave  him  in  the 
care  of  one  of  the  employees  of  the  trading-post.  It  is 
a  little  remarkable  that  Tanner  should  also  have  disap- 
peared as  mysteriously^  as  his  daughters.' 

At  Pembina,  Joseph  Snelling  left  the  expedition  and 
returned  to  the  fort,  his  services  as  interpreter  not  being 
needed  beyond  that  point. 

Beltrami,  the  Italian,  who  had  become  obnoxious, 
also  detached  himself,  and  conceived  the  bold  project 
of  striking  for  the  most  northern  point  of  the  Mississippi 
river.    With  a  "  bois  brul6,"  a  mule,  dog  train,  and  two 


'  It  is  said  that,  on  the  day  Mr.  end  Tanner  disappeared.     If  rightl_f 

Schoolcraft's    brother    was    found  informed,  he  had   not  long  before 

killed  at  Sault  St.  Marie,  the  log  threatened  Mr.  Schoolcraft, 
cabin  of  Tanner  was  burned  down, 


350 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


;,n;,       .,(: 


^ 


i.n 
t  I'll 


Ojibwfiys  who  were  going  to  Red  Lake  to  raise  a  war 
party  to  avenge  the  death  of  a  companion  who  had  been 
murdered  by  the  Dahkotahs,  he  commenced  his  adven- 
turous jonrney.        '     '     .  '  ■•" 

On  the  fifth  day  they  arrived  at  Thief  river,  so  called, 
it  is  said,  from  a  Dahkotah  who  for  years  lurked  in  the 
marshes,  robbing  and  scalping  his  foes  as  they  would 
pass  alone.  At  this  point  the  half-breed  returned  with 
the  mule  and  train  to  Pembina ;  and  the  Italian,  finding 
no  trading  post  here  as  anticipated,  was  obliged  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  two  Ojibways. 

There  is  much  egotism  and  gasconade  in  the  writings 
of  Beltrami,  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Italian 
was  the  first  to  make  known  to  the  world  tb^  most 
northern  source  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  region  .  ound 
Red  Lake. 

As  the  work  written  by  this  foreigner  is  little  known, 
and  not  accessible  to  the  general  reader,  large  extracts 
will  be  given  from  his  letters  to  a  lady  whom  he  addresses 
as  the  Countess  : — 

"  I  had  been  informed  at  Pembenar  that  a  number 
oi  Bois-hruxUs  had  proceeded  to  this  confluence  in  order 
to  erect  huts  for  their  winter-hunting  establishment,  and 
that  some  one  of  them  would  certainly  be  able  to  accom- 
pany me,  and  act  as  my  interpreter,  as  far  as  Red  Lake ; 
and,  if  I  desired  it,  still  farther;  but  we  found  none 
there.  The  Cypowais  had  driven  them  away,  as  we 
were  informed  by  one  of  the  latter,  and  they  were  gone 
to  establish  themselves  about  a  hundred  miles  lower 
down.  On  the  other  hand,  my  interpreter  from  Pem- 
benar could  not  possibly  continue  with  me  :  besides  his 
having  to  conduct  back  the  mule,  other  powerful  reasons 
(•perated  to  prevent  him.     I  was  therefore  compelled  to 


BELTRAMI  VISITS  RED  L  VKE. 


851 


decide ;  and  I  delivered  myself  over  to  the  care  of  my 
two  Indians.  .  ■ 

"  We  had  not  again  proceeded  up  the  river  more 
than  two  miles  ))efore  tliey  stopped,  u\v\  presented  an 
ofTering  of  dry  provisions  and  toba<'<'()  to  MiclUki,  the 
Manitou  of  Waters.  This  was  a  staice  painted  red, 
and  fixed  under  a  kind  of  sacellum,  like  those  of  anti- 
quity, and  the  ceremony  is  by  no  means  modern  They 
were,  for  this  once,  more  generous  towards  their  deities 
than  Indians  in  such  circumstances  generally  are :  the 
reason  is,  that  their  oflering  was  at  my  expense. 

"  The  frequent  rapids  which  we  had  met  with  in  the 
course  of  five  or  six  mil<'s,  and  which  had  compelled  us 
to  walk  continually  in  the  water,  and  over  pointed  and 
cutting  rocks,  n  order  to  preserve  our  canoe  from 
injury,  had  vei^  much  f. ugued  us,  and  our  appetite 
also  induced  us  to  make  a  halt:  we  accordingly  did  so, 
and,  after  eating  my  repaxt,  1  went  to  sleep  beneath  a 
tree,  recommending  myself  to  the  care  of  Providence. 

"  I  was  awn  xened  by  discharges  of  fire-arms,  and,  on 
starting  up,  perceived  five  or  six  Indians  on  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  river,  apparently  desirous  to  cross  it. 
On  seeing  me  they  seemed  stru<'k  with  astonishment 
and  terror,  and  fled  with  precipitation ;  one  of  our  In- 
dians was  wounded.  Those  who  had  fired  at  them 
werr  S'oux.  I  was  already  known  among  the  Indians 
oi'  thai,  nation  as  the  Tonka-Wasci-cio-honsca,  or  ffie 
Gr'-iit  Chief  from  a  far  cnuntry ;  and  my  tall  stature 
and  noble  horse  had  rendered  me  the  more  remarked 
Ity  them,  as  these  are  two  things  of  which  they  are 
extreme  admirers."  When  they  again  saw  me  on  this 
spot,  they  concluded  that  the  whole  expedition  was 
there,  and  fled  with  all  haste  for  fear  of  being  recog- 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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1.0     IfKABi 

1.1  r-^i^ 

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1.25   [1.4      1.6 

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^  ^^? 

4v^ 


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Photographic 

Sdences 

Corporation 


23  W6ST  MAIN  STRbCT 

W6BSTBR,N.Y.  M580 

(716)  872-4503 


^ 


■w 


852 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


nised.  This  was  the  idea  that  first  presented  itself  to 
my  mind,  and  I  instantly  acted  upon  it.  We  jumped 
immediately  into  our  canoe ;  I  performed  to  the  best  of 
my  power  the  labours  of  the  wounded  Indian,  who  had 
his  left  arm  shot  completely  through,  and  his  right 
ihoulder  grazed.  The  ball,  however,  had  not  touched 
the  bone  of  the  arm,  and  the  wound  in  the  shoulder 
had  injured  only  the  integuments.  The  juice  of  some 
boiled  roots  was  applied  as  the  healing  balsam;  the 
down  of  a  swan-skin,  which  I  had  purchased  at  Pem- 
benar,  was  substituted  for  lint,  my  handkerchief  served 
for  a  bandage,  and  the  bark  of  a  tree  called  owigdbinigy, 
or  white  wood,  answered  the  purpose  of  securing  the 
arm  in  a  sling.  We  kept  on  our  course  till  evening, 
and  saw  nothing  more  of  them. 

"  My  intrepid  champions  saw  nothing  but  Sioux. 
The  slightest  sound  from  wind  or  water,  the  shadow  of 
a  tree  or  of  a  rock,  everything  was  the  Sioux.  I*disco- 
vered  that  they  were  plotting  against  me,  for  they  care- 
fully avoided  my  looks.  I  had  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that  they  meant  to  leave  me  on  the  spot,  and  deter- 
mined therefore  to  make  them  re-embark,  it  being  more 
easy  to  guard  them  in  the  canoe.  About  midnight  we 
stopped.  I  had  but  little  to  fear,  being  left  without  my 
canoe,  for  I  was  already  well  aware  that  their  intention 
must  be  to  continue  their  course  by  land,  by  a  route 
which  would  conduct  them  in  two  or  three  days  to  Red 
Lake ;  whereas,  were  they  to  proceed  by  the  river  they 
would  require  more  than  six.  However,  I  considered 
that  no  precaution  ought  to  be  neglxted  by  me;  I 
therefore  drew  the  canoe  to  land,  and  fastened  it  to  a 
tree  by  a  cord,  one  end  of  which  I  tied  to  my  leg,  and 
'  m  laid  myself  down  by  the  side  of  them  in  such  a 


BELTRAMI  DESEHTED  BY  INDIAN  GUIDES. 


35S 


niiinner  that  they  could  not  rise,  even  if  I  should  be 
able  to  sleep,  without  waking  me.  These  precautions, 
and  my  musket  and  my  sword  between  my  legs,  ready 
tor  immediate  use,  kept  them  quiet  the  whole  night. 

''  On  the  following  morning  they  embarked  withou. 
difficulty.  But  this  was  only  ^rith  a  view  of  reaching 
a  certain  point,  whence  the  roiite  by  land  was  shorter.  I 
might  have  used  violence  against  them  if  I  had  chosen, 
for  certainly  I  had  no  fear  of  them ;  I  had  even  taken  the 
precaution  of  putting  water  into  their  musket  barrels : 
but  I  should  only  have  exasperated  their  nation,  in  a 
territory  where  it  was  now  absolute  and  despotic,  and 
where  I  could  expect  no  assistance  but  from  my  own 
energies  and  the  care  of  Providence ;  I  therefore  suflFered 
tliem  quietly  to  go  off.  They  intimated  to  me,  what  I 
was  before  well  aware  of,  that  they  were  going  to  leave 
me.  They  invited  me  to  follow  them,  and  to  leave  the 
canoe,  provisions,  and  baggage,  concealed  in  the  brush- 
wood. I  deliberated  with  myself  on  the  subject  for  a 
moment :  I  considered  that  the  river  was  my  best  and 
surest  way,  that  I  was  in  possession  of  a  canoe,  provi- 
sions, a  musket,  a  sword,  and  ammunition ;  whereas,  by 
accepting  their  invitation,  I  should  be  following  barba- 
rians who  had  the  cowardice  to  abandon  a  stranger,  con- 
fided to  their  guardianship  at  Pembenar  by  their  most 
intimate  friends,  one  who  had  treated  them  as  brothers, 
saved  them  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  healed  their 
wounds,  and  assisted  them  kindly  with  all  his  means. 
1  should  with  wretches  of  this  description,  be  exposing 
myself  in  inextricable  forests,  in  the  midst  of  swamps 
and  lakes,  and  abandoning  to  the  mercy  of  a  thousand 
accidents,  my  baggage,  my  provisions,  and  materials  for 
the  presents,  which  are  indispensable  passports  through 

88 


d54 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


a  savage  country.  My  determination,  therefore,  was 
soon  fixed :  after  having  vainly  endeavoured  to  make 
them  comprehend  that  both  Manitotis  and  men  would 
punish  such  atrocity,  I  commanded  them  by  Avords  and 
signs  peremptorily  to  be  gone. 

"  I  imagine,  my  dear  Countess,  that  you  will  feel  the 
frightfulness  of  my  situation  at  this  critical  moment 
more  strongly  than  I  can  express  it.  I  really  can 
scarcely  help  shuddering,  as  well  as  yourself,  whenever 
I  think  of  it.  Fortunately,  I  was  not  at  the  time  over- 
powered and  confounded.  Woe  be  to  us,  if  in  exigen- 
cies like  this,  despair  takes  possession  of  our  minds.  In 
that  case  all  is  completely  over  with  us !       *        *        * 

"  The  solitude  I  now  experienced,  which  romance- 
writers  would  not  have  found  so  pleasant  and  delightful 
as  that  which  they  have  been  pleased  to  exhibit  in  their 
fictions,  impressed  me  at  first  with  ideas  the  most  dread- 
ful. I  must,  said  I  to  myself,  leave  this  place  some  way 
or  other ;  and  I  jumped  into  my  canoe  and  began  row- 
ing. But  I  was  totally  unacquainted  with  the  almost 
magical  art  by  which  a  single  person  guides  a  canoe, 
and  particularly  a  canoe  formed  of  bark,  the  lightness 
of  which  is  overpowered  by  the  current,  and  the  con- 
duct of  which  requires  extreme  dexterity.  Frequently, 
instead  of  proceeding  up  the  river,  I  descended ;  a  cir- 
cumstance which  by  no  means  shortened  my  voyage. 
Renewed  efforts  made  me  lose  my  equilibrium,  the  cajioe 
upset,  and  admitted  a  considerable  quantity  of  water. 
My  whole  cargo  was  wetted.  I  leaped  into  the  water, 
drew  the  canoe  on  land,  and  laid  it  to  drain  with  the 
keel  upwards.  I  then  loaded  it  again,  taking  care  to 
place  the  wetted  part  of  my  effects  uppermost,  to  be 
dried  by  the  sun.     I  then  resumed  my  route. 


BELTRAMI'S  EMBARRASSMENTS. 


356 


was 


"  You  sympathize  with  the  embarrassment  in  which 
you  conceive  I  must  have  been  involved,  with  all  my 
difficulties  and  want  of  means  for  continuing  my  course. 
I  bore  all,  however,  with  great  philosophy,  and  with  a 
resignation  which  I  believe  you  will  readily  admit  is 
not  very  natural  to  me.  I  could  scarcely  help  inces- 
santly smiling.  I  threw  myself  into  the  water  up  to 
my  waist,  and  commenced  a  promenade  of  a  rather  un- 
usual kind,  drawing  the  canoe  after  me  with  a  thong 
from  a  buffalo's  hide,  which  I  had  fastened  to  the  prow. 
The  first  day  of  my  expedition,  the  fifteenth  of  the 
month,  was  employed  in  this  manner,  and  I  did  not 
stop  till  the  evening.        ****** 

"  The  weather  on  the  second  day  of  my  progress  was 
very  disagreeable.  A  storm  which  commenced  before 
mid-day  continued  till  night.  Notwithstanding  this, 
however,  I  did  not  relax  an  instant  but  to  take  my 
food.  I  saw  the  hand  of  providence  in  the  physical  and 
moral  vigour  which  supported  me  during  this  dreadful 
conflict.  In  the  evening  I  had  no  access  to  a  more  com- 
fortable hearth  than  on  the  preceding  one.  My  bear 
skin  and  my  coverlid,  which  constituted  the  whole  of 
my  bed,  were  completely  soaked ;  and,  what  was  worse, 
the  mould  began  to  affect  my  provisions.  I  was  ((most 
tempted  to  think  that  it  was  all  over  with  my  pro- 
menades, and  that  I  began  to  travel,  and  that  not  very 
comfortably. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  seventeenth  of  August,  the 
sun's  beams  gilded  the  awful  solitude  by  which  I  was 
surrounded,  and  I  eagerly  availed  myself  of  their  in- 
tiuence.  I  laid  out  my  provisions,  baggage,  gun,  and 
8word,  and  stretched  myself  also  at  full  length  under 
his   rays.     The   powder,  which  had   fortunately  been 


mmm 


86b 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


closely  confined  in  tin  canisters,  was  the  only  thing  that 
escaped  the  water. 

"  Necessity  makes  man  industrious,  and  the  necessity 
I  was  now  under  to  become  so,  was  great  indeed,  as 
otherwise  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  continue  my  pro- 
gress. The  river  became  narrower  and  deeper  the 
farther  I  ascended  it,  as  is  the  case  with  all  rivers  origi- 
nating in  lakes.  It  whs  thus  absolutely  indispensable 
for  me  to  learn  how  to  guide  the  canoe  with  the  oar. 
I  set  myself,  therefore,  to  study  this  art  in  good  earnest ; 
and  in  the  afternoon,  when  I  struck  my  tent,  I  exerted 
.Tiyself  first  to  pass  several  deep  gulfs,  and  afterwards 
to  traverse  short  stages  or  distances  of  the  river ;  but 
the  fatigue  I  endured  was  extreme,  and  I  preferred  re- 
turning to  my  drag-rope  whenever  the  river  permitted 
my  walking  in  it.  As  appearances  seemed  to  threaten 
rain,  I  covered  my  effects  with  my  umbrella,  stuck  into 
the  bottom  of  my  canoe.  It  was  singular  enough  to 
see  them  conveyed  thus  in  the  stately  style  and  manner 
of  China,  while  I  was  myself  condemned  to  travel  in 
that  of  a  galley  slave ;  nor  could  I  help  reflecting  on 
those  unfortunate  victims  of  despotism  which  the  resto- 
ration has  condemned  to  drag  the  vessels  on  the  Dan- 
ube. As  it  was  of  consequence  for  me  to  avail  myself 
of  everything  that  could  promote  cheerfulness  and  keep 
up  my  spirits,  I  could  not  help  smiling,  which  I  am 
sure,  my  dear  Countess,  you  would  yourself  have  done, 
at  the  sight  of  my  grotesque  convoy.  *        #        * 

"  The  morning  of  the  eighteenth  awakened  me  to  my 
acti^^e  duties,  and  I  proceeded  in  my  course ;  and  before 
mid-day  fell  in  with  two  canoes  of  Indians.  Being 
alone  in  a  canoe  of  their  nation,  with  three  muskets 
(for  those  of  my  Uvo  Indians  were  in  my  possession),  I 


1^^ 


INDIANS'  ASTONISHMENT  AT  UMBRELLA. 


357 


might  naturally  have  been  apprehensive  of  exciting 
their  most  dangerous  suspicions.  But,  heaven  be  praised, 
[  entertained  no  apprehension  whatever.  I  called  to 
them  with  confidence,  while  they,  struck  with  wonder 
at  so  extraordinary  an  object,  halted  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river.  What  astonished  them  most  was 
my  superbly  conveyed  baggage.  They  could  form  no 
idea  of  what  that  great  red  skin  (my  umbrella)  could 
possibly  be,  nor  of  what  was  placed  beneath  it;  and, 
observing  me  walking  in  the  water,  they  perhaps  ima- 
gined me  to  be  their  Midliki.    ***** 

"  I  made  them  comprehend  what  had  occurred  to  me, 
and  that  I  wanted  one  of  them  to  accompany  me  as  far 
as  Red  Lake.  At  first  they  started  immense  difficul- 
ties ;  but  a  woman  was  captivated  by  the  beauty  of  my 
handkerchief,  which  was  hanging  from  my  pocket;  a 
lad  was  fascinated  with  the  one  I  had  about  my  neck, 
and  an  old  man  muffled  up  in  a  miserable  ragged  rug, 
which  through  its  innurierable  holes  displayed  nearly 
one-half  of  his  person,  had  already  cast  his  rapacious 
glance  on  mine ;  pretending  to  search  for  something  in 
my  portmanteau,  a  bit  of  calico  which  casually  came  to 
hand  excited  the  full  gaze  of  one  of  the  young  girls ; 
and  my  provisions,  which  they  had  already  tasted, 
strongly  stimulated  their  gormandizing  appetite :  I  satis- 
fied the  whole  of  them,  and  the  old  man  decided  to 
accept  my  proposal.  He  took  the  helm  of  my  vessel, 
and  we  set  oflF. 

"  This  assistance  extricated  me  from  a  situation  which 
certainly  was  by  no  means  pleasant,  and  it  was  so  much 
the  more  valuable,  as  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
me  to  proceed  alone,  because  the  river  was  constantly 
increasing  in  depth.     Notwithstanding   this,  however. 


868 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


my  mind  was  in  a  state  of  incessant  agitation  as  I  pro> 
ceeded,  and  I  perceived  its  attention  completely  occu- 
pied about  something  which  it  left  behind  it  with  regret. 
It  was  no  difficult  matter  for  me  to  detect  this  secret. 
My  mind  was,  in  fact,  adverting  to  the  four  days  of  its 
solitude  and  independence.  I,  at  that  moment,  fully 
comprehended  why  the  Indians  consider  themselves 
happier  than  cultivated  nations,  and  far  superior  to 
them. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  meet  with  a  rower  as  strong  as  my 
patriarchal  companion,  and  we  advanced  at  a  rapid  rpte, 
without  stopping,  till  the  evening.  Our  table  was  fur- 
nished with  a  couple  of  ducks :  I  had  fire  to  make  a 
roast,  and  I  shot  them  accordingly.  Though  my  bed 
was  without  a  coverlid  (the  cunning  old  tellow  having 
left  in  his  own  canoe  the  one  which  I  had  given  him), 
yet  wrapping  myself,  like  the  Indians,  in  the  skin  I 
wore  about  me,  I  lay  down  to  rest  very  comfortably. 
In  the  course  of  the  night  I  was  waked  by  my  caution- 
ary cord ;  and,  at  first,  I  imagined  that  my  pilot  was 
also  going  to  desert  me,  but  it  turned  out  to  be  occa- 
sioned by  some  large  animal  who  had  taken  a  fancy  to 
my  provisions.  I  gently  seized  my  gun,  which  I  always 
keep  at  my  side,  and  in  an  instant  brought  him  down. 

"  My  Indian,  confounded  by  the  report  of  fire-arms, 
thought  he  had  been  attacked  by  the  Sioux,  about 
whom,  not  improbably,  he  had  been  dreaming,  and  im- 
mediately betook  himself  to  flight.  I  called  out  to  him, 
I  ran  towards  him  to  convince  him  of  his  error  and 
restore  his  confidence,  but  the  forest  and  darkness  con- 
cealed him  from  my  view,  and  thus  in  a  moment  my 
solitude  and  independence  were  renewed.     However,  i 


ARRIVAL  AT  RED  LAKE. 


359 


could  still  have  smiled  at  the  adventure,  if  such  an 
expression  of  feeling  had  been  at  all  seasonable. 

"  I  waited  for  him  in  vain  for  the  remainder  of  the 
niglit.  Two  discharges  of  the  gun,  however,  which  I 
lired  off  immediately,  one  after  the  other  (considered  by 
them  as  a  signal  of  friendship),  brought  him  bax;k  to  his 
(juarters  with  the  dawn  of  day. 

"  We  searched  for  the  animal  I  had  fired  at,  which  it 
seems  retained  strength  sufficient  to  drag  itself  to  a  few 
paces  distance  among  the  brushwood,  to  which  traces 
of  blood  guided  us ;  it  proved  to  be  a  wolf.  My  com- 
l)anion  refused  to  strip  the  animal  of  its  skin,  a  superb 
one,  viewing  it  at  the  same  time  with  an  air  of  respect, 
and  murmuring  within  himself  some  words,  the  mean- 
ing of  which  will  probably  surprise  you.  In  fact,  the 
wolf  was  his  Manitou.  He  expressed  to  it  the  sincerity 
of  his  regret  for  what  had  happened,  and  informed  it 
that  he  was  not  the  person  who  had  destroyed  it. 

"  On  the  1 9th,  my  Mentor  wanted  to  play  me  the 
trick  of  handing  me  over  to  the  charge  of  another 
Indian  whom  he  fell  in  with ;  but  I  gave  him  a  frown, 
and  he  went  on  with  me.  We  again  riade  a  good  day's 
progress,  to  which  I  contributed  by  rowing  to  the  best 
of  my  ability. 

"  Night  arrived  without  his  pausing  in  his  exertions, 
lie  gave  me  to  understand  that  it  was  indispensable  for 
him  to  reach  the  destined  place  without  delay,  and 
appeared  excessively  eager  to  rejoin  his  canoes. 

"Much  fatigued,  and  shivering  under  a  cold  moist 
air,  with  which  the  night-dews  in  this  country  pierce  to 
the  very  bones,  I  lay  down  under  my  bear  skin  to  sleep. 
A  distant  sound  awo- e  me,  and  I  found  myself  alone  in 
my  canoe,  in  the  midst  of  rushes.    On  turning  my  head, 


l«i|«iiii;ijli 


360 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


I  observed  three  or  four  torches  approaching  me.  My 
imagination  had  at  first  transported  me  to  the  enchanted 
land  of  fairies,  and  I  was  in  motionless  expectation  of 
receiving  a  visit  from  their  ladyships,  or  of  being  ad- 
dressed, like  Telemachus,  by  the  nymphs.  They  proved, 
however,  to  be  female  Indians,  who  came  to  convey  my 
effects,  and  to  guide  me  to  their  hut.  My  Charon,  who 
from  purgatory  had  conducted  me  to  Hell,  had  applied 
to  them  for  this  purpose,  and  then  hastened  his  return 
to  his  family,  who  were  waiting  for  him  where  he  first 
met  with  me.  I  was  now  at  Red  Lake,  at  the  marshy 
spot  whence  the  river  springs,  and  about  a  mile  from 
an  Indian  encampment. 

'"  I  was  conducted  to  a  hut  covered  with  the  bark  of 
trees,  like  those  which  I  have  already  described  to  you 
as  belonging  to  the  Cypowais,  but  on  a  larger  scale.  I 
there  found  fourteen  Indians,  male  and  female,  nineteen 
dogs,  and  a  wolf.  The  latter  was  the  first  to  do  the 
hon  )urs  of  the  house ;  however,  as  he  was  fastened,  he 
could  not  attack  me  so  effectively  as  he  was  evidently 
desirous  of  doing,  and  merely  tore  my  pantaloons,  which 
were,  indeed,  the  only  pair  I  had  still  serviceable.  This 
wolf  was  one  of  their  household  gods. 

"  The  first  two  of  the  Indians  that  my  eyes  glanced 
on  were  my  former  treacherous  companions  :  I  appeared 
not  to  observe  them.  I  desired  the  women  to  hang  up 
my  provisions  to  the  posts  which  supported  the  roof,  to 
preserve  them  from  the  voracity  of  the  dogs ;  and,  not 
having  any  power  to  help  myself,  I  lay  down  in  the 
comer  assigned  to  me  in  this  intolerably  filthy  stable. 
When  I  got  up  again,  you  will  easily  believe  that  I  did 
not  rise  alone :  thus  I  incurred  an  addition  of  wounds 
and  inflictions  on  a  body  which  the  pointed  flints  and 


INDIAN  MOmiNINQ. 


8«1 


cutting  shells  of  the  river,  and  the  boughs  of  treej, 
tiiorns,  brambles,  and  mosquitoes,  had  previously  cori 
verted  into  a  Job. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  twentieth,  I  desired  to  Fte 
conducted  to  a  bois  brul^,  for  whom  I  had  brought  a 
letter  from  Pembenar.  I  was  told  that  he  resided  a(  a 
distance,  and  that  the  waters  of  the  lake  were  in  a  state 
of  great  agitation.  I  could  not  even  obtain  the  favour 
of  Imving  him  sent  for,  for  this  happened  to  be  the  d  ly 
when  it  was  the  bounden  duty  of  all  the  members  of 
the  hut  to  devote  themselves  to  yelling,  eating,  driuk- 
ing,  and  dancing,  in  commemoration  of  the  Indian  killed 
at  the  river  Cayenne.  I  quitted  the  place,  and  offered 
the  only  handkerchief  that  I  had  remaining  to  the  first 
Indian  whom  I  met,  and  he  immediately  went  off  with 
my  letter. 

"  The  funeral  ceremony  presented  nothing  more  extra- 
ordinary than  what  we  have  already  seen,  excepting 
the  pillaging  of  my  provisions  in  honour  of  the  hero  of 
the  l(Ste ;  and  the  convulsions  of  the  father  and  mother 
composed  to  quietude  by  the  blowings  and  exorcisms 
of  the  priests,  and  the  wounds  inflicted  on  the  arms  and 
legs,  the  contortions,  yellings,  and  bowlings  of  his  rela^ 
tives.  ******* 

'*  A  party  of  the  relatives  and  friends  was  gone  on 
an  expedition  for  discovering  whether  the  Sioux  had 
left  no  remains  whatever  on  the  spot  where  the  tragedy 
had  been  acted,  while  my  old  friend  the  pilot,  as  herald- 
at-arms,  had  proceeded  to  rouse  the  vengeance  and  im- 
plore the  succour  of  some  Cypowais  Jumpers,  who  were 
scattered  in  various  spots  about  the  forests.  The  doc- 
trine of  these  Indians  is  strikingly  singular :  it  is  per- 
haps held  by  them  only,  of  all  mankind.     For  they 


n02 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


seem  to  recognise  rather  the  immortality  of  the  body 
than  of  the  soul. 

"  My  bois  bruU  had  now  am  /ed.  He  was  one  of  the 
numerous  progeny  scattered  over  the  country  by  the 
vice  and  immorality  of  the  fur  traders.  He  is  the  son 
of  a  Canadian  and  a  female  Indian  of  the  tribe  of  the 
Cypowais.  *  ♦  *  «  * 

"My  bois  brul6  resides  about  twelve  miles  distant 
from  this  encampment  to  the  south  of  the  lake.  The 
wind  waa  too  high  for  a  canoe  made  of  bark,  and  the 
lake  too  violently  agitated ;  we  were  compelled,  there- 
fore, to  disembark,  and  passed  the  night  under  an  im- 
mense plane  tree.  This  plane  is,  perhaps,  the  Colossus 
of  the  wl  ole  vegetable  kingdom.  The  Indians  adore  it 
as  a  Manitou;  the  ancients  would  have  done  the  same; 
and  though  I  am  myself  a  modern,  I  admire  it  as  one 
of  the  most  prodigious  and  most  beautiful  productions 
of  nature. 

"  We  arrived  at  his  hut  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
first.  Misery  might  be  said  to  be  personified  in  his 
family,  and  in  all  by  which  he  was  surrounded ;  a  wife 
(the  daughter  of  a  father  she  has  never  seen)  nourishing 
an  infant  at  her  breast,  but  nearly  destitute  of  nourish- 
ment herself,  and  five  naked  and  famine-struck  children, 
constituted  the  whole  of  his  property.  The  uncertain 
fishery  of  the  lake,  and  a  small  quantity  of  maize,  in 
its  green  and  immature  state,  furnish  the  whole  means 
of  their  subsistence.  They  are  neither  civilized  nor 
savage,  possessing  the  resources  of  neither  state,  but 
every  inconvenience  and  defect  of  both.  The  worst 
part  of  the  case  is,  that  this  bois  brul6  has  a  great  deal 
of  natural  talent,  which  serves  only  to  render  him  more 
dangerous.    He  has  been  taught  both  to  read  and  write. 


'•  W.f 


RED  RIVER  OF  RED  LAKE. 


36ir 


and  haH  obtained  that  specieH  of  education  which  just 
serves  to  strengthen  the  innate  evil  propensities  of  the 
man,  when  unaccompanied  by  that  moral  training 
which  is  their  proper  curb  and  correction :  in  fait,  the 
obliquity  of  his  character  has  quite  ruined  him  in  the 
opinion  of  the  traders  who  have  successively  eiii[)loyed 
him ;  and  iiis  ciJmcs  obliged  him  to  abscond  fixjm  Pem- 
benar,  where  I  was  informed  iLat  1  ought  to  be  more 
on  my  guard  against  him  than  agauibt  the  Indians 
themselves.  I  mention  all  these  circumstanced  to  you,, 
my  dear  Counters,  because,  with  the  truest  and  noblest 
friendship,  you  are  desirous  of  participating,  as  it  were,^ 
in  every  description  of  danger  incurred  by  me,  and  in 
order  that  those  of  our  mutual  friends  who  may  be 
inclined  to  engage  in  the  field  of  adventui'e  like  myself, 
may  learn  how  to  meet  and  overcome  the  various  ene-  ■ 
mies  they  may  have  to  encounter.  *.         *  * 

"  But  we  will  now  return  to  the  Red  river,  from  which 
we  have  somewhat,  though  not  unnaturally,  digressed, 
and  which  we  have  surveyed  hitherto  rather  through 
the  imagination  than  the  senses. 

"  It  presents  no  other  extraordinary  feature  than  the 
very  frequent  winding  of  its  course,  in  which  perhaps 
it  is  scarcely  exceeded  by  the  Meander  itself.  It  waters 
a  country  uniformly  level,  and  the  rapids  which  we 
have  seen  do  not  lower  its  level  but  by  the  height  of  its 
banks.  After  Robber's  river,  as  you  ascend,  no  other 
river  flows  into  it.  This  is  more  particularly  to  be 
noticed,  because  the  English  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
according  to  their  theories,  have  created  on  their  map 
other  Red  rivers,  with  many  more  tributary  streams 
flowing  into  it  than  this  has. 
, ."  At  the  distance  of  about  forty  miles  from  the  lake,. 


su 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


its  banks  are  lined  with  impenetrable  forests;  above, 
the  view  b  agreeably  varied  by  smiling  meadows  and 
handsome  shrubbery.  On  flowing  from  the  lake  it 
passes  among  rushes  and  wild  rice.  It  is  an  error  of 
geographers,  founded  on  the  vague  information  of  In- 
dians, that  it  derives  its  source  from  this  lake ;  indeed, 
a  lake  which  is  formed  by  five  or  six  rivers  which  flow 
into  it  can  never  be  considered  as  itself  the  source  of 
Any  single  river.  We  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  look 
farther  for  this  source. 

"The  lake,  by  means  of  a  strait,  is  divided  into 
two  ports,  one  to  the  north-east  and  the  other  to  the 
aouth-west.  Let  us  proceed  to  make  the  circuit  of  the 
last,  which  is  certainly  the  most  interesting. 

"  It  receives  on  the  western  side  the  river  Broachera 
{Kinougeosihi) ,  and  that  of  the  Great  Rock  {Kisda- 
dnabedsihi) ;  to  the  south,  the  river  Kahcmnilaguesihi, 
or  Gravel  river,  near  which  the  hut  of  my  Bois-hruU 
guide  is  situated ;  that  of  Kiogohague-eihi,  or  Gold-fish 
river ;  and  that  of  Madaoanakansihi,  or  Great  Portage 
river;  on  the  south-east.  Cormorant  river '(CocaHmo?*- 
mU) .  A  large  tongue  of  land  on  the  E.  N.  E.  forms  a 
peninsula  about  four  miles  in  length,  and  of  varying 
breadth,  ending  in  a  point  towards  the  west.  At  a 
little  distance,  towards  the  north,  there  is  another  en- 
camp.nent  of  Indians,  consisting  of  about  three  hundred 
persons,  the  chief  of  whom  is  the  Grand  Carabou  [Kisci- 
Adike) .  The  strait  is  situated  to  the  N.  N.  E.,  and  there 
is  a  small  island  in  the  midst  of  its  waters  dividing 
them  into  two.  To  the  north  we  find  another  tongue 
of  land,  which  serves  also  to  separate  the  two  lakes, 
and  reaches  as  far  as  the  strait,  commencing  at  the 
apot  whence,  as  we  have  seen,  Red  river,  or  (more  pro- 


"!P1 


mm 


NUMEROUS  LAKES. 


865 


perly  speaking)  Bloody  river,  proceeds.  The  other  lake 
receives,  on  the  east,  Sturgeon  river  {Amenikanin8-&ibi). 
By  the  channel  of  this  river,  and  by  means  of  two 
portages,  there  is  a  communication  with  Rain  river, 
from  whence  one  can  easily  communicate  with  Lake 
Superior,  to  the  south;  and  with  the  waters  of  Hud- 
son's Bay,  by  the  Lake  of  Woods,  to  the  north.  The 
waters  which  flow  into  Lake  Superior  on  this  side,  may 
}je  considered  as  the  sources  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 

"  These  two  lakes  are  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  in  circumference ;  and  Red  river  traverses  about 
three  hundred  from  the  lake  to  Pembenar;  but  in  a 
straight  line  the  whole  distance  scarcely  amounts  to 
one  hundred  and  sixty. 

"How  much  has  it  cost  me,  my  dear  Countess,  to 
write  you  these  details !  Perhaps  as  much  as  it  will 
you  to  peruse  them ;  for,  like  all  women  of  spirit,  you 
are  fond  of  the  brilliant  and  romantic.  But  our  geo- 
graphical friends  would  accuse  me  of  negligence  if  I 
forgot  them  in  a  country  compl<  tely  unknown  to  them, 
and  where  no  white  man  had  previously  travelled.   *   * 

"  In  the  course  of  an  excursion  which  I  made  to  the 
south-west,  I  discovered  eight  small  lakes,  undistin- 
guished by  names,  which  all  communicate  with  each 
other,  and  of  which  Gravel  river  is  the  outlet.  These 
lakes  se.  m  to  have  been  negligently  scattered  by  nature 
through  a  territory  sometimes  gloomy  and  sometimes 
gay,  vaiied  with  hills  and  dales,  and  presenting  to  the 
eye  landscapes  the  most  delightful  and  enchanting.  I 
resolved  to  pass  a  night  amidst  scenes  so  uncommonly 
charming,  that  I  might  enjoy  as  Ing  as  possible  the 
exquisite  impressions  they  made  upon  my  mind  and 
senses.     I  dedicated  these  lakes  to  the  family  to  which 


11 


360 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


I  atn  united  by  the  most  cordial  friendship ;  and  accord- 
ingly gave  them  the  names  of  Alexander,  Lavinius, 
Everard,  Frederica,  Adela,  Magdalena,  Virginia,  and 
Eleonora.  The  purity  of  the  waters  of  these  lakes  I 
•considered  a  correct  image  of  that  of  their  minds ;  and 
their  union  reminded  me  of  the  affection  by  which  the 
members  of  this  happy  family  are  so  tenderly  connected. 

"I  returned  to  the  encampment  of  Great  Hare,  to 
engage  an  Indian  to  attend  me,  together  with  my  bois 
brul^  guide,  during  the  continuance  of  my  excursion, 
and  to  purchase  the  canoe  which  was  the  scene  of  my 
tragi-comedy  on  Red  river;  for  I  was  desirous  of  hav- 
ing it  conveyed,  if  possible,  to  my  rural  cottage,  and 
preserve  it  with  my  other  Indian  curiosities  as  a  memo- 
rial and  trophy  of  my  labours  in  these  my  transatlantic 
'promenades,  ******** 

"  The  river  of  Great  Portage  is  so  called  by  the  In- 
<iians  because  a  dreadful  storm  that  occurred  on  it  blew 
■doAvn  a  vast  number  of  forest  trees  on  its  banks,  which 
•encumber  its  channel,  and  so  impede  its  navigation  as 
to  make  an  extensive  or  great  portage  in  order  to  reach 
it.  The  river  thus  denominated,  however,  is  the  true 
Red,  or  rather  Bloody  river.  It  enters  the  lake  on  the 
south,  and  goes  out,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  north- 
west. This  is  the  opinion  of  the  Indians  themselves, 
and  it  is  not  difficult  to  find  arguments  in  support  of  it. 

"  According  to  the  theory  of  ancient  geographers,  the 
sources  of  a  river  which  are  most  in  a  right  line  tvith  its 
mouth  should  be  considered  as  its  principal  sources,  and 
partixmlarly  when  they  issue  from  a  cardinal  point  and 
flow  to  the  one  directly  opposite.  This  theory  appeals 
<;onformable  to  nature  and  reason ;  and  upon  this  prin- 
<'inle  we  should  proceed  in  forming  the  sources  of  the 


VMMIPIPPIIHPIPPMP 


iPPiPMi 


SOURCES  OF  RED  RIVER. 


867 


river  of  Great  Portage.  By  the  name  Portage,  is  meant 
a  passage  which  the  Indians  make  over  a  tongue  of 
land,  from  one  river  or  lake  to  another,  carrying  with 
tliem  on  their  backs  their  light  canoes,  their  baggage, 
and  cargoes.  ;  r  f;;  i  ;;  ;  .  i 

"  I  left  Red  Lake  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-sixth. 
The  commencement  of  Portage  is  between  the  river  so 
called  and  Gold-fish  river.  It  is  about  twelve  miles 
long ;  and  I  therefore  engaged  another  Indian,  with  his 
horse,  to  effect  it  more  conveniently.  The  country  is 
delightful,  but  at  times  almost  impenetrable.        *        * 

''On  the  ensuing  day,  the  twenty-seventh,  I  dis- 
charged the  supernumerary  Indian,  with  his  horse;  for, 
having  no  provisions  but  what  we  could  procure  by 
means  of  our  guns,  we  were  already  three  too  many. 
We  crossed  the  small  lake  strictly  in  the  direction  from 
north  to  south ;  and  here  we  commenced  another  port- 
age of  four  miles.    ******* 

"  At  the  end  of  this  corvie  we  found  the  Great  Port- 
age river.  We  embarked  and  proceeded  up  its  current, 
crossing  two  lakes  which  it  forms  in  its  course,  each 
about  five  or  six  miles  in  circumference,  and  containing 
patches  of  wild  rice — unfortunately  for  us  not  yet  ripe. 
We  gave  these  lakes  the  name  of  Manomeny-Kany-aguen, 
or  the  Lakes  of  Wild  Rice. 

"  After  proceeding  upwards  of  five  or  six  miles,  always 
in  a  southerly  direction,  we  entered  a  noble  lake,  formed 
like  the  others  by  the  watere  of  the  river,  and  which 
has  no  other  issue  than  the  river's  entrance  and  dis- 
charge. 

"  Its  form  is  that  of  a  hajf-moon,  and  it  has  a  beauti- 
ful island  in  the  centre  of  it.  Its  circumference  is 
about  twenty  miles.    The  Indians  call  it  PuposJcy-Wkor 


368 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Kany-agueriy  or  the  End  of  the  shaking  Lands;  an  ety- 
mology very  correct,  as  nearly  all  the  region  we  have 
traversed  from  the  Lake  of  Pmes  may  be  almost  con- 
sidered to  float  upon  the  waters.        *        *        *        « 

"  I  passed  on  this  spot  a  part  of  the  day  of  my  arrival 
and  the  whole  of  the  succeeding  night.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  twenty-eighth,  we  resumed  our  navigation  of 
the  river,  which  enters  on  the  south  side  of  the  lake. 

"  About  six  miles  higher  up  we  discovered  its  sources, 
which  spring  out  of  the  ground  in  the  middle  of  a  small 
prairie,  and  the  little  basin  into  which  they  bubble  up 
is  surrounded  by  rushes.  We  approached  the  spot 
within  fifty  paces  in  our  canoe. 

"  But  now,  my  dear  Countess,  let  me  request  you  to 
step  on  quickly  for  a  moment,  pass  the  short  portage 
which  conducts  to  the  top  of  the  small  hill,  which  over- 
hangs these  sources  on  the  south,  and  transport  your- 
self to  the  place  where  I  am  now  writing.  Here,  re- 
posing under  the  tree,  beneath  whose  shade  I  am  rest- 
ing at  the  present  moment,  you  will  survey  with  an 
eager  eye,  and  with  feelings  of  intense  and  new  delight, 
the  sublime  traits  of  nature;  phenomena  which -fill  the 
soul  with  astonishment,  and  inspire  it  at  the  same  time 
with  almost  heavenly  ecstasy !  This  is  a  work  which 
belongs  to  the  Creator  of  it  alone  to  explain.  We  can 
only  adore  in  silence  his  omnipotent  hand.  *        * 

"  We  are  now  on  the  highest  land  of  North  America, 
if  we  except  the  icy  and  unknown  mountains  which  are 
lost  in  the  problematical  regions  of  the  pole  of  that 
part  of  the  world,  and  in  the  vague  conjectures  of  vi- 
sionary mapmakfcrs.  Yet  all  is  here  plain  and  level,  and 
the  hill  is  merely  an  eminence  formed,  as  it  were,  for 
an  observatory. 


NORTHERN  SOURCES  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


36D 


"  Casting  our  eye  around  us,  we  perceive  the  flow  of 
waters — to  the  south  towards  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to  the 
north  towards  the  Frozen  Sea,  on  the  east  to  the  Atlantic, 
and  on  the  west  towards  the  Pacific  Ocean.      *      *      * 

"  You  have  seen  the  sources  of  the  river  which  I  have 
a.scended  to  this  spot.  They  are  precisely  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill,  and  filtrate  in  a  direct  line  from  the  north 
bank  of  the  lake,  on  the  right  of  the  centre,  in  descend- 
ing towards  the  north.  They  are  the  sources  of  Bloody 
river.  On  the  other  side,  towards  the  south,  and  equally 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  other  sources  form  a  beautiful  little 
bjisin  of  about  eighty  feet  in  circumference.  These 
waters  likewise  filtrate  from  the  lake,  towards  its  south- 
western extremity :  and  these  sources  are  the  actual 
sources  of  the  Misfiissippi !  This  lake,  therefore,  sup- 
plies the  most  souiJiem  sources  of  Red,  or,  as  I  shall  in 
future  call  it  (by  its  truer  name),  Bloody  river;  and 
the  most  northern  sources  of  the  Mississippi — sources  till 
now  unknown  of  both. 

"  This  lake  is  about  three  miles  round.  It  is  formed 
in  the  shape  of  a  heart ;  and  it  may  be  truly  said  to 
speak  to  the  very  soul.  Mine  was  not  slightly  moved 
bv  it.  It  was  but  justice  to  draw  it  from  the  silence  in 
wiiich  geography,  after  so  many  expeditions,  still  suf- 
fered it  to  remain,  and  to  point  it  out  to  the  world  in 
all  its  honourable  distinction.  I  have  given  it  the  name 
of  the  respectable  lady  whose  life  (to  use  the  language 
of  her  illustrious  friend  the  Countess  of  Albany)  was 
nie  undeviating  course  of  moral  rectitude,  and  whose 
fleath  was  a  calamity  to  all  who  had  the  happiness  of 
knowing  her;  and  the  recollection  of  whom  is  inces- 
santly connected  with  veneration  and  grief  by  all  who 
can  properly  appreciate  beneficence  and  virtue.    I  have 

24 


^^mm^t 


wmmmm 


870 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA, 


called  the  lalce,  accordingly,  Lake  Julia ;  and  the  sources 
of  the  two  rivers,  the  Julian  sources  of  Bloody  river, 
and  the  Julian  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  which,  in  the 
Algonquin  language,  means  the  Father  of  Rivers.  Oh ! 
what  were  the  thoughts  which  passed  through  my  mind 
at  this  most  happy  and  brilliant  moment  of  my  lil'e ! 
The  shades  of  Marco  Polo,  of  Columbus,  of  Americus 
Vespucius,  of  the  Cabots,  of  Verazani,  of  the  Zenos, 
and  various  others,  appeared  present,  and  joyfully  assist 
ing  at  this  high  and  solemn  ceremony,  and  congratu- 
lating themselves  on  one  of  their  countrymen  having, 
by  new  and  successful  researches,  brought  back  to  the 
recollection  of  the  world  the  inestimable  services  which 
they  had  themselves  conferred  on  it  by  their  own 
peculiar  discoveries,  by  their  talents,  achievements,  and 
virtues.        ********* 

"  I  find  it  impossible  to  become  weary  of  examining 
and  admiring  the  least  objects  of  attention  furnished 
by  this  scene.  The  majestic  river,  which  embraces  a 
world  in  its  immense  course,  and  speaks  in  thunder  in 
its  cataracts,  is  at  these  its  sources  nothing  but  a  timid 
Naiad,  stealing  cautiously  through  the  rushes  and  briars 
which  obstruct  its  progress.  The  famous  Mississippi, 
whose  course  is  said  to  be  twelve  hundred  leagues,  and 
which  bears  navies  on  its  bosom,  and  steamboats  supe- 
rior in  size  to  frigates,  is  at  its  source  merely  a  petty 
stream  of  crystalline  water,  concealing  itself  among 
reeds  and  wild  rice,  which  seem  to  insult  over  its  hum- 
ble birth.      ********* 

"  Neither  traveller,  nor  missionary,  nor  geographer, 
nor  expedition-maker,  ever  visited  this  lake.  A  great 
many  of  the  stories  which  find  their  way  into  books  are 
invented  by  the  red  men,  either  to  deceive  the  whites, 


INDIANS  DISPOSED  TO  MISLEAD. 


871 


or  to  conceal  their  own  belief  or  their  own  weaknesses. 
*  *  *  The  Indians  themselves  have  confessed  to 
me  that,  when  they  go  down  to  the  traders'  settlements, 
tliey  amuse  themselves  with  gulling  their  credulity  by 
a  number  of  fables,  which  afterwards  become  the  oracles 
of  geographers  and  book-makers,         *        *        *         * 

•*  On  the  fourth  of  September  we  struck  our  tents 
very  early,  and  arrived  in  the  evening  at  Red  Cedar 
Lake,  so  called  on  account  of  the  number  of  those  beau- 
tiful trees,  whose  dark  green  foliage  overshadows  its 
islands  and  banks.  *  ♦  *  * 

"  This  lake  is  the  no7i  plus  ultra  of  all  the  discoveries 
ever  made  in  these  regions  before  my  own.  No  tra- 
vellerj  no  expedition,  no  explorer,  whether  European  or 
American,  has  gone  beyond  this  point ;  and  it  is  at  this 
lake  that  Mr.  Schoolcraft  fixed  the  sources  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  1819.  For  the  more  complete  celebration  of 
this  fortunate  discovery,  this  illustrious  epoch,  he  rebap- 
tized  it  by  the  name  of  Lake  Cassina,  from  the  name  of 
Mr.  Cass,  Governor  of  Michigan  territory,  who  was  at 
the  head  of  the  expedition.  Mr.  Schoolcraft  was  the 
historiographer.  *  *  *  * 

"  At  the  bottom  of  this  last  lake,  on  the  west,  is  found 
the  entrance  of  a  considerable  river,  which  the  Indians 
call  Bemizimaguamaguensibi,  or  the  river  of  Lake  Tra- 
verse. It  issues  from  the  lake  (the  second  of  that 
name),  twenty  miles  above  its  mouth,  on  the  north- 
west. This  lake  communicates,  in  the  same  direction, 
by  a  strait  of  two  or  three  miles  in  length,  with  another 
lake,  which  the  Indians  call  Moscosaguaiguen,  or  Biteh' 
Lake,  which  receives  no  tributary  stream,  and  seems  to 
draw  its  waters  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth.    It  is  here, 

'  La  Bicho  Lake,  or  Elk  Lake. 


mm 


y372 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


in  my  o{.mion,  that  we  shall  fix  the  western  sources  of 
the  Mississippi.'  •  •  *  * 

"  On  the  night  of  the  seventh  I  slept  at  the  mouth  of 
Leech  river.  The  lake  whence  it  issues  is  a  new  Colchis, 
where  a  second  Jason  found,  like  the  first,  a  golden 
fleece ;  where  Mr.  Pike  fixed  the  sources  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, fourteen  years  before  Mr.  Cass  fixed  them  at  Red 
Cedar  Lake.  This  circumstance  could  not  fail  of  excit- 
ing my  curiosity,  and  I  determined,  in  consequence,  to 
go  and  view  the  scene  which  had  given  birth  to  the  con- 
jectures of  the  first  of  my  two  predecessors.         *        * 

"  On  the  ninth  we  arrived  at  Leech  Lake  {Kaza-gaa- 
guaiguen),  at  Macuwa,  or  Bear  Island,  where  we  found 
a  considerable  band  of  Gypawaia  plunderers,  so  denomi- 
nated from  their  plundering  and  murdering  the  first 
Canadians  who  pushed  their  commerce  to  such  a  dan- 
gerous distance. 

"  This  band  is  very  numerous  and  warlike.  I  found 
it  divided  into  two  factions,  one  of  which  is  actuated  by 
the  spirit  of  legitimacy,  the  other  by  its  opposite.  The 
Poikeshononepe,  or  Cloudy  Weather,  a  usurper,  contests 
the  crown  and  empire  with  the  chief  Esquibusicoge,  or 
Wide  Mouth,  who  possesses  them  by  hereditary  right : 
but  as  these  Indians,  beyond  all  others,  require  for  their 
head  a  daring  and  active  man,  who  can  conduct  them 
to  victory  over  the  Sioux,  by  whom  they  are  frequently 
harassed,  insteaxl  of  an  idle  and  profligate  poltroon, 
always  reposing  under  the  shade  of  his  genealogical 
tree,  and  destitute  of  all  merit  but  that  allowed  him  by 
his  flatterers.  Cloudy  Weather  has  the  majority  on  his 
side.     The  government  of  the  United  States  acknow- 

>  Niue  years  after  thin  suggostion,  Allen  and  Schoolcraft  visited  tlie 
western  sources  of  the  Mississippi. 


BELTRAMI  AT  LEECH  LAKE. 


878 


ledges  both:  Cloudy  Weather^  because  he  declaims  in 
their  favour ;  and  Wide  MoiUh,  in  order  to  detach  him 
from  the  English,  to  whom  he  is  friendly ;  but  princi- 
pally, I  imagine,  from  the  policy  of  keeping  alive  divi- 
sion in  a  band  powerful  in  force  but  precarious  in 
attachment.  ♦  *  •  * 

"  On  my  arrival  among  them  they  were  in  no  little 
commotion  on  another  subject,  involving  the  two  parties 
ill  new  contention.  Cloudy  Weather's  son-in-law  had 
been  killed  a  few  days  before  by  the  Sioux,  and  they 
had  at  the  same  time  received  intelligence  of  the  affair 
at  Cayenne  river,  and  of  what  had  happened  to  my  two 
Indians  on  Bloody  river.  Wide  Moutji  demanded  an 
immediate  war,  and  was  desirous  of  forming  an  army, 
of  which  he  himself  never  constituted  any  part.  Cloudy 
Weather,  who  is  not  deficient  in  sense,  suspected  that 
this  warlike  ardour,  this  extraordinary  eagerness  and 
zeal,  were  assumed  with  a  view  to  remove  him  out  of 
the  way,  and  turn  his  absence  to  his  injury;  and  there- 
fore, although  the  principal  person  aggrieved,  strongly 
recommended  prudence  and  moderation.  *  * 

"  I  was  a  spectator  of  the  funeral  ceremony  performed 
in  honour  of  the  manes  of  Cloudy  Weather's  son-in-law, 
whose  body  had  remained  with  the  Sioux,  and  was  sus- 
pected to  have  furnished  one  of  their  repasts.  What 
a])peared  not  a  little  singular,  and  indeed  ludicrous  in 
this  funeral  comedy,  was  the  contrast  exhibited  by  the 
terrific  lamentations  and  yells  of  one  part  of  the  com- 
pany, while  the  others  were  singing  and  dancing  with 
all  their  might.  I  was  scarcely  able  several  times  to 
refrain  from  laughing;  but  the  ceremony  having  some 
resemblance  to  the  usages  of  the  ancients,  who  also  on 
such  occasions  paid  and   employed  together   Tihicene' 


374 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


and  Proe/icce,  my  respect  for  antiquity  and  antiquaries 
enabled  me  to  preserve  my  gravity.  At  another  fune- 
ral ceremony  for  a  member  of  the  Grand  Medicine, 
and  at  which,  as  a  man  of  another  world,  I  was  permit- 
ted to  attend,  the  same  practice  occurred.  But,  at  the 
feast  which  took  place  on  that  occasion,  an  allowance 
was  served  up  for  the  deceased  out  of  every  article  of 
which  it  consisted,  while  others  were  beating,  wounding, 
and  torturing  themselves,  and  letting  their  blood  How 
both  over  the  diiid  man  and  his  provisions,  thinking 
possibly  that  this  was  the  most  palatable  seasoning  for 
the  latter  which  they  could  possibly  supply.  His  wife 
furnished  out  an^ entertainment  present  for  him  of  all  her 
hair  and  rags,  with  which,  together  with  his  arms,  his 
provisions,  his  ornaments,  and  his  mystic  medicine  bag, 
he  was  wrapped  up  in  the  skin  which  had  been  his  last 
covering  when  alive.  He  was  then  tied  round  with  the 
bark  of  some  particular  trees  which  they  use  for  mak- 
ing cords,  and  cords  of  a  very  firm  texture  and  hold 
(the  only  ones  indeed  which  they  have),  and  instead 
of  being  buried  in  the  earth,  was  hung  up  to  a  large  oak. 
The  reason  of  this  was,  that  as  his  favourite  Manitou 
was  the  eagle,  his  spirit  would  be  enabled  more  easily 
from  such  a  situation  to  fly  with  him  to  Paradise.  Here 
again  we  perceive  another  trait  of  antiquity,  and  a  rich 
relish  for  our  antiquarian  amateurs,  whom,  I  think,  I 
must  at  length  have  completely  satisfied.  The  oak  is 
also  among  the  Indians  the  tree  consecrated  to  the 
eagle,  that  is  to  say,  to  Jupiter. 

"  Mr.  Pike,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  expedition, 
despatched  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  in 
1805,  to  discover  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  fixes 
them  at  this  lake,  although  the  river  Leecli  which  flow» 


MORRISON  AT  ITASCA  LAKE  IN  1804. 


875 


into  it  on  the  N.N.W.,  ascends  more  than  fifty  miles 
higher  up ;  and  although  various  other  rivers,  the  courses 
of  which  are  as  yet  unknown,  equally  flow  into  this  lake. 
But  it  was  in  winter ;  the  cold  was  excessively  severe, 
and  it  is  no  pleasant  or  easy  matter  to  discover  sources 
through  ice.  It  is  impossible  to  doubt,  that,  at  a  differ 
ent  season  of  the  year,  and  with  a  less  embarrassing 
party,  Mr.  Pike  would  have  pushed  his  discoveries  far- 
ther. He  was  a  bold  and  enterprising  man ;  and  his 
expedition  to  New  Mexico,  and  his  glorious  death  in 
the  field  of  honour,  merit  a  place  in  history.  He  will 
always  be  entitled  to  the  distinction  of  having  been  the 
iirst  who  extended  his  researches  so  far  in  regions  so 
wild  and  repulsive,  and  that  at  a  time  when  there  ex- 
isted no  fort  whatever  on  the  Mississippi." 

The  following  letter,  written  by  William  Morrison, 
an  old  trader,  to  his  brother,  Allan  Morrison,  published 
in  the  Annals  of  the  Miimesota  Historical  Society  for 
1856,  shows  that  the  lakes  of  the  Upper  Mississippi 
were  visited  early  in  the  present  century  by  those  en- 


aa 


ged  in  Indian  commerce : — 


"Dear  Brother, — In  answering  your  favour  of  the 
tenth  January,  I  will  pass  several  incidents  that  I  pre- 
sume you  are  well  informed  of,  and  give  you  the  time 
and  circumstances  that  led  me  to  be  the  first  white 
man  that  discovered  the  source  of  the  great  Mississippi 
river.  I  left  Grand  Portage,  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Superior,  now  the  boundary  line  between  the  United 
States  and  the  British  Possessions,  in  the  year  1802, 
and  landed  at  Leech  Lake  in  September  or  October,  the 
same  year.  I  wintered  on  one  of  the  streams  of  the 
Crow  Wiag,  near  its  source.  Our  Indians  were  Pillar 
gers.     In  1803  and  1804,  I  went  and  wintered  at  Rice 


876 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Lake.  I  passed  by  Red  Cedar  Luke,  now  called  Cass 
Lake,  followed  up  the  Mississippi  to  Cross  Lake,  and 
then  up  the  Mississippi  again  to  Elk  Lake,  now  called 
Itasca  Lake,  the  source  of  the  great  river  Mississippi. 
A  short  distance  this  side,  I  made  a  portage,  to  get  to 
Rice  river,  which  is  called  the  Portage  of  the  Heights 
of  Land,  or  the  dividing  ridge  that  separates  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi  and  those  that  empty  into  the  Red 
River  of  the  North ;  thence  to  Hudson's  Bay,  the  port- 
age is  short. 

I  discovered  no  traces  of  any  white  man  before  me, 
when  I  visited  Itasca  Lake  in  1804.  And  if  the  late 
General  Pike  did  not  lay  it  down  as  such,  when  he 
came  to  Leech  Lake,  it  is  because  he  did  not  happen  to 
meet  me.  I  was  at  an  outpost  that  winter.  The  late 
General  Pike  laid  down  Cass  Lake  on  his  map  as  the 
head  of  the  Mississippi  river.  In  1811-12,  I  went  the 
same  route,  to  winter  on  Rice  river,  near  the  plains. 
There  I  overtook  a  gentleman  with  an  outfit  from 
Mackinac,  by  the  name  of  Otesse,  with  whom  I  parted 
only  at  Fond  du  Lac,  he  taking  the  southern  route  to 
Mackinac,  and  I  the  northern  to  head-quarters,  which 
had  been  changed  from  Grand  Portage  to  Fort  William. 
This  will  explain  ^.o  you  that  I  visited  Itasca  Lake, 
then  called  Elk  Lake,  in  1803-4,  and  in  1811-12,  and 
five  small  streams  that  empty  into  the  lake,  that  are 
short,  and  soon  lose  themselves  in  the  swamps. 

"  By  way  of  explanation,  why  the  late  General  Pike, 
then  Captain  Pike,  in  1805,  who  had  orders  to  stem  the 
Mississippi  to  its  source,  and  was  stopped  by  the  ice  a 
little  below  Swan  river,  at  the  place  since  called  Pike's 
Rapids,  or  Pike's  Block  House,  and  had  to  pr>)ceed  from 
there  to  Leech  Lake  on  foot.     He  had  to  learn  there 


MORRISON'S  LETTER  ABOUT  VIKE. 


877 


where  the  source  of  the  Mississippi  \*mb.  He  went  to 
Cuss  Lake,  and  could  proceed  no  further.  He  had  been 
tolcJ  that  I  knew  the  source,  but  could  not  see  me,  T 
being  out  at  an  outpost.  This  want  of  information  made 
him  commit  the  error ;  some  person,  not  knoxoing  better, 
told  him  tlvere  was  no  rioer  above  Cass  Lake.  Caas  Lake 
receives  the  waters  of  Cross  Lake,  and  Cross  Lake  those 
of  Itasca  Lake,  and  five  small  streams  that  empty  into 
Itasca  Lake,  then  called  Elk  Lake.  Those  streams  I 
l.<ave  noted  before,  no  white  maj'  can  claim  the  dis- 
covery of  the  source  of  the  Mississippi  before  me,  for  I 
was  the  first  that  saw  and  examined  its  shores." 

From  this  digression,  let  us  return  to  the  narrative 
of  Beltrami : — 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth,  I  landed  at  the 
eytablishment  of  the  South-west  Company,  near  the  exit 
of  the  Leech  river,  in  hopes  of  replacing  in  some  meor 
sure  m^  Boia  bruU.  But  we  found  only  a  single  person 
there,  left  to  take  care  of  the  place ;  and  it  was  quite 
impossible  for  him  to  leave  it ;  I  waa  therefore  obliged 
to  go  on  with  Cloudy  Weather  only.  However,  I  ob- 
tained all  the  instructions  that  were  necessary  to  enable 
me  to  proceed  with  information  as  far  as  Sandy  Lake ; 
and  I  found  myself  gradually  more  intelligible  to  my 
new  Indian  associate.  ♦  *  *  * 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  seventeenth  we  arrived  at 
Sandy  Lake,  on  the  east,  which  is  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  from  the  last-mentioned  place,  about 
three  hundred  from  Red  Lake,  and  about  three  hundred 
also  from  Leech  Lake.  *  *  *  ♦ 

"  All  the  maps,  whether  of  former  or  recent  date,  even 
those  constructed  conformably  to  expeditions,  are  exceed- 
ingly incorrect  with  respect  to  the  situation  of  Sandy 


mm 


878 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


Lak'j.  They  place  it  at  the  south-east  of  Lake  Leech, 
thougK  it  is  nearly  at  the  east ;  and  this  error  draws  after 
it  others  respecting  its  latitude  and  longitude.  I  have 
observed  this  mistake  by  the  due  application  of  my  com- 
pass, the  result  of  which  corresponds  with  the  opinions 
of  the  Indians  on  the  subject,  who,  indeed,  are  very 
seldom  de*.  eived  in  their  geographical  statements.    *    • 

"  After  passing  the  confluence  of  the  Missay-guani- 
sibi.  or  River  Brandy,  on  the  east,  and  that  of  another 
river,  which  is  unknown,  on  the  west,  I  approached 
that  grand  and  interesting  spectacle — the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony.'  *  *  The  strength  of  the  current  hurried 
forward  our  canoe  v,  ith  alarming  rapidity ;  and  at  length 
I  discerned  between  the  trees,  and  in  a  nleasant  back- 
ground, the  roof  of  a  house,  indicating  of  ^.«..urse  civilized 
habitation.  This  was  the  mill  for  the  garrison  at  the 
fort.  On  reaching  this  place,  my  mind,  still  dwelling 
on  all  the  grand  and  terrible  cenes  which  had  occurred 
to  me  in  the  course  of  three  months,  while  traversing 
eternal  deserts,  among  barbarous  tribes  and  unknown 
regions,  was  agitated  with  emotiona  which  I  could 
scarcely  describe  or  discriminate. 

"  The  sight  of  this  object,  which  announced  my  ap- 
proach to  the  residence  of  cultivated  man,  produced  in 
me  a  conflict  of  opposite  feelings.  I  regretted  the  inde- 
pendence of  savage  life,  while  at  the  same  time  I  expe- 
rienced a  thrill  of  uelight  at  returning  within  the  sphere 
of  civilized  society. 

"  After  having  cleared  the  portage,  I  completed  my 
Indian  toilet  for  the  last  time ;  that  is,  I  shaved  myself 
without  cither  soap  or  glass,  and  with  razors  which  were 
inuf^h  like  saws,      I  took  my  bath  in  the  river,  and 

'  September  thirtieth. 


mm 


^l«7f*^IPPiniPfVIPIPpiiP<PIPMPMpRlfMPpi|iiPP 


mm 


BKLTRAMl  IN  TATTERS  AT  FORT  SNELLING. 


37<> 


dressed  myself  as  well  as  I  was  able,  in  order  to  appear 
at  the  fort  as  decently  as  possible.  But  I  was  beset  on 
all  sides  with  dirt  and  squalidnesss :  these  perhaps  have 
in  fact  formed  the  greatest  of  my  suflferings.  My  head 
was  covered  with  the  bark  of  a  tree,  formed  into  the 
shape  of  a  hat  and  sewed  with  threads  of  bark ;  and 
shoes,  a  coat,  and  pantaloons,  such  as  are  used  by  Cana- 
dians in  the  Indian  territories,  and  formed  of  arignat 
skins  sewed  together  by  thread  made  of  the  muscles  of 
that  animal,  completed  the  grotesque  appearance  of  ray 
person.  I  am  indebted  for  my  new  wardrobe  to  the 
fair  Woascita,  who  had  compassion  on  the  nakedness 
to  which  the  thorns  and  brambles  of  the  forest  had 
reduced  me.  The  Indians  attach  a  high  value  to  the 
skins  of  the  orignal,  which  is  the  most  beautiful  of 
quadrupeds,  the  monarch  of  reindeer,  and  only  very 
rarely  to  he  met  with.  ***** 

"  My  Iiidians  announced  their  approach  in  the  cus- 
tomary manner,  that  is,  by  the  discharge  of  guns  loaded 
with  ball,  and  with  shouts  and  chants  accompanied  by 
the  sound  of  their  harmonious  drums. 

"  Melancholy  rumours  respecting  my  safety  had  been 
circulated  at  the  fort,  and  young  Snelling,  on  his  return 
to  it,  having  expressed  the  apprehensions  he  felt  on 
my  ficcount  when  we  parted  at  Pembenar,  had  thus 
strengthened  the  belief  in  them.  These  gentlemen  in 
lact  supposed  me  to  be  dead. 

"  On  the  arrival  of  the  flotilla  all  the  officers  hastened 
down  to  inquire  about  me.  They  were  answered  by 
the  supposed  dead  man  himself  While  replying  to 
their  kind  questions  1  divested  myself  of  the  skin 
covering  which  I  had  on,  in  the  disguise  of  an  Indian ; 
a  character  which  my  countenance  and  general  appear- 


880 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


ance  greatly  contributed  to  my  supporting.  I  saw  in 
the  expression  of  their  physiognomies  both  a  movement 
of  surprise,  and  sentiments  of  affection  and  friendship. 
The  excellent  Mr.  Tagliawar  embraced  me  in  the  most 
cordial  manner,  and  the  colonel,  his  respectable  wife, 
and  his  children,  received  me  with  demonstrations  of 
the  most  lively  joy.  I  was  much  moved,  and  could  not 
help  shedding  tears  of  gratitude  and  attachment.  This 
was  the  first  time  since  fate  began  to  steep  my  exist- 
ence in  anguish  that  I  beheld  a  gleam  of  those  happy 
moments  which,  in  Italy,  friendship  always  procured  for 
me  whene^^er  I  returned  from  my  occasional  absences. 
And  during  the  short  time  that  I  remained  among  them 
I  experienced  nothing  of  the  constraint,  nothing  of  the 
cold  and  formal  politeness  whicli  Americans  in  general 
are  accustomed  to  affect,  particularly  towards  strangei-s, 
and  which,  like  a  moral  rust,  tarnishes  their  natural 
benevolence  and  impairs  the  value  of  theiv  hospitality." 

Dr.  Norwood,  who  was  the  assistant  of  Dr.  Owens,  in 
the  United  States'  Geological  Survey  of  Minnesota, 
speaking  of   jis  route  from  Cass  Lake,  says : — 

"  Our  route  from  this  place  led  through  Turtle  river, 
and  the  chain  of  lakes  described  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Beltrami, 
in  1823,  as  the  'Julian  sources  of  the  Mississippi.'  * 
*  *  *  *  fpjjg  jjjj^p  sketched  by  him  is  a  tolerably 
correct  one,  and  appears  to  have  been  the  source  from 
which  Mr.  Nicollet  derived  his  information  with  regard 
to  the  route  between  Cass  and  Red  Lakes." ' 

In  the  language  of  Nicollet,  the  last  explorer  of  the 
extreme  western  source  of  the  Mississippi,  "  I  may  be 
mistaken,  but  •  strikes  me  that  American  critics  have 
been  too  disdainful  of  Mr.  Beltrami's  book." 

'  Owens'  Geological  Siirvi'y  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  pp.  322  3. 


FINDLAY  KILLED  AT  LAKE  PEPIN. 


381 


In  the  year  1824,  a  Mr.  Findlay  left  Prairie  du  Chien 
in  a  canoe,  and  ascended  the  Mississippi  in  company 
with  a  Canadian  named  Barrette,  and  two  others.  On 
their  arrival  at  Lake  Pepin,  they  were  met  by  an  Qjib- 
way  war  party  from  Lac  du  Flambeau.  The  Canadian 
thought  he  recognised  in  the  party  an  Indian,  who,  the 
the  previous  winter,  had  come  to  the  place  on  Black 
river  where  he  was  cutting  lumber,  and  stole  his  horse. 

Both  Findlay  and  Barrette  had  partaken  freely  of 
whiskey,  and,  quarrelling  with  the  Indians,  they  were 
all  killed,  and  their  goods  and  provisions  stolen. 

Until  the  American  Fur  Company  systematized  the 
trade  in  Minnesota,  and  Congress  took  measures  to 
exclude  whiskey  dealers  from  the  Indians,  trade  was 
carried  on  in  a  way  to  make  humanity  blush.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  of  Colonel  Snelling,  addressed  to  the  secre- 
tary of  war,  exhibits  the  disgraceful  condition  of  affairs 
at  that  time  : — 

"In  former  letters  addressed  to  the  department  of 
war,  I  have  adverted  to  the  mischievous  consequences 
resulting  from  the  introduction  of  whiskey,  and  other 
distilled  spirits,  into  the  Iidian  country.  The  pretext 
is,  that  our  traders  cannot  enter  into  successful  compe- 
tition with  the  British  traders  without  it.  If  the  sale 
of  whiskey  could  be  restricted  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
British  line,  the  mischief  would  be  comparatively  trivial, 
but,  if  permitted  at  all,  no  limits  can  be  set  to  it.  A 
series  of  petty  wars  and  murders,  and  the  introduction 
of  every  species  of  vice  and  debauchery,  by  the  traders 
and  their  engagees,  will  be  the  consequence.  It  be- 
comes, also,  a  fruitful  source  of  complaint  with  those 
engaged  in  the  same  trade  from  the  West.  The  traders 
who  obtain  their  supplies  from  St.  Louis,  pass  Fort  Snel- 
ling, where,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  I  have  received 


■Wl 


382 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


from  the  president,  their  boats  are  searched,  and  no 
spirituoua  liquors  are  permitted  to  be  taken  further. 

"  The  traders  who  are  licensed  for  the  lakes,  spread 
themselves  over  the  whole  country  between  Lake  Supe- 
rior and  the  Upper  Mississippi ;  their  whiskey  attracts 
&  large  proportion  of  the  Indians  to  their  trading-houses ; 
and  the  Western  traders  not  only  have  to  complain  of 
the  loss  of  custom,  but,  in  many  instances,  the  Indians 
who  have  obtained  their  goods  of  them,  are  seduced  by 
whiskey  to  carry  their  winter's  hunt  to  others.  This 
has  long  been  one  of  the  tricks  of  the  trade.  The 
traders,  who  are  not  generally  restrained  by  any  moral 
rules,  after  they  pass  the  boundary,  practise  it  without 
scruple,  whenever  opportunity  occurs,  and  he  who  has 
the  most  whiskey  generally  carries  ofiF  the  furs.  They 
are  so  far  from  being  ashamed  of  the  practice,  that  it 
affords  them  subject  for  conversation  by  their  winter 
fires.  I  have  myself  frequently  heard  them  boast  of 
their  exploits  in  that  way.  The  neighbourhood  of  the 
trading-houses  where  whiskey  is  sold  presents  a  disgust- 
ing scene  of  drunkenness,  debauchery,  and  misery.  In 
my  route  I  passed  Prairie  du  Chien,  Green  Bay,  and 
Mackinac ;  no  language  can  describe  the  scenes  of  vice 
which  there  present  themselves.  Herds  of  Indians  are 
drawn  together  by  the  fascinations  of  whiskey,  and  they 
exhibit  the  most  degraded  picture  of  human  nature  I 
ever  witnessed." ' 


'  Licensed  Indian  traders  among 
Dahkotahs  in  1826  :— 

P.  Prescott,  Leaf  River. 

IV  Lnmont,  Mouth  of  Minnesota. 

•I.  Kenville,  Lac  qui  Parle. 

Wni.  Dickson,  Lac  Traverse. 

B.  F.  Baker,  Crow  Island,  Upper 
Mississippi. 


Duncan  Campbell,  Falls  St.  Croix. 

John  Campbell,  Mouth  of  Chippe- 
way. 

Francis  Grandin,  Traverse  dei 
Sioux. 

Ilagan  Moores,  Lac  Traverse. 

Louis  Provenoall',,  Traverie  de» 
Sioux. 


»if  w '"  ■  'j  ,w  u;  imt  ii  p>»>»fp»»w»" 


'^pnpffnipvinpw 


PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  TREATY  OF  1825. 


,;!    -U;!,.!   iU'>,;! 


-Hfl-' 


f-;!*;    -i- 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


bu.f; 


For  more  than  a  century  there  had  been  a  westward 
tendency  in  the  emigration  of  the  ^ndian  nations,  and 
a  frequent  source  of  war  among  the  North-western 
tribes,  was  the  encroachment  upon  each  other's  hunting 
ground. 

In  the  hope  that  good  might  result  from  well  defined 
boundary  lines,  on  the  nineteenth  of  August,  1825,  by 
order  of  the  authorities  at  Washington,  Governor 
Clark,  of  Missouri,  and  Cass,  of  Michigan,  convened  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  a  grand  Congress  of  Dahkotahs,  Ojib- 
ways,  Sauks,  and  Poxes,  Menomonies,  loways,  Winne- 
bagoes,  Pottawottamies,  and  Ottawas. 

After  some  discussion,  it  was  agreed  between  the 
Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways,  that  the  line  dividing  their 
respective  countries,  should  commence  at  the  Chippewa 
river,  half  a  day's  march  below  the  falls,  and  from 
thence  to  Red  Cedar  river  just  below  the  falls,  and 
thence  to  the  Standing  Cedar,  a  day's  paddle  above  the 
head  of  Lake  St.  Croix ;  thence  between  two  lakes 
called  by  the  Ojibways,  "Green  Lakes,"  and  the  Dah- 
kotahs, the  "Lakes  of  the  Buried  Eagles;"  and  from 
thence  to  the  Standing  Cedar  that  the  Dahkotahs  split; 
thence  to  Rum  river,  crossing  at  Choking  Creek,  a  day's 


PMH 


384 


BISTORT  OF  MINNESOTA. 


march  from  its  mouth ;  thence  to  a  point  of  woods  that 
projects  into  the  prairie  a  half  day's  march  from  the 
Mississippi;  thence  in  a  straight  hne  to  the  mouth  of 
the  first  river  above  the  Sauk;  thence  up  that  river  to 
a  small  lake  at  its  source;  thence  to  a  lake  at  the  head 
of  Prairie  river,  a  tributary  of  Crow  Wing;  thence  to  the 
portage  of  Otter  Tail  Lake;  thence  to  the  outlet  of  said 
lake;  thence  to  the  Buffalo  river,  midway  between  its 
source  and  mouth,  and  down  said  river  to  Red  river, 
and  down  Red  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Outard  creek. 

The  eastern  boundary  of  the  Dahkotahs,  was  to  com- 
mence opposite  the  loway  river,  running  back  to  the 
bluffs,  and  along  the  bluffs  to  Bad  Axe  river;  thence  to 
mouth  of  Black  river;  and  thence  to  half  a  day's  march 
below  the  falls  of  the  Chippewa. 

A  few  months  after  the  treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  it 
was  very  evident  that  neither  Dahkotah  nor  Cjjibway 
were  willing  to  be  pent  up  by  any  boundary  lines. 

As  the  Ojibways  were  dispersed  over  a  great  extent  of 
country,  it  was  agreed  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  that  the 
government  of  the  United  States  should  convene  them 
in  1826,  at  some  point  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior. 
The  place  selected,  was  Fond  du  Lac ;  and  Lewis  Cass 
and  T.  L.  McKenney  were  the  commissioners  to  assemble 
the  Lidians,  and  conclude  the  first  formal  treaty  on 
the  soil  of  Minnesota. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  July,  the  expedition  ap- 
proached in  their  barges,  with  flying  colours  and  mar- 
tial music,  the  trading  post  of  Fond  du  Lac ;  and  for  the 
first  time  the  ears  of  the  Indians  of  that  region  were 
greeted  with  the  tune  of  "Hail  Columbia."  On  tbe 
thirty-first,  the  commissioner,  McKenney,  went  over  to 
the  island  opposite  the  Fur  Company's  post,  to  visit  an 


VISIT  TO  A  WOMAN  SCALPED  WHEN  A  GIRL. 


385 


Ojibway  woman  who  had  been  scalped  wheu  a  child, 
under  these  circumstances :  Having  accompanied  a  baud 
of  sixty  men,  women,  and  children  to  the  vicinity  of 
the  falls  of  the  Chippeway  river,  they  were  surprised 
by  a  Dahkotah  war  party  which  rushed  down  from  the 
bluffs,  and  fired  into  their  lodges.  The  woman,  who 
was  then  only  fourteen  years  of  age,  ran  towards  the 
woods,  and  was  pursued  by  a  Dahkotah  brave,  who 
captured  and  bound  her. 

Just  then  another  Dahkotah  approached,  and  struck 
her  with  a  war  club,  scalped  her,  and  was  about  to  cut 
her  throat,  when  he  was  shot.  In  the  contest  for  the 
child,  each  warrior  had  taken  oflF  a  portion  of  her  scalp, 
and,  while  they  were  wrangling,  her  father  had  ap- 
proached and  fired  his  gun,  which  killed  both.  When 
the  shades  of  night  came,  he  went  to  tne  spot  where  he 
had  last  seen  his  daughter,  recovered  the  pieces  of  her 
scalp,  and,  after  some  search,  found  her  senseless  on 
the  snow,  about  a  half  mile  from  the  scene  of  conflict. 
By  proper  attention  she  was  restored,  and  at  the  time 
of  the  treaty  of  Fond  du  Lac,  she  was  the  mother  of 
ten  children,  and  her  skull  still  boric  the  marks  of 
violence. 

On  the  second  of  August  the  council  met,  and  con- 
tinued several  days.  Among  those  who  took  a  seat  was 
an  aged  Ojibway  woman,  from  Montreal  river.  She 
wore  around  her  neck  her  husband's  medal,  and,  being 
very  poor,  in  the  place  of  wampum  she  laid  on  the  com- 
missioners' table  some  grass  and  porcupine  quills.  In  pre- 
senting them,  she  said :  "  I  come  in  the  place  of  my  hus- 
band. He  is  old  and  blind,  but  he  yet  has  a  mouth  and 
ears.     He  can  speak  and  hear.     He  is  very  poor.     He 

hopes  to  receive  a  present  from  his  fathers." 
26 


38G 


HI8T0RV  OP  MINNESOTA. 


After  the  usual  feastings  and  speeches,  and  exhaust* 
ing  of  patience,  a  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  fifth  da^ 
of  August,  which,  with  some  modifications,  was  ratified 
by  the  United  States  Senate,  on  the  second  day  of  Feb- 
ruary of  the  next  year. 

By  an  article  of  the  treaty  the  Ojibways  fully  dis- 
claimed all  connexion  with  Great  Britain,  and  acknow- 
ledged the  authority  of  the  United  States.  At  the 
council  there  were  present  deputations  from  the  Min- 
nesota bands  at  Fond  du  Lac,  river  St.  Croix,  Rainy 
Lake,  Sandy  Lake,  Leech  Lake,  Snake  River,  and  Crow 
Wing. 

Supplementary  to  the  treaty  was  inserted  the  follow- 
ing clause.  "  As  the  Chippeways  who  committed  the 
murder  upon  four  American  citizens,  in  June,  1824, 
upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Pepin,  are  not  present  at  this 
council,  but  are  far  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  so 
that  they  cannot  be  apprehended  and  delivered  to  the 
proper  authority  before  next  summer ;  and  as  the  com- 
missioners have  been  specially  instructed  to  demand  the 
surrender  of  those  persons,  and  to  state  to  the  Chippe- 
way  tribe  the  consequence  of  suffering  such  a  flagitious 
outrage  to  go  unpunished,  it  is  agreed  that  the  persons 
guilty  of  the  aforementioned  murder  shall  be  brought 
in,  either  to  the  Sault  St.  Marie,  or  Green  Bay,  as  early 
next  summer  as  practicable." 

Governor  Cass,  having  determined  to  return  in  a  bark 
canoe,  contracted  with  a  son  of  the  scalped  woman  to 
build  one  of  suitable  dimensions,  about  five  feet  in  width, 
and  thirty-six  in  length.  Immediately  a  large  company 
of  squaws  and  children  commenced  the  work,  for  they 
are  the  mechanics  of  every  Indian  village.  Stakes  weie 
driven  into  the  ground,  the  desired  length  of  the  canoe, 


CASS  ORDERS  A  BIRCH  CANOE. 


887 


and  then  rolls  of  birch  bark  stripped  from  the  trees 
unbroken,  and  stitched  together  with  the  roots  of  the 
larch,  were  placed  within  the  enclosure  and  secured  to 
the  stakes.  Cross  pieces  of  cedar  are  now  inserted,  pro- 
ducing the  desired  form,  and  constituting  the  ribs  or 
fianiework.  The  birch  bark  properly  secured  to  the 
IVaine,  the  stakes  are  pulled  out  of  the  ground,  and  the 
seams  covered  with  resin  that  the  water  should  not 
I'nter.  After  some  ornamenting  of  the  sides,  it  was 
ready  for  delivery  to  Mr.  Cass. 

"  Thus  the  birch  canoe  was  builded, 
In  the  valley,  by  the  river, 
In  the  bosom  of  the  forest ; 
And  the  forest's  life  was  in  it, 
All  its  mystery,  and  its  magic. 
-'  All  the  lightness  of  the  birch  tree. 

All  the  toughness  of  the  cedar. 
All  the  larch's  supple  sinews  ; 
And  it  floated  on  the  river, 
Like  a  yellow  leaf  in  Autumn, 
Like  a  yellow  water  lily." 


Not  long  after  the  treaty,  twenty-nine  Ojibways  sur- 
rendered themselves  at  Sault  St.  Marie.  After  an  exsr 
mination,  seven  were  committed  for  trial,  and  confined 
at  Mackinaw.  At  the  next  term  of  court,  the  judge 
declined  trying  the  prisoners,  in  consequence  of  doubts 
of  jurisdiction ;  and,  during  the  next  winter,  they  cut 
their  way  out  of  the  log  jail,  and  escaped  to  their  dis- 
tant home. 

The  year  of  the  treaty  of  Fond  du  Lac,  was  another 
remarkable  year  to  the  Selkirk  colony,  known  to  this 
"la}'  as  the  year  of  the  flood. 

In  the  month  of  January,  it  was  rumored  at  the 
Selkirk  settlement,  that  the  hunters  who  were  on  the 


&R8 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


plains  of  Minnesota  in  quest  of  buffalo  were  starving. 
The  sufferers  were  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  miles  from  Pembina,  and  the  only  way  to 
carry  provisions  to  them  was  by  dog  sleds.  The  sym- 
pathy for  their  welfare  was  very  great;  and  even  the 
widow  contributed  a  mite  to  their  relief 

It  appears  from  a  statement  made  by  one  who  was 
in  the  colony  at  the  time,  that  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber, 1825,  a  snow  storm  raged  with  violence  for  several 
days,  and  drove  the  buffalo  out  of  the  hunter's  reach. 
As  this  was  an  unexpected  contingency,  they  had  no 
meat  as  a  substitute,  and  famine  stared  them  in  the 
face. 

Says  an  eye-witness :'  "  Families  here,  and  families 
there,  despairing  of  life,  huddled  themselves  together 
for  warmth,  and  in  too  many  cases,  their  shelter  proved 
their  grave.  At  first  the  heat  of  their  bodies  melted 
the  snow ;  they  became  wet,  and  being  without  food  or 
fuel,  the  cold  soon  penetrated,  and  in  several  instances 
froze  the  whole  body  into  solid  ice.  Some  again  Avere 
in  a  state  of  actual  delirium,  while  others  were  picked 
up  frozen  to  death;  one  woman  was  found  with  an 
infant  on  her  back  within  a  quarter  mile  of  Pembina. 
This  poor  creature  must  have  travelled  at  the  least,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  in  three  days  and  nights. 
Those  that  were  found  alive,  had  devoured  their  horses, 
their  dogs,  raw-hides,  leather,  and  their  very  shoes. 
So  great  were  their  sufferings,  that  some  died  on  the 
road  to  the  colony  after  being  relieved  at  Pembina.  One 
man  with  his  wife  and  three  children  were  dug  out  ol" 
the  snow  where  they  had  been  buried  for  five  days  and 


'  Alesander  Ross. 


FLOOD  AT  RED  RIVER  SETTLEMENT. 


889 


nights  without  food,  fire,  or  light  of  the  sun,  and  the 
wife  and  two  of  the  children  recovered." 

When  the  spring  came,  the  melting  of  the  winter's 
snow  produced  a  still  greater  calamity.  On  the  second 
day  of  May,  in  twenty-four  hours,  the  Red  river  rose 
nine  feet;  and  by  the  fifth,  -he  plains  were  submerged. 
A  panic  now  seized  every  living  thing  j  dogs  howled, 
cattle  lowed,  children  cried,  mothers  wept  and  wrung 
their  hands,  and  fathers  called  out  to  their  families  to 
escape  to  the  hills.  The  water  continued  to  ri.se  until 
the  twenty-first,  and  houses  and  barns  floated  in  the 
rushing  waters.  On  one  night  a  house  in  flames  moved 
over  the  waters  amid  logs  and  uprooted  trees,  house- 
hold furniture,  and  drowning  cattle,  reminding  one  of 
the  day  when  "the  heavens  being  on  fire,  shall  be 
dissolved." 

The  waters  began  to  abate  in  June;  and  such  is  the 
surprising  quickness  with  which  vegetation  matures 
five  degrees  of  latitude  north  of  St.  Paul,  that  barley, 
potatoes,  and  wheat  sowed  on  the  twenty-second  of 
June,  came  to  maturity. 

Misled  by  the  florid  representations  of  one  of  Lord 
Selkirk's  agents,  a  number  of  Swiss  arrived  in  the 
colony,  in  1821.  Their  occupations  had  been  mechani- 
cal, chiefly  that  of  clock  making,  and  they  were  not 
adapted  for  the  stern  work  of  founding  a  colony  in  the 
interior  of  the  North  American  continent. 

From  year  to  ye.ar  their  spirits  drooped,  and,  when 
tlie  Switzers'  song  of  home  was  sung,  they  could  not 
keep  back  their  tears. 

After  the  flood,  they  could  no  longer  remain  in  the 
land  of  their  adversity,  and  they  became  the  pioneers 
in  emigration  and  agriculture  in  the  state  of  Minnesota. 


^p 


300 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


At.  one  tiiae  a  party  of  two  hundred  and  forty-three  de- 
parted for  the  United  States,  who  found  homes  at  dif- 
ferent points  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

Before  tue  eastern  wave  of  emigration  had  ascended 
beyond  Prairie  du  Chien,  the  Swiss  had  opened  farms 
on  and  near  St.  Paul,'  and  should  bo  recognised  as  the 
first  actual  settlers  in  the  country. 

The  spring  of  182(3  wa.s  very  cold.  On  the  20th  of 
March,  at  Fort  Snelling,  snow  fell  to  the  depth  of  one 
and  a  half  feet  on  a  level  and  drifted  into  heaps  ten  or 
twelve  feet  in  height.  On  the  5th  of  April,  there 
was  a  violent  snow  storm,  and  on  the  10th  of  April,  the 
thermometer  was  4  degrees  below  zero.     On  the  21st  the 


'  Stevens,  in  an  address  on  the 
early  history  of  Hennepin  county, 
says : — 

"Strange  as  it  may  appear,  the 
immigrants  were  from  the  north,  all 
from  the  Hudson  Bay  Territory, 
from  which  they  had  been  driven  by 
high  water.  This  colony  con'isted 
of  Louis  Massoy,  Mr.  Perry,  Fidirie, 
Garvas,  and  others.  Mo»  of  tSiem 
are  now  citizens  of  different  p.ivtfl  of 
the  territory  and  Wisconein.  They 
settled  near  where  the  St.  Louis 
house  now  stands,  and  in  the  vicinity 
of  Kittson's  and  Baker's  landing. 
Owing  to  the  a-bitrary  and  tyranni- 
cal power  which  then  held  sway  in 
the  territory,  they  were  driven  from 
their  homes  in  1H36  and  '37.  At 
that  time,  and  both  before  and 
since,  the  commanding  officers  at 
the  fort  were  the  lords  of  the  north. 
They  ruled  supreme.  The  citijiens 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  fort 
were  liable  at  any  time  U)  be  thrust 
into   the    guard-house.     While    the 


chief  of  the  fort  was  the  king,  the 
subordinate  oflBcers  were  princes, 
and  persons  have  been  deprived  of 
their  liberty  and  imprisoned  by 
those  tyrants  for  the  most  trivial 
wrong  or  some  imaginary  offence. 
Some  had  their  houses  torn  down ; 
others  were  more  unfortunate,  and 
had  their  buildings  burnt.  To  the 
latter  class  Mr.  Oarvas  belonged. 
Mr.  Perry  was  the  Abraham  of 
Hennepin  county.  He  resided  in 
front  of  the  slaughter-house,  near 
the  landing.  He  pitched  his  teut 
after  being  driven  off  of  his  first 
home  on  the  bank  of  the  brook  be- 
tween the  cave  and  St.  Paul.  H^re 
he  attended  to  his  numerous  flocks 
and  cultivated  a  flicld,  and  I  think 
died  below  St.  Paul,  near  where  the 
large  hotel  was  burnt  a  year  or  two 
since.  He  was  a  Swiss  by  birth. 
At  one  time  he  owned  more  cattle 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  inhubitants 
of  what  is  now  Minnesota,  it'  we  ex- 
cept Mr.  Renville." 


DASTARDLY  ATTACK  OP  DAHK0TAH8. 


891 


ice  moved  at  tlie  Fort,  and  for  several  days  the  river  was 
twenty  feet  above  low  water  mark. 

On  the  2'\  of  May  every  white  person  was  full  of  joy, 
at  the  arrival  of  Captain  Reeder  with  the  steamboat  St. 
Lawrence,  and  he  proposed  the  first  pleasure  trip  in  a 
steamer,  above  the  Fort,  on  the  Mississippi.  The  offi- 
ocrs  and  their  wives,  after  the  long,  cold,  dreary  winter, 
were  glad  to  accept  the  invitation,  and  once  on  board, 
tlipy  made  themselves  merry  with  music  and  dance. 

After  reaching  a  point  within  three  and  a  half  miles 
(if  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  the  Captain  found  the  cur- 
rent so  strong  that  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  return,  being 
entirely  unacquainted  with  the  channel. 

Major  Taliaferro  had  some  slaves  at  the  fort,  whom 
the  Indians  called  "  black  Frenchmen."  On  the  26th 
of  May,  he  writes,  "  Capt.  Plimpton  wishes  to  purchase 
my  servant  girl."  A  few  years  later  that  girl  became 
the  wife  of  the  historic  Dred  Scott,  then  a  servant  of 
Surgeon  Emerson. 

On  May  28,  1827,  the  Ojibway  chief  Flatmouth,  of 
Sandy  Luke,  with  seven  warriors,  and  women  and 
children,  the  whole  piirty  amounting  to  twenty-four, 
arrived  at  Fort  Snelling  in  the  morning  at  day-break 
Walking  to  the  gates  of  the  garrison,  they  asked  the 
protection  of  Colonel  Snelling  and  Taliaferro,  the  In- 
ilian  agent.  They  were  told,  that  as  long  as  they  re- 
mained under  the  United  States  flag,  they  were  secure, 
and  were  ordered  to  encamp  within  musket  shot  of  the 
high  stone  walls  of  the  fort. 

During  the  afternoon  a  Dahkotah,  Toopunkah  Zeze, 
from  a  village  near  the  first  rapids  of  the  Minnesota, 
with  eight  others,  visited  the  Ojibway  camp.  They 
were  cordially  received,  and  a  feast  of  meat,  and  com, 


S92 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


and  sugar,  was  soon  made  ready.  The  wooden  platters 
emptied  of  their  contents,  they  engaged  in  conversation, 
and  whiflFed  the  peace  pipe. 

About  n:^e  o'clock  in  the  evening  they  rose  and  de- 
parted ;  but  as  soon  as  they  were  outside,  turned  and 
discharged  their  guns  with  deadly  aim  upon  their  enter- 
tainers, and  ran  off  with  a  shout  of  sati-ifaction.  The 
report  was  heard  by  the  sentinel  of  the  fort,  and  he 
cried,  repeatedly,  "  Corporal  of  the  guard !"  and  soon  at 
the  gates,  were  the  Ojibways,  with  their  women  and 
the  wounded,  telling  their  tale  of  woe  in  wild  and 
incolierent  language.  Among  others,  was  a  little  girl 
about  seven  years  old,  who  was  pierced  through  both 
thighs  with  a  bullet. 

Flat  Mouth,  the  chief,  reminded  Colonel  Snelling  that 
lie  had  been  attacked  while  under  the  protection  of  the 
United  States  flag,  and  early  the  next  morning,  Captain 
Clark,  with  one  hundred  soldiers,  proceeded  toward 
Land's  End,  a  trading-post  of  the  Columbia  Fur  Com- 
pany, on  the  Mmnesota,  a  mile  above  the  present  resi- 
dence of  Franklin  Steele,  where  the  Dahkotahs  were 
supposed  to  be.  The  soldiers  had  just  left  the  large 
gate  of  the  fort,  when  a  party  of  Dahkotahs,  in  battle 
array,  appeared  on  one  of  the  prairie  hills.  After  some 
parleying  they  turned  their  backs,  ijid  being  pursued, 
thirty-two  were  captured  near  the  trading-post. 

Colonel  Snelling  ordered  the  prisoners  to  be  brought 
before  the  Ojibways,  and  two  being  pointed  out  as  par- 
ticipants in  the  slaughter  of  the  preceding  night,  they 
were  delivered  to  the  aggrieved  party  to  be  dealt  with 
in  accordance  with  their  customs.  They  were  led  out 
to  the  olain  in  front  of  the  gate  of  the  fct,  and  when 
placed  nearly  without  the  range  of  the  Ojibway  guns. 


OJIBWAY  RETALIATION. 


893 


they  were  told  to  run  for  their  lives.  With  the  rapidity 
of  deer  they  bounded  away,  but  the  Ojibway  bullet  flew 
faster,  and  after  a  few  steps,  they  fell  gasping  on  the 
ground,  and  were  soon  lifeless.  Then  the  savage  nature 
displayed  itself  in  all  its  hideousness.  "Women  and 
children  danced  for  joy,  and  placing  their  fingers  in  the 
bullet  holes,  from  ;vhich  the  blood  oozed,  they  licked 
them  with  delight.  The  men  tore  the  scalps  from  the 
dead,  and  seemed  to  luxuriate  in  the  privilege  of  plung- 
ing their  knives  through  the  corpses.  After  the  execu- 
tion, the  Ojibways  returned  to  the  fort,  and  were  met 
by  the  colonel.  He  had  prevented  ell  over  whom  his 
authority  extended  from  witnessing  the  scene,  and  had 
done  his  best  to  confine  the  excitemen*  to  the  Indians. 
The  same  day  a  deputation  of  Dahlcotah  warriors  re- 
ceived audience,  regretting  the  violence  that  had  been 
Jone  by  their  young  men,  and  agreeing  to  deliver  up 
the  ringleaders. 

At  the  time  appointed,  a  son  of  Flat  Mouth,  with 
those  of  the  Ojibway  party  that  were  not  wounded,  es- 
corted by  United  Sates  troops,  marched  forth  to  meet 
the  Dahkotah  deputation,  on  the  prairie  just  beyond 
the  old  residence  of  the  Indian  agent.  With  much 
solemnity  two  more  of  the  guilty  were  handed  over  to 
the  assaulted.  One  was  fearless,  and  with  firmness 
etripppd  himself  of  his  clothing  and  ornaments,  and 
distributed  them.  The  other  could  not  face  death  with 
composure.  He  was  noted  for  a  hideous  hare-lip,  and 
had  a  bad  reputation  among  his  fellows.  In  the  spii'it 
of  a  coward  he  prayed  for  life,  to  the  mortification  of 
his  tribe.  The  same  opportunity  Avas  pi'esented  to 
thorn  as  to  the  first,  of  running  for  their  lives.  At  the 
first  fire  the  coward  fell  o  corpse ;  but  his  brave  com- 


894 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


panion,  though  wounded,  ran  on,  and  had  nearly  reached 
the  goal  of  safety,  when  a  second  bullet  killed  him. 
The  body  of  the  coward  now  became  a  common  object 
of  loathing  foi  both  Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways. 

Colonel  Snelling  told  the  Qjibways  that  the  bodies 
must  be  removed,  and  then  they  took  the  scalped  Dat 
kotahs,  and  dragging  them  by  the  heels,  threw  them  oif 
the  bluff,  into  the  river  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  beneath. 
The  dreadful  scene  was  now  over ;  and  a  detachment 
of  troops  was  sent  with  the  old  chief  Flat  Mouth,  to 
escort  him  out  of  the  reach  of  Dahkotah  vengeance. 

In  the  fall  of  1826,  all  the  troops  at  Prairie  du  Chien 
had  beon  removed  to  Fort  Snelling,  the  commander 
taking  with  him  two  Winnebagoes  that  had  been  con- 
fined in  Fort  Crawford.  After  the  soldiers  left  the 
Prairie,  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity  were  quite  insolent. 
Ab/out  this  period  a  bois  brul^  from  Red  river,  named 
Methode,  came  to  the  Prairie  to  reside.  In  the  month 
of  March,  1827,  he  went  to  Painted  Rock  creek,  a  lew- 
miles  above  on  the  Iowa  side,  accompanied  by  his  family, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  maple  sugar.  He  not  re- 
turning as  soon  as  was  expected,  search  was  instituted 
by  his  friends,  when  they  found  him,  his  children,  and 
his  wife  with  an  unborn  infant,  nearly  burned  to  cin- 
ders in  their  camp — ^^the  work  of  hostile  savages. 

At  the  time  of  the  shooting  of  the  Dahkotahs  at  Fort 
Snelling,  Red  Bird,  a  distinguished  Winnebago  chief, 
whose  residence  was  often  on  Black  river,  Wisconsin, 
was  on  a  war  party  against  the  Ojibways,  in  which  he 
was  unsuccessful.  In  some  way  the  Winnebagoes  gained 
the  impression  that  two  of  their  own  numbei  who  were 
confined  at  Fort  Snelling,  had  been  delivered  to  the 


m 


•wrj'.'^'.'w^'w ' ' 


i 


""wm^mnpMfflHiipwpiiipviP^iiip^ 


RED  BIRDS  VIOLENCE  AT  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN. 


39{> 


Ojibways  and  scalped ;  and  from  that  hour  they  becamt 
hostile  to  the  whites. 

On  the  26th  of  June,  1827,  Red  AM,  with  two  other 
Indians,  entered  the  dwelling  of  a  trader  at  Prairie  du 
Chien  by  the  name  of  Lock  wood,  who  was  absent,  and 
loading  their  guns  in  the  kitchen,  proceeded  to  the  bed- 
room of  his  wife.  On  their  entrance,  she  crossed  the 
hall  into  the  store,  where  she  found  Duncan  Graham,  a 
man  of  influence  with  the  Indians,  who  induced  them 
to  leave.  Thirsting  for  blood,  they  proceeded  in  an 
easterly  direction  to  a  place  called  McNair's  Coulee, 
where  there  was  an  isolated  log  cabin,  in  which  dwelt  a 
man  of  mulatto  and  French  extraction,  named  Gagnier. 
As  Red  Bird  and  his  companions  entered,  Gagnier  was 
sitting  on  a  chest,  and  near  the  window ;  his  wife,  of 
French  and  Dahkotah  extraction,  was  washing;  whilo^ 
on  the  bed  lay  an  infant  sleeping.  In  the  cabin  there 
was  also  a  discharged  soldier. 

Treated  with  civility,  they  were  asked  if  they  would 
have  something  to  eat.  While  the  wife  was  procuring 
.\;i'reshments,  she  heard  the  click  caused  by  the  cocking 
ij\  Red  Bird's  rifle,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  there 
was  a  discharge  and  her  husband  was  dead.  One  of 
the  other  two  Indians  shot  the  soldier,  and  the  third, 
named  Wekaw,  had  his  rifle  wrested  from  him  by  the 
desperate  wife.  Unable  to  cope  with  three  furious 
savages,  she  ran  to  the  village  and  gave  the  alarm. 
Returning  with  a  company  of  armed  men,  she  found 
her  infant  with  its  head  scalped,  and  neck  cut,  in  the 
bed  and  still  alive.  Recovering  from  these  wounds, 
the  daughter  still  lives,  and  is  now  a  grandmother. 

A  little  while  before  this  murderous  assault  two  keel- 
boats  had  pjissed  Prairie  du  Chien,  on  their  way  to  Fort 


IIPppP9!i<P 


"<I»TWPI7>WT1»P!^™™ 


illi'W     «"J^W'i"i'JI 


396 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Snelling  with  provisions.  When  they  reached  Wapashaw 
village,  on  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Winona,  they 
were  ordered  to  come  ashore  by  the  Dahkotahs.  Com- 
plyir.  v^py  found  themselves  surrounded  by  Indians, 
with  ho  .  'atentions.  The  boatmen  had  no  fire-arms, 
but  assumi  j  a  bold  mien,  and  a  defiant  voice,  the  cap- 
tain of  the  keel-boats  ordered  the  savages  to  leave  the 
decks,  which  was  successful.  The  boats  pushed  on,  and 
at  Red  Wing  and  Kaposia  the  Indians  showed  that  they 
were  not  friendly,  though  they  did  not  molest  the  boats. 
Before  they  started  on  their  return  from  Fort  Snelling, 
the  men  on  board,  amounting  to  thirty- two,  were  all 
provided  with  muskets,  and  a  barrel  of  ball  cartridges. 
When  the  descending  keel-boats  passed  Wapashaw, 
the  Dahkotahs  were  engaged  in  the  war  dance,  and 
menaced  them  but  made  no  attack.  Below  this  point 
one  of  the  boats  moved  in  advance  of  the  other,  and 
when  near  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  the  half-breeds 
on  board  descried  hostile  Indians  on  the  banks.  As 
the  channel  neared  the  shore  the  sixteen  men  on  the; 
first  boat  were  greeted  with  the  war  whoop,  and  a  vol- 
ley of  ritle  balls  from  the  excited  Winnebagoes,  killing 
two  of  the  crew.  Rushing  into  their  canoes,  the 
Indians  made  the  attempt  to  board  the  boat,  and  two 
were  successful.  One  of  these  stationed  himself  at  the 
bow  of  the  boat,  and  fired  with  killing  effect  on  the  men 
below  deck.  An  old  sailor  of  the  last  war  with  Great 
Britain,  called  Saucy  Jack,  at  last  despatched  him,  and 
began  to  rally  the  fainting  spirits  on  board.  During  the 
fight  the  boat  had  stuck  on  a  sand-bar.  With  four 
companions,  amid  a  shower  of  balls  from  the  savages. 
he  plunged  into  the  water  and  pushed  off  the  boat,  and 
thus  moved  out  of  reach  of  the  galling  shots  of  the 


ATTACK  ON  KEEL-BOATS. 


397 


Winnebagoes.  As  they  floated  down  the  river  during 
the  night,  they  heard  a  wail  in  a  canoe  behind  them, 
the  voice  of  a  father  mourning  the  death  of  the  son, 
who  had  scaled  the  deck,  and  was  now  a  corpse  in  pos- 
session of  the  white  men.  The  rear  boat  passed  the  Bad 
Axe  river  late  in  the  night,  and  escaped  an  attack. 

It  was  the  day  after  the  murder  of  Gagnier  and  Lip-' 
cap,  the  soldier,  that  the  first  keel-boat  arrived  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  with  two  of  their  crew  dead,  four 
wounded,  and  the  Indian  that  had  been  killed  on  the 
boat.  The  two  dead  men  had  been  residents  of  the 
Prairie,  and  now  the  panic  was  increased.  On  the 
morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  June  the  second  keel- 
boat  appeared,  and  among  her  passengers  was  Joseph 
Snelling,  a  talented  son  of  the  colonel,  who  wrote  a 
«tory  of  deep  interest,  based  on  the  facts  narrated. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  it  was  resolved  to  repair 
old  Fort  Crawford,  and  Thomas  McNair  was  appointed 
captain.  Dirt  was  thrown  around  the  bottom  logs  of 
the  fortification  to  prevent  its  being  fired,  and  young 
Snelling  was  put  in  command  of  one  of  the  block- 
houses. On  the  next  day  a  voyageur  named  Loyer,  and 
the  well  known  trader  Duncan  Graham,  started  through 
the  interior,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  with  intelligence 
of  the  murders,  to  Fort  Snelling.  A  company  of 
volunteers  soon  arrived  from  Galena,  and  a  few  days 
after  four  companies  of  the  fifth  regiment  from  Fort 
Snelling,  with  Colonel  Snelling  in  command.  The  citi- 
zens had  seized  De-kau-ray,  a  Winnebago  chief,  and  re- 
rained  him  as  a  hostage. 

Governor  Cass,  at  the  time  of  these  occurrences,  was 
at  Butte  des  Morts,  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  a 
treaty,  and,  proceeding  immediately  to  Jefferson  Bar- 


■"iPii 


«98 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


racks,  a  large  body  of  troops,  under  General  Atkinson, 
were  soon  on  their  way  to  the  scene  of  excitement.  A 
detachment  from  Green  Bay,  under  Major  Whistler, 
also  moved  up  to  the  portage  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin 
rivers.  The  Winnebagoes  were  not  prepared  to  engage 
in  war  with  the  United  States,  and  it  was  decided  in 
council  that  Red  Bird  and  We-Kaw  should  surrender 
themselves  to  Major  Whistler. 

Colonel  McKinney  describes  the  scene  in  this  lan- 
guage:  "  On  the  right  was  the  band  of  music,  a  little  in 
advance  of  the  line.  In  front  of  the  centre,  about  ten 
paces  distant,  were  the  murderers.  *  *  *  *  ^\ 
€yes  were  fixed  on  Red  Bird,  and  well  they  might  be, 
for  of  all  the  Indians  I  ever  saw,  he  is,  without  excep- 
tion, the  most  perfect  in  form,  in  face,  and  gesture.  In 
height  he  is  above  six  feet;  straight,  but  without  re- 
straint. His  proportions  are  of  the  most  exact  sym- 
metry ;  his  very  fingers  are  models  of  beauty.  I  never 
beheld  a  face  that  was  so  full  of  all  the  ennobling,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  most  winning  expression. 

"  During  my  attempted  analysis  of  his  face,  I  could 
not  but  ask  myself,  Can  this  man  be  a  murderer  ?  Is  he 
the  same  who  shot,  scalped,  and  cut  the  throat  of 
Gagnier  ?  There  was  no  ornamenting  of  the  hair  after 
the  Indian  fashion,  but  it  was  cut  after  the  civilized 
manner.  His  face  was  painted ;  one  side  red,  the  other 
intermixed  with  green  and  white.  Around  his  neck  he 
wore  a  collar  of  blue  wampum,  beautifully  mixed  with 
white,  which  was  sewed  to  a  piece  of  cloth,  the  width 
of  the  wampum  being  about  two  inches, — while  the 
claws  of  the  wild-cat,  distant  from  each  other  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch,  with  their  points  inward,  formed 
the  rim  of  the  collar.     He  was  clothed  in  a  Yankton 


IMPRISONBiENT  AND  DEATH  OF  RED  BIRD. 


899 


dress,  new  and  beautiful.  The  material  is  of  dressed 
elk  or  deer  skin,  almost  a  pure  white.  ***** 
Across  his  breast,  in  a  diagonal  position,  and  bound 
tight  to  it,  was  his  war  pipe,  brightly  ornamented  with 
dyed  horse-hair,  the  feathers  and  bills  of  birds.  In  one 
of  his  hands  Le  held  the  white  flag,  in  the  other  the 
calumet  of  peace.  There  he  stood.  Not  a  muscle 
moved,  nor  was  the  expression  of  his  face  changed  a 
particle.  He  and  We-Kaw  were  told  to  sit  down.  His 
motions  as  he  seated  himself  were  no  less  graceful  and 
captivating,  than  when  he  stood  or  walked.  At  this 
moment  the  band  struck  up  Pleyel's  Hymn.  Every- 
thing was  still.  It  was  a  moment  of  intense  interest  to 
all." 

The  ceremony  of  surrender  now  took  place.  The 
Winnebagoes  asked  kind  treatment  of  the  prisoners,  and 
begged  that  they  might  not  be  ironed.  Mejor  Whistler 
said  in  reply  that  he  would  treat  them  with  considerar 
tion,  and  Red  Bird  standing  up  said :  "  I  am  ready," 
and  was  immediately  marched  oflF  with  his  accomplice 
to  a  tent  in  the  rear  and  placed  under  guard. 

The  prisoners  having  been  handed  over  to  General 
Atkinson,  who  had  arrived,  were  conveyed  to  Prairie 
du  Chien,  and  delivered  to  the  civil  authorities.  There 
they  were  chained  and  placed  in  close  confinement,  which 
so  chafed  the  proud  spirit  of  Red  Bird,  that  he  soon 
diooped,  and  at  last  died  with  a  broken  heart. 

In  September,  1829,  Rev.  A.  Coe  and  J.  D.  Stevens 
arrived  at  Fort  Snelling.  Agent  Taliaferro  treated 
them  kindly,  and  offered  the  old  mill  and  buildings  at 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  for  a  Presbyterian  mission 
school .  for  the  Dahkotahs,  as  well  as  the  Indian  farm 
opened  at  Lake  Calhoun,  and  called  Eatonville. 


400 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

In  the  year  1 830,  steps  were  taken  for  another  con- 
gress of  tribes  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  A  few  weeks  pre- 
vious to  the  convocation,  a  party  of  Dahkotahs  and 
Menomonees  surprised  a  band  of  Foxes,  who  were  eat- 
ing their  dinner  on  an  island  in  the  Mississippi,  a  short 
distance  below  the  Wisconsin,  and  killed  eight  of  their 
chief  men.  On  this  account  the  Fox  tribe  refused  to 
be  present  at  the  council  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  The 
M'dewakantonwan  Dahkotahs,  in  a  treaty  made  on  this 
occasion,  bestowed  on  their  relatives  of  mixed  blood  that 
tract  about  Lake  Pepin  known  as  the  half-breed  tract.' 

During  this  year  another  attempt  was  made  to  erect 
a  mill  on  the  Chippeway  river,  Wisconsin,  In  the 
month  of  May,  workmen  proceeded  to  the  old  site  on 
the  Menomonee.  Three  or  four  Ojibways  arrived  one 
night  and  told  them  if  they  did  not  leave  they  would 
kill  them.  The  superintendent  (Armstrong)  was  so 
much  alarmed  that  he  took  a  canoe  and  floated  down 


*  The  tract  is  described  in  said 
treaty  as  follows:  "Beginning  at  a 
place  called  the  Barn,  below  and 
near  the  village  of  the  Red  Wing 
Chief,  and  running  back  fifteen 
miles,  thence  in  a  parallel  line  with 


Lake  Pepin  and  the  Mississippi, 
about  thirty-two  miles  to  a  point 
opposite  Beef  or  O'Beuf  river,  thence 
fifteen  miles,  to  the  Grand  Encamp- 
ment, opposite  the  river  aforesaid." 


HOLMES  BUILDS  A  SAV-MILL. 


401 


the  river  the  same  evening,  and  the  workmen  followed 
the  next  day. 

In  August,  one  of  the  proprietors  at  Prairie  du  Chien 
started  with  other  workmen ;  among  others,  a  discharged 
soldier  by  the  name  of  Holmes,'  under  whose  supervi- 
sion the  mill  was  at  last  constructed ;  and,  by  the  sum- 
mor  of  the  next  year,  had  sawed  about  one  himdred 
thousand  feet  of  lumber. 

After  the  unprovoked  attack  on  the  part  of  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  which  has  been  related,  a  continual  border  war- 
fare prevailed  between  them  and  the  Ojibways  until 
1831.  War  parties  of  the  latter,  descending  the  Chip- 
peway  river,  constantly  lurked  around  the  shores  of 
Lake  Pepin,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  Dahkotah  scalps, 
and  endangered  the  lives  of  white  men  ascending  or  de- 
scending the  Mississippi. 

During  the  month  of  April,  1831,  the  authorities  at 
Washington  instructed  H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Indian  agent 
at  Sault  St.  Marie,  to  proceed  to  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
and  use  his  influence  to  make  peace  between  the  Dah- 
kotahs  and  Ojibways.  The  expedition  was  composed 
of  twenty-seven  men,  beside  a  few  soldiers  under  Lieu- 
tenant Clary. 

Ascending  the  Mushkeg  river,  which  enters  Lake 
Superior  below  Bayfield,  they  passed  Lake  Kagino,  and 
a  chain  of  small  lakes,  until  they  came  to  the  Name- 
kagon,  a  tributai'y  of  the  St.  Croix.  Descending  this 
stream  to  Lake  Pukwaewa,  they  found  a  village  of 
fifty-three  persons  under  Odabossa.  At  this  point  the 
expedition  divided,  a  part  going  to  Ottawa  Lake  by  a 
direct  route,  and  a  portion  accompanying  Mr.  School- 


'  'Ibis  gentleman  has  since  become  an  active  pioneer  in  Minnesota 
26 


402 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


craft  down  the  Namekagou  to  its  junction  with  the  St 
Croix,  and  down  that  stream  to  a  trading  post  at  Yellow 
river.  On  the  first  of  August,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  held  a 
council  with  the  Qjibways  at  this  point. 

The  Indians,  through  one  of  their  speakers,  referred 
to  an  attack  that  had  been  made  the  previous  year  by 
the  Dahkotahs,  on  a  band  of  Ojibways  and  bois  bruits, 
in  which  four  of  their  friends  had  been  killed,  and  that 
the  Ojibways  had  not  been  in  the  habit  of  crossing  the 
boundary  line  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of  Prairie  du 
Chien. 

At  the  solicitation  of  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  Kabamappa, 
and  Shakoba  (the  war  chief  of  Snake  river),  consented 
to  bear  wampum  and  tobacco  to  the  Dahkotah  chiefs 
at  Kaposia  and  Wapashaw  village,  and  invite  them  to 
renew  the  league  of  friendship. 

On  the  fifth  of  August,  the  two  detachments  of  the 
expedition  were  re-united  at  Ottawa  Lake,  when  an- 
other council  was  held  at  the  trading-post  with  the 
Indians. 

At  Lake  Chetac,  they  found  the  trading-house  burned, 
and  village  deserted;  and  while  breakfasting  on  the 
shores  of  a  little  lake  below  this,  eight  canoes  filled 
with  a  returning  war  party  floated  into  the  lake.  The) 
were  young  braves  from  Ottawa  Lake,  and  had  been  in 
pursuit  of  Dalikotahs  near  the  mill  which  had  recently 
been  erected.  On  the  seventh  of  August,  the  expedi- 
tion arrived  at  Rice  Lake,  the  residence  of  a  band  ol' 
warlike  Ojibways,  much  exposed  to  the  Dahkotahs 
because  they  were  on  the  verge  of  thie  Dahkotah  pos- 
sessions. 

The  young  chief  Neenaba  claimed  that  the  saw-miMs 
just  erected  on  the  Red  Cedar  branch  of  the  Chippewa}' 


NEENABA'S  SPEECH. 


408 


were  on  their  lands,  though  the  Dahkotaha  had  granted 
permission,  for  a  certain  consideration,  to  the  owners. 

At  the  request  to  drop  his  war  club,  he  was  confused, 
and  would  not  receive  the  proffered  presents  of  a  medal 
and  flag  until  he  was  pressed  by  his  young  warriors. 
On  the  next  day  he  came,  followed  by  his  braves,  with 
the  flag  on  one  arm  and  the  war  club  in  the  other  hand, 
and  stated  that  while  he  accepted  the  one,  he  did  not 
drop  the  other.  "He  had  reflected  upon  the  advice 
sent  by  the  President,  and  particularly  that  part  of  it 
which  counselled  them  to  sit  still  upon  their  lands,  but 
while  they  sat  still,  they  wished  also  to  be  certain  that 
their  enemies  would  sit  still." 

After  this  interview,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  visited  the  mills 
on  the  Red  Cedar  river,  which  were  then  in  charge  of 
Mr.  Wallace. 

In  1832,  instructions  were  again  issued,  ordering  Mr. 
Schoolcraft  to  visit  the  tribes  toward  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi.  Attached  to  the  expedition,  was  the  late 
Dr.  Douglass  Houghton,  as  botanist,  geologist,  and  sur- 
geon, and  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Boutwell,  now  of  Washing- 
ton county,  who  was  appointed  by  the  American  Board 
-of  Commissioners  of  Foi'eign  Missions,  to  explore  the 
field,  to  observe  the  condition  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
practicability  of  establishing  mission  stations.  The 
military  escort  was  in  command  of  Lieutenant  James 
Allen. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-third  of  June,  the 
Fond  du  Lac  trading-house  on  the  St.  Louis  river, 
about  twenty  miles  from  the  mouth,  was  reached.  This 
was  formerly  the  head-quarters  of  the  fur  trade  west 
of  Lake  Superior ;  but  the  American  Fur  Company  re- 
moved their  dep6t  to  Sandy  Lake,  because  of  its  more 


404 


IlISTOrr  OF  MINNESOTA. 


central  situation.  Th  s  department  of  the  Indi  in  tiuJe, 
included  the  post.i  at  Fond  du  Ltvc,  Grand  Portage, 
Rainy  Lake,  Vemiillion  Lake,  Red  Lake,  Pembina,  Red 
Cedar,  Leech,  and  Sandy  Lakes.  The  value  of  furs 
from  all  these  posts  in  1832,  was  about  twenty-live 
thousand  dollars. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  June,  the  party  were  at  La 
Pointe.  The  chief  trader  of  the  place,  was  the  father 
of  the  late  Mr.  Warren,  who  had  thirty  or  forty  acres 
under  cultivation.  Among  other  residents,  was  the 
father  of  his  wife,  Cadotte,  an  old  French  trader,  and 
the  Rev.  Sherman  Hall,  for  some  time  beceasebthen  a 
missionary  among  the  Ojibways.  His  child  was  said  to 
ha',  e  been  the  first  child  of  pure  European  parents  born 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  the  first  portage  on  the 
St.  Louis  river  was  made.  The  entire  length  of  it  is 
nine  miles,  and  it  was  necessary  to  commence  carrying 
the  baggage  and  provisions  up  a  very  steep  bluff;  wliile 
the  experienced-  voyageurs  ascended  with  ease,  bearing 
a  bag  of  flour  and  a  keg  of  pork,  the  raw  recruits  of 
the  expedition  had  stumbling  work. 

On  the  twenty-sixth,  in  the  midst  of  a  drenching 
rain,  the  men  with  heavy  loads  on  their  backs,  waded 
through  mud  and  water.  Some  Indian  women  who 
were  assisting  in  the  portage,  carried  at  once  a  bag  of 
flour,  a  trunk,  and  soldier's  knapsack,  surmounted  by  a 
nursing  infant  in  an  Indian  cradle.'  About  noon  of  the 
next  day  the  end  of  the  difficult  portage  was  reached. 


'  "When  we  stopped  iit  night  my  were  disabled,  and  all  of  them  were 

men,  and  even  the  Canndian.s,  wei-e  galled  in  the  back   by  th<»  kegs  in 

literally   fagged   out.     Two  of   the  siieii  a  degree  as  to  make  their  Iop'" 

soldiers  had  snagged  their  feet,  and  very  painful.     It  requires  an  exp"^ 


ENDURANCE  ANU  STKKNGfH  OF  SQUAWS. 


4M 


Heavy  rains  fell  on  the  first  and  second  of  July,  and 
in  reaching  the  portage  of  the  Savannah,  some  lost 
their  moccasins,  and  some  a  leg  of  their  pantaloons, 
and  all  were  covered  with  mud  to  their  waists,  so  that 
they  were  perfect  "  sans  culottes"  when  they  camped  at 
the  end  of  the  carrying  place. 

On  the  afternoon  of  July  third,  reached  the  trad- 
ing-post of  Mr.  Aitkin  at  Sandy  Lake,  where  they 
were  welcomed  by  the  discharge  of  musk*  i,  and  tlie 
hoisting  of  the  American  Hag.  On  the  ninth,  the  ex- 
peditioii  was  at  Lake  Winnibigoshish,  and  found  a 
trading-post  in  the  charge  of  Mr.  Belanger,  mode  of 
logs,  with  windows  of  deer  skin,  surrounded  by  a  little 
garden,  in  which  were  growing  tobacco,  corn,  peas,  and 
potatoes.  On  the  tenth  they  entered  Cass  Lake,  which 
Mr.  Schoolcraft  visited  in  company  with  the  present 
secretary  of  state  in  1820.  Here  were  several  fine 
corn  fields,  which  had  been  cultivated  by  Indian  women. 
In  one  of  the  lodges  were  three  Dahkotah  scalps,  one  of 
which  had  been  lately  taken  by  the  Leech  Lake  Band. 
Flat  Mouth  and  one  hundred  warriors  had  gone  fortli 
to  chastise  the  Dahkotahs  for  encroaching  on  his  huntr 
iiig  grounds,  and  meeting  a  party  of  the  enemy  had 
killed  three  and  wounded  others.     In  the  afii-ay  a  Cass 


vi'Mice  of  years  to  habituate  men  to 
currying  in  this  way,  ftnd  the  life 
uikI  habita  of  soldiers  by  no  means 
tit  them  for  such  labour.  I  had 
fiiur  or  five  Indian  women,  and  as 
niiiny  Indian  men  carrj'ing  for  me, 
aixl  without  these  I  could  not  have 
"Kule  half  the  distance.  The  Indian 
women  carry  better  than  the  men, 
being  less  indolent  and  more  accus- 


tomed to  it.  I  saw  a  small  young 
Indian  woman  at  the  close  of  the 
day,  carry  a  keg  of  one  thousand 
musket  ball  cartridges,  for  a  distance 
of  one  mile  without  resting,  and 
most  of  the  distance  through  swnmp 
that  was  frequently  over  her  knees, 
and  this  too,  after  liaving  caniuii 
heavy  loads  all  day." — Lt.  Allen's 
Journal. 


'06 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Lake  Ojibway  was  killed,  and  when  night  came  tht-re 
waa  a  grand  scalp  dance,  which  an  eye-witness  has  de- 
scribed : — 

"  Before  I  had  returned  to  our  lent,  which  is  pitched 
but  a  few  yards  from  two  gravcR,  the  greater  part  of 
the  Indians  had  here  collected,  and  begun  the  scalp 
dance.  It  was  led  by  three  squaws,  each  bearing  in 
her  hand  one  of  the  recent  scalps.  Two  or  three  men 
sat  beating  drums  aiiJ  singing,  while  old  and  young,, 
male  and  female,  all  joined  in  the  song.  Occasionally 
all  would  become  so  animated  that  there  would  be  one 
general  hop,  and  all  at  the  same  time,  throwing  their 
heads  back,  would  raise  a  most  horrid  yell,  clapping 
the  mouth  with  the  hand,  to  render  it,  if  possible,  more 
terrific.  Here  were  seen  little  boys  and  girls,  not  six 
years  old,  all  looking  on  with  the  most  intense  interest, 
imitating  their  fathers  and  mothers,  and  participating 
in  their  brutal  joy.  Thus  early  do  they  learn,  by  pre- 
cept and  example,  to  imbibe  the  spirit  of  revenge  and 
war,  which  is  fostered  in  their  bosoms,  and  in  after  life 
stimulates  them  to  go  and  perform  some  deod  of  daring 
and  blood,  which  shall  gain  for  themselves  the  like  ap- 
plause. 

"A  circumstance  which  rendered  the  scene  not  a 
little  appalling,  is,  it  was  performed  around  the  graves 
of  the  dead.  At  the  head  of  those  graves  hangs  an  old 
scalp,  some  ten  feet  above  the  ground,  which  the  winds 
have  almost  divested  of  its  ornaments  and  its  hair. 
The  grass  and  the  turf  for  several  yards  around,  are 
literally  destroyed,  and,  I  piosume,  by  their  frequent 
dancing.  One  of  the  scalps  I  examined.  The  flesh 
side  had  apparently  been  smoked  and  rubbed  with  some 
material  till  it  was  pliant,  after  which  it  waa  painted 


ALLEN'S  FIRST  MAP  OF  ITASCA  LAKE. 


407 


with  Vermillion.  A  piece  of  wood  is  turned  in  the  form 
of  a  horse-shoe,  into  which  the  scalp  is  sewed,  the 
threads  passing  round  the  wood,  which  keeps  it  tight. 
Narrow  pieces  of  cloth  and  ribands  of  various  colours, 
attached  to  the  bow,  were  ornamented  with  beads  and 
feathers.  A  small  stick,  which  serves  for  a  handle  to 
shake  it  in  the  air  when  they  dance,  was  attached  to 
the  top  of  the  bow  by  a  string.  While  examining  it,  a 
lock  of  hair  fell  from  it,  which  the  Indian  ga\  e  me,  and 
which  I  still  preserve.'" 

At  two  P.  M.,  on  July  thirteenth,  they  t-eached  Elk 
Tiake,  named  Itasca  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft.*  With  the  ex- 
ception of  traders,  no  white  men  had  ever  traced  the 
Mississippi  so  far.  The  lake  is  about  eight  miles  in 
length,  and  was  called  Elk  by  the  Ojibways,  because 
of  its  irregularities,  resembling  the  horns  of  that  ani- 
mal. Lieutenant  Allen,  the  commander  of  the  mili- 
tary detachment,  who  made  the  first  map  of  this  lake, 
thus  speaks : — 

"From  these  hills,  which  were  seldom  more  than 
two  or  three  hundred  feet  high,  we  came  suddenly  down 
to  the  lake,  and  passed  nearly  through  it  to  an  'sland 
near  its  west  end,  where  we  remained  one  or  two  hours. 
We  were  sure  that  we  had  reached  the  tr'e  source  of 
the  great  river,  and  a  feeling  of  great  satisfaction  was 
manifested  by  all  the  party.  Mr.  Schoolcraft  hoisted  a 
Hag  on  a  high  staff  on  the  island,  and  left  it  flying. 
The  lake  is  about  seven  miles  long,  and  from  one  to 
tliioe  broad,  but  is  of  an  irregular  shape,  conforming  to 

'  Boiitwell.  Hjlliible  of  the  first  and  the  final  syl- 

-  Tr  iH  HSFierted  that  this  is  a  name  lable  of  the  l-wt  word,  Rosea  is  oh- 

made  up  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft  from  tained ;    but    Mrs.   Eastman    says, 

two  Latin  words,  Veritas  caput.     It  that  it  is  the  name  of  on  Indian 

is  true    that  by  dropping  tiie  first  maiden. 


^mmm^mmim 


^^^^^^f^ 


mr 


108 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  bases  of  pine  hills  which,  for  a  great  part  of  its  cir^ 
cumference,  rise  abruptly  from  its  shore.  It  is  deep, 
cold,  and  very  clear,  and  seemed  to  be  well  stocked 
with  fish.  Its  shores  show  some  boulders  of  primitive 
rock,  but  no  rock  in  place.  The  island,  the  only  one 
of  the  lake,  and  which  I  have  called  Schoolcraft  Island, 
is  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long,  fifty  yards  broad 
in  the  highest  part,  elevated  twenty  or  thirty  feet,  over- 
grown with  elm,  pine,  spruce,  and  wild  cherry.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  tJie  true  source  and  formtain 
of  the  longest  and  largest  branch  of  the  Mississippi." 

Soon  after  sunrise,  on  the  next  day,  the  expedition 
turned  the  bows  of  their  canoes  towards  the  region  of 
civilization.  In  a  little  while  the  canoes  were  whirling 
amid  splashing  rapids,  and  Allen's  capsized.  Kegs  of 
pork,  loaves  of  bread,  notes  of  travel,  compass,  and 
apparatus,  were  soon  swept  out  of  sight.  When  the 
canoe-men  are  experienced,  there  is  a  pleasurable  ex- 
citement attending  the  descent  of  such  rapids. 

On  the  afternoon  of  this  day  they  passed  the  Dahko- 
tah  embankments,  which  are  holes  in  the  earth,  where 
a  war  party  lay  in  wait  for  Ojibways  descending  the 
rapido,  to  which  allusion  has  been  made  in  a  previ.vus 
chapter.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night  Leech  Lake  was 
reached.  In  the  morning  they  were  welcomed  by  a 
salute  from  the  Indians.  The  chief  of  the  band  was 
Aishkebuggekozh,  or  Flat  Month,  whose  party  suflFered 
the  dastardly  assault  at  Fort  Snelling  in  1827.  He 
occupied  a  log-cabin,  twenty  l)y  twenty-i:ve  feet,  which 
had  been  presented  to  him  by  a  trader.  He  possessed 
cups,  saucers,  knives,  and  forks  of  European  manufac- 
ture. At  one  end  of  the  eating-hall  were  hung  his  tlags, 
medals,  gun,  and  scalping  knife.     Bare-legged  and  with 


BODTWELL'S  GRAPHIC  DESCRIPTION. 


♦09 


bare  feet,  the  old  chief  received  hie  visiters  with  dignity, 
lie  was  surrounded  by  about  forty  warriors,  with  stand- 
ing feathers  around  their  head,  and  fox  tails  around 
their  heels.  The  whole  band  consisted  at  that  time  of 
over  seven  iiundred  men,  women  and  children,  and  many 
were  vaccinated  by  Dr.  Houghton. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  July,  it  being  Sunday,  the 
party  remained  at  Baker's  trading-post,  about  fifteen 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Crow  Wing,  and  here 
they  learned  from  a  small  newspaper,  which  here 
reached  them,  concerning  the  Black  Hawk  difficulties 
in  Wisconsin.  At  eight,  or  Monday  morning,  they 
arrived  at  Little  Falls.  Says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell, 
in  his  journal : — 

"  At  eight  we  reached  the  Little  Falls.  Instead  of 
making  a  short  portage  here,  as  is  usual.  water  being 
sufficiently  high  to  clear  the  canoe  from  sto  es,  we  onl^ 
put  into  the  current  and  let  her  drive.  The  streai),  i.s 
full  of  small  islands,  many  of  which  are  covered  with  ;t 
beautiful  growth  of  elm,  maple,  butternut,  and  white 
walnut.  The  country  here  is  prairie,  extending  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  reach,  with  here  and  there  a  clump 
of  oaks,  which  at  a  distance  looks  like  some  old  New 
FiUgland  orchard.  It  w  the  '^  oat  interesting  and  inviting 
tract  of  country  I  have  ever  .seen.  If  there  is  anything 
that  can  meet  the  wishes,  and  Jill  the  soul  of  man  with 
gratitude,  it  is  found  here.  What  would  require  the 
labour  of  years,  in  preparing  the  land  for  cultivation  in 
many  of  the  old  states,  is  here  all  prepared  to  the  hand. 
As  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  is  one  continued  field  of 
grass  and  flowers,  waving  in  the  passing  breeze,  exhibits 
ing  the  appearance  of  a  country  which  has  been  culti- 
vated for  centuries,  but  now  deserted  of  its  inhabitants. 


'ssmmmmmmmmsm 


4iU 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


The  gentle  swells,  which  are  seen  here  and  there,  give 
a  pleasing  variety.  The  soil  is  apparently  easy  of  cul- 
tivation,— a  black  earth  and  a  mixture  of  black  sand. 
Nothing  can  be  more  picturesque  or  grand,  than  the 
high  banks  at  a  distance,  rising  before  you  as  you  de- 
scend. The  islands,  in  the  stream,  are  most  of  them 
alluvial,  a  soil  of  the  richest  quality. 

"  We  have  marched  thirteen  hours  and  a  half  to-day, 
at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  per  hour,  and  are  encamped  this 
evening  in  the  dominions  of  the  Sioux,  though  we  have 
as  yet  seen  none. 

'*  Embarked  at  five  next  morning,  and  marched  till 
twelve,  when  we  reached  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  nine 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's.  Our  govern- 
ment have  here  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  also  have  a  large  farm. 
The  soldiers  are  here  cutting  the  hay.  For  beauty,  the 
country  around  exceeds  all  that  I  can  say.  T'hese  falls 
are  an  interesting  object  to  look  at,  but  there  is  nothing 
about  them  that  fills  one  with  awe,  as  do  the  Falls  of 
Niagara.  The  stream  is  divided  in  about  its  centre  by 
a  bluff"  of  rocks  i  overeti  with  a  few  trees.  The  perpen- 
dicular fall  is  perhaps  twenty  feet  on  each  side  of  thit* 
bluff",  at  the  foot  of  which  there  is  a  shoot  of  some  ten 
or  fifteen  feet  more  in  a  descent. 

"  A  short  portage  was  made  around  the  falls,  when 
we  again  emoarked  in  the  rapids,  and  in  about  an  hour 
reached  Fort  Snelling.  This  post  is  located  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  St.  Peter's  with  tlie  M'ssissippi.  It  stands 
on  a  high  bluflf,  rising  on  the  north,  nearly  three  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  water.  Tho  vails  of  the  fort,  and 
of  most  of  the  buildings,  are  of  <tone.  The  tower  com- 
mands an  extensive  and  beautiful  view  of  the  adjacent 


EXPEDITION  ARRIVES  AT  FORT  SNELLINQ. 


411 


■  them 


country,  and  of  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Peter's  rivers. 
Tlie  officers  visited  us  at  our  tents,  invited  us  to  their 
quarters,  and  treated  us  with  much  kindness  and 
attention. 

"  After  Mr.  Schoolcraft  had  stated  to  three  or  four 
of  the  principal  Sioux  chiefs  who  had  been  requested 
to  visit  him,  the  object  of  his  tour,  and  mentioned  the 
complaints  which  the  Ojibwas  brought  against  them 
for  breaking  the  treaties  of  Prairie  du  Chien  and  Fond 
du  Lac,  Little  Crow  rose  and  replied,  that  he  recollected 
those  treaties,  when  they  smoked  the  pipe,  and  all  agreed 
to  eat  and  drink  out  of  the  same  dish.  He  wished  the 
line  to  be  drawn  between  them  and  the  Ojibwas ;  the 
sooner  it  was  fixed  the  better.  He  alluded  to  the  late 
war  party  from  loech  Lake,  which  had  killed  two  of 
his  nephews,  and  were  now  dancing  around  their  scalps  -^ 
but  he  did  not  complain,  nor  would  he  go  and  revenge 
their  death.  He  denied  that  the  Sioux  were  in  league 
with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Black  Dog,  and  the  Man- 
who-floats-on-the-water,  also  spoke  in  much  the  same 
manner." 

After  the  expedition  left  Fort  Snelling  Mr.  School- 
craft pushed  ahead,  and  proceeded  without  the  military 
escort,  by  way  of  the  St.  Croix  to  Lake  Superior.  Near 
the  Falls  of  St.  Croix  he  met  Joseph  R.  Brown,  who 
had  been  trading  at  that  point,  but  was  now  on  his  waj'^ 
to  establish  a  new  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

Lieutenant  Allen  was  sorely  displeased  with  the  sum- 
mary manner  in  which  Mr.  Schoolcraft  left  him,  and  in 
his  published  report  gives  full  expression  to  his  senti- 
ments. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1832,  the  noted  Sauk  chief, 
Black  Hawk,  raised  the  British  flag,  and  ascended  the 


112 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA., 


Mississippi  with  hostile  intentions  against  the  frontier 
settlers.  General  Atkinson,  in  the  latter  part  of  May, 
sent  an  express  from  Dixon,  Illinois,  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
requesting  the  Indian  agent  to  procure  the  services  of 
the  Dahkotahs  as  allies  of  the  United  States  troops. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  May,  John  Marsh,  who  had  accom- 
panied the  troops  to  Fort  Snelling  in  1819,  and  Burnett, 
sub-agent  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  left  that  place  in  a  canoe 
paddled  by  eight  men,  to  secure  the  aid  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs. On  their  way  they  stopped  at  the  Winnebago 
village  at  La  Crosse,  to  inquire  if  any  were  willing  to 
join  General  Atkinson's  army  on  Rock  River ;  Winnie- 
shiek  opposed  the  measure,  but  the  young  men  agreed 
to  accompany  them  on  their  return. 

On  the  first  of  June,  Marsh  and  Burnett  were  at 
Wapashaw  Prairie,  and  found  the  Dahkotahs  fully  pre- 
pared to  go  to  war  against  their  old  enemies.  In  six 
days  the  commissioners  returned  to  the  Prairie  with 
eighty  Dalikotah  and  twenty  Winnebago  warriors. 

Marsh,  the  Dahkotah  interpreter,  and  W.  S.  Hamilton, 
marched  with  the  Dahkotahs  toward  the  Pecatonica. 
and,  arriving  there  the  day  of  the  skirmish  between 
General  Dodge  and  the  Sauks  and  Foxes,  they  gloated 
over  the  corpses  of  their  enemies,  and,  dancing  the  scalp 
dance,  cut  them  to  pieces. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  July  General  Dodge  met  Black 
Hawk  near  an  old  Sauk  village  on  the  Wisconsin  and 
routed  him,  he  retreating  north  of  the  Wisconsin,  in 
direction  of  the  Mississippi.  As  soon  as  the  intelligence 
of  Black  Hawk's  retreat  reached  Prairie  du  Chien,  Cap- 
tain Loomis,  now  colonel  of  the  5th  regiment  United 
Spates  Infantry,  hired  the  steamboat  Enterprise,  to  pro- 
ceed to  La  Crosse,  and  bring  down  any  Winnebagoes 


BATTLE  OP  BAD  AXE. 


418 


that  might  be  there,  lest  they  should  assist  Black  Hawk 
in  crossing  the  river.  On  the  thirtieth  of  July  the  Win- 
nebagoes  and  iheii  canoes  were  at  Fort  Crawford. 

On  the  first  of  August,  Loomis,  one  of  the  officers  at 
Fort  Crawford,  hired  a  faster  steamboat,  called  the 
"  Warrior,"  to  ascend  the  Mississippi,  When  they 
came  to  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  they  discovered  Black 
Hawk's  party,  who  had  just  arrived  with  wearied  limbs, 
and  diseased  and  famished  bodies.  As  the  steamer 
approached  he  told  his  braves  not  to  shoot,  and  taking 
a  piece  of  white  cotton  placed  it  on  a  pole,  and  signified 
a  desire  to  come  on  board ;  but  about  this  time  there 
was  a  discharge  from  the  six-pounder  on  board  of  the 
boat,  which  was  returned  by  Black  Hawk's  braves. 

The  steamboat  returned  that  evening  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  but  arrived  again  the  next  day,  and  found  that 
a  battle  had  commenced  between  the  Indians  and  the 
regular  troops,  who  had  come  up  to  them  by  land  a  few 
hours  before.  Some  of  the  Indians  had  fled  to  the 
islands  of  the  Mississippi  near  the  Bad  Axe,  and  they 
were  fired  at  by  those  on  the  steamboat. 

Batteaux  were  also  sent  to  the  main  land  to  receive 
and  transport  the  troops  of  Colonel  Z.  Taylor  and  Major 
Bliss  to  one  of  the  islands,  where  a  severe  fight  took 
place,  during  which  every  Indian  was  killed  but  one, 
who  made  his  escape  by  swimming.' 

During  the  fight,  General  Atkinson  came  on  board  of 
the  steamer  and  remained  until  the  close  of  the  battle. 
After  three  hours  the  battle  ended,  which  was  a  slaugh- 
ter rather  than  a  victory. 

A  writer,  in  the  nearest  newspaper,'  four  days  after, 

'  Narrative  of  Captain  Este,  Black  Hawlc,  and  others, 
'  Galena  G»«ette. 


414 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


says,  "  When  the  Indians  were  driven  to  the  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  some  hundreds  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  phmged  into  the  river,  and  hoped  by  diving 
to  escape  the  bullets  of  our  guns.  Very  few,  however, 
escaped  our  sharp-shooters." 

Among  those  killed  on  the  Wisconsin  shore  was  a 
mother.  Her  infant  was  feeding  on  her  breast,  and  the 
bullet  had  passed  through  and  broken  the  arm  of  the 
child,  and  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  the  parent.  When 
discovered,  the  child  was  alive ;  it  survived  the  wound, 
which  was  attended  to  by  one  of  the  surgeons  of  the 
volunteer  troops. 

Those  Indians  that  escaped  the  fire  from  the  main 
shore  and  steamboat,  were  met  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi  by  the  scalping  knife  of  the  Dahkotahs. 
Wapashaw,  with  a  party  of  warriors,  had  arrived  during 
the  fight,  and  they  were  ordered  to  pursue  those  who 
should  escape.  Black  Hawk,  perceiving  that  all  was  lost, 
in  forlorn  condition  fled  to  the  Winnebago  village  at  La 
Crosse,  where  the  squaws  gave  him  a  dress  of  white  deer 
skin.  He  was  ficcompanied  by  the  Winnebago  chief, 
One-eyed  Dekorrah,  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  delivered 
up  to  the  Americans  on  the  morning  of  August  twenty- 
seventh. 

Black  Hawk,  on  that  occasion,  is  said  to  have  made 
the  following  speech  : — 

"  My  warriors  fell  around  me ;  it  began  to  look  dis- 
mal. I  saw  my  evil  day  at  hand.  The  sun  rose  clear 
on  us  in  the  morning,  and  at  night  it  sunk  in  a  dark 
cloud,  and  looked  like  a  ball  of  fire.  This  was  the  last 
tiun  that  shone  on  Black  Hawk.  He  is  now  a  prisoner 
to  the  white  man.  But  he  can  stand  the  torture.  He 
iS  not  afraid  of  death.    He  is  no  coward.    Black  Hawk 


BLACK  HAWK'S  SPEECH. 


41f) 


is  an  Indian ;  he  has  done  nothing  of  which  an  Indian 
need  to  be  ashamed.  He  has  fought  the  battles  of  his 
country  against  the  white  men,  who  came  year  after 
year  to  cheat  them  and  take  away  their  lands.  You 
know  the  cause  of  our  making  war — it  is  known  to  all 
white  men — they  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  it.  The  white 
men  despise  the  Indians,  and  drive  them  from  their 
homes.  But  the  Indians  are  not  deceitful.  The  white 
men  speak  bad  of  the  Indian,  and  look  at  him  spite- 
fully. But  the  Indian  does  not  tell  lies.  Indians  do 
not  steal.  Black  Hawk  is  satisfied.  He  will  go  to  the 
world  of  spirits  contented.  He  has  done  his  duty — his 
Father  will  meet  him  and  reward  him.  The  white  men 
do  not  scalp  the  head,  but  they  do  worse,  they  poison 
the  heart — ^it  is  not  pure  with  them.  Farewell  to  my 
nation !     Farewell  to  Black  Hawk !" 

During  the  year  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  the  first 
regular  land  mail  was  carried  between  Fort  Crawford 
and  Fort  Snelling.  The  mail  carrier  was  a  soldier  of 
the  United  States'  army,  and  his  journeys  were  on  foot. 
Leaving  Prairie  du  Chien,  he  crossed  to  the  loAva  side, 
and  then  continued  on  the  western  side  till  he  came  to 
Fort  Snelling.  He  occupied  fourteen  days  in  going  and 
returning,  and  carried  the  mail  for  a  period  of  twelve 
months.*  At  that  time  there  were  no  white  families  in 
the  country.  The  entire  population,  beside  the  soldiers 
of  the  fort,  were  Indian  traders.* 


'  Smith's  History  of  Wisconsin, 
vol.  i.  p.  289. 

'-'  Licensed  Indian  Traders  in 
Minnesota,  1833-1834  :— 

Alexis  Bailly,  Mendota. 

J.  R.  Brown,  Oliver's  Grove, 
Muuth  uf  the  St.  Croix. 


Louis  Provenqalle,  Traverse  dea 
Sioux. 

J.  B.  Faribault,  Little  Rapids  of 
Minnesota. 

Ilazen  Moores,  Lac  Traverse. 

Joseph  Renville,  Lac  qui  Parle 

B.  F.  Baker,  Fort  Snelling. 


"TTW 


416 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


In  the  year  1805,  Upper  Louisiana  was  organized  as 
Missouri  Territory ;  and,  after  the  state  of  that  name, 
was,  in  1820,  admitted  into  the  Union,  the  territory 
beyond  its  northern  boundary,  comprising  Iowa,  and  all 
of  Minnesota  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  was  without 
any  organized  government.  In  1834,  the  inhabitants 
petitioned  Congress  to  give  them  a  territorial  organi- 
zation, or  attach  them  to  Michigan.  For  the  present  it 
was  thought  better  to  pursue  the  latter  course. 

In  1836,  the  territory  of  Wisconsin  was  organized, 
comprising  all  of  Michigan  west  of  the  lake  of  that 
name ;  and,  in  1838,  Iowa  was  formed,  embracing  all 
of  the  old  Missouri  Territory  beyond  the  north  line  of 
the  state  of  that  name. 

During  the  year  1835,  an  artist  of  some  notoriety, 
George  Catlin,  visited  Minnesota,  and  made  many 
sketches  which  were  truthful,  and  subsequently  pub- 
lished many  statements  which  were  unreliable. 

Featherstonhaugh,  in  company  with  Professor  Mather, 
under  the  direction  of  the  United  States  government, 
made  a  slight  geological  survey  of  the  valley  of  the 
Minnesota. 

After  Featherstonhaugh  returned  to  England,  his 
native  land,  he  published  a  work  entitled  "  Canoe  voy- 
age up  the  Minnaysotar,"  which  is  only  remarkable  for  its 


J.  Renville,  Jr.,  Little  Rock. 
P.  Prescott,  TraverBB  des  Sioux. 
James  Welles,  Little  Rapids. 
Joseph  R.  Brown,  Mouth  of  Chip- 
peway. 
W.  A.  Aitkin,  Fond  du  Lac. 
Alfred  Aitkin,  Sandy  Lake. 
John  Aitkin,  Prairie  Perc6e. 
Ambrose  Devenport,  Gull  Lake. 


Wm.  Devenport,  Leech  Lake. 
A.  Morrison,  Mille  Lac. 
George  Bonga,  Lao  Platte. 
J.  H.  Fairbanks,  Red  Cedar  Lake. 
Louis  Dufault,  Red  Lake. 
Wm.  Stitt,  Lower  Red  Cedar  Lake. 
L.  M.  Warren,  La  Pointe,  Wis. 
Chas.  Wolfborup,  Yellow  Lake. 


NICOLLET  ARRIVES  IN  MINNESOTA. 


41< 


vulgarity,  and  its  attack  upon  the  character  of  gentle- 
men who  did  not  show^  him  the  attention  which  he 
thought  he  should  have  received. 

The  next  year,  another  foreign  gentleman  visited  the 
country,  who  was  the  antipodes  to  him  whom  we  have 
just  noticed.  His  name  will  always  be  honoured  in 
tho  university  and  colleges  of  the  state ;  and  his  career 
will  incite  others  to  the  culture  of  those  exact  sciences, 
which  are  so  useful  in  their  results  to  the  practical  man. 

Jean  N.  Nicollet,'  with  letters  of  introduction,  having 
arrived  in  Minnesota,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  July,  1836, 


>  Jean  N.  Nicollet  was  born  in  the 
year  1790,  at  Cluses,  a  small  town, 
oapitnl  of  Fansigny  in  Savoie.  His 
parents  were  poor,  and  he  was  con- 
sequently reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  gaining  a  subsistence  by  playing 
upon  the  flute  and  violir  \jfore  he 
had  reached  the  tender  age  of  ten 
years.  lie  was  then  apprenticed  to 
a  watcbmak"?"*  and  remained  with 
him  until  he  wr.s  eighteen  years  old, 
when  he  removed  to  Chambry,  the 
capital  of  Savoie,  where  he  fjllowed 
his  occupation,  at  the  same  time 
prosecuting  his  studies  in  mathe- 
matics, for  his  proficiency  in  which 
science  he  received  a  prize.  From 
Chambry  he  returned  to  Cluses,  and 
there  gave  lessons  in  mathematics, 
he  himself  receiving  instruction  in 
Latin  and  other  languages.  He 
continued  this  course  of  life  for  about 
two  years,  when  he  went  to  Paris 
and  was  admitted  in  the  first  class 
of  L'Ecole  Normale,  and  soon  after- 
wards he  was  placed  in  charge  of 
tlie  mathematical  course  in  the  col- 
lege of  "  Louis  Le  Grand." 
It  was  in  1818  that  Nicollet  pub- 


lished his  celebrated  letter  to  M. 
Outrequin  Banquier,  "on  assurances 
having  for  their  basis,  the  probable 
duration  of  human  life." 

From  1819  and  1820,  may  be  dated 
the  commencement  of  his  astronomi- 
cal labours. 

On  the  twenj.y-fir8t  of  January, 
1821,  between  six  and  seven  in  the 
evening,  he  discovered  a  oomet  in 
the  constellation  of  Pegasus  (seen 
on  the  same  day  and  at  the  same 
hour  by  Pons  at  Marseilles),  and 
from  his  own  observations,  and  those 
of  the  astronomers  and  the  observa- 
t'>i*y,  he  completed  its  parabolic 
elements. 

Previous  to  1825,  M.  Nicollet  re- 
ceived the  decoration  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour,  and  bad  also  been  at- 
tached as  Professor,  to  the  Royal 
College  of  "  Louis  Le  Grand." 

Having  been  unfortunate  in  spec- 
ulations which  involved  others  in 
pecuniary  loss,  he  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1832 ;  poor,  but  honest. — 
Soc  sketch  in  AnnaU  Minnesota  Hist. 
Soc.,  No.  iv,  1853. 


418 


HISTORY  OV  MINNESOTA. 


left  Fort  Snelling  with  a  French  trader,  named  Fron- 
chet,  to  explore  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi.  While  at 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  the  Dahkotahs  pilfered  some  of 
his  provisions,  but  writing  back  to  the  fort  for  another 
supply,  he  ascended  the  Mississippi,  telescope  in  hand, 
and  with  a  trustful,  child-like  spirit,  hoped  with  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  to  gather  a  few  pebbles  from  the  great 
ocean  of  truth.  After  reaching  Crow  Wing  river,  he 
entered  its  mouth,  and  by  way  of  Gull  river  and  lake, 
he  reached  Leech  Lake,  the  abode  of  the  Pillagers. 
When  the  savages  found  that  he  was  nothing  but  a 
poor  scholar,  with  neither  medals,  nor  beef,  nor  flags  to 
present,  and  constantly  peeping  through  a  tube  into 
the  heavens,  they  became  very  unruly. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell,  whose  mission  house  was  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  lake,  hearing  the  shouts  and 
drumming  of  the  Indians,  came  over  as  soon  as  the 
wind  which  had  been  blowing  for  several  days,  would 
allow  the  passage  of  his  canoe.  His  arrival  was  very 
grateful  to  Nicollet,  who  says:  "On  the  fourth  day, 
however,  he  arrived,  and  although  totally  unknown  to 
each  other  previously,  a  sympathy  of  feeling  arose, 
growing  out  of  the  precarious  circumstances  under 
which  we  were  both  placed,  and  to  which  he  had  been 
much  longer  exposed  than  myself  This  feeling,  from 
the  kind  attentions  he  paid  me,  soon  ripened  into  affec- 
tionate gratitude." 

Leaving  Leech  Lake  with  an  Indian,  Fronchet  !U)d 
Francis  Brunet,  a  Canadian  trader  of  that  post,  "  a  man 
six  feet  three  inches  in  height,  a  giant  of  great  strength, 
and  at  the  same  time  full  of  the  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness," he  proceeded  toward  Itasca  Lake.  With  the  sex- 
tant on  his  back,  thrown  over  like  a  knapsack,  a  ba- 


THE  ASTRONOMER  IN  THE  WILDERNESS. 


419 


rometer  and  cloak  on  his  left  shoulder,  a  portfolio  under 
his  arm,  and  a  basket  in  hand  holding  thermometer, 
chronometer,  and  compass,  he  followed  his  guides  over 
tiie  necessary  portages.  After  the  usual  trials  of  an 
inexperienced  traveller,  he  pitched  his  tent  on  School- 
craft's Island,  in  Lake  Itasca,  and  proceeded  to  use  his 
telescope  and  instruments. 

Continuing  his  explorations  beyond  those  of  Lieut. 
Allen  and  Schoolcraft,  he  entered  on  the  twenty-ninth 
of  August,  a  tributary  of  the  west  bay  of  the  lake, 
two  or  three  feet  in  depth,  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
feet  in  width.  While  the  previous  explorers  had  passed 
but  one  or  two  hours  at  Itasca  Lake,  he  stayed  three 
days  with  complete  scientific  apparatus,  and  sought  the 
sources  of  the  rivulets  that  feed  the  lake.  With  great 
appropriateness  has  his  claim  been  recognised  by  the 
people  of  Minnesota,  as  the  individual  who  completed 
the  exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  by  giving  his  name 
to  a  county. 

Returning  to  Fort  Snelling  in  the  beginning  of  Octo- 
ber, he  occupied  a  room  at  the  stone  agency  house,  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  beyond  the  gate,  where  he  passed  the 
time  in  studying  the  Dahkotah.  The  latter  portion  of 
the  winter  Nicollet  was  a  guest  of  Mr.  Sibley,  at  Men- 
dota.     That  gentleman  says : — 

"  A  portion  of  the  winter  following  was  spent  by  him 
at  my  house,  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  I 
found  in  him  a  most  instructive  companion.  His  devo- 
tion to  his  studies  was  intense  and  unremitting,  and  I 
frequently  expostulated  with  him  upon  his  imprudence 
in  thus  over-tasking  the  strength  of  his  delicate  frame, 
but  with  little  effect.  When  the  weather  was  auspi- 
cious, telescope  in  hand,  he  would  spend  hours  of  the 


420 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


cold  winter  nights  of  our  high  latitude  in  astral  observa- 
tions. He  continued  his  labours  until  the  opening  of 
spring  called  him  to  encounter  the  privations  and  suf- 
ferings necessarily  attendant  upon  a  long  sojourn  in  the 
wilderness.  Such  waa  the  enthusiasm  of  his  nature, 
that  he  submitted  to  all  physical  inconveniences  with- 
out murmuring,  and  as  of  no  moment  when  compared 
with  the  magnitude  of  the  enterprise  in  which  he  was 
engaged." 

Going  to  Washington,  after  his  tour  of  1836-37,  he 
was  honoured  with  a  commission  from  the  (Jiiited  States 
government,  and  John  C.  Fremont  was  detailed  as  his 
assistant.  Ascending  the  Missouri  river  in  a  steamboat, 
to  Fort  Pierre,  he  travelled  through  the  interior  of  Min- 
nesota Territory,  visiting  the  Red  Pipe  Stone  Quarry, 
which  he  accurately  describes,  Minne  Wakan,  or  Devil's 
Lake,  and  other  important  localities. 

The  map  which  he  constructed,  and  the  astronomical 
observations  wliich  he  made,  were  invaluable  to  the 
country.* 


'  Hon.  H.  II.  Siblej,  in  his  notice 
of  NicoUot,  says: — 

"  His  health  wr.8  so  seriously 
affected  after  his  return  to  Washing- 
ton in  1839,  that  from  that  time  for- 
waid  he  wab  incapacitated  from  de- 
voting himself  to  the  accuniplishinent 
of  his  work  as  exclusively  as  he  had 
previously  done.  Still  he  laboured, 
but  it  was  with  depressed  spirits  aad 
blighted  hopes.  He  had  long  as- 
pired to  a  membership  in  the  Aca- 
demy of  Sciences  of  Paris.  His  long 
continued  devotion  and  valuable 
contributions  to  the  cause  of  science, 
and    his  correct    deportment  as  a 


gentleman,  alike  entitled  him  to  such 
a  distinction.  But  his  enemies  were 
numerous  and  influential,  and  when 
his  name  wl3  presented  in  accord- 
ance with  a  previous  nomination,  to 
fill  a  vacancy,  he  was  black-balled 
and  rejected.  This  last  blow  was 
mortal.  True,  he  strove  against  the 
incurable  melancholy  which  had 
fastcn^id  itself  upon  him,  but  his 
struggles  waxed  more  and  more 
faint,  until  death  put  a  period  to  his 
sufferings  on  the  eighteenth  Sep- 
tember, 1844. 

"  Evun  when  he  was  aware  that 
his  dissolution  was  near  at  hand,  his 


NICOLLET'S  DEATH.— AITKIN  KILLED. 


421 


The  Leech  Lake  Ojibways  this  year  killed  the  trader' 
in  charge  of  the  American  Fur  Company's  post,  at  that 
point,  and  many  threatened  to  drive  away  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Boutwell,  and  manifested  bitter  hostility. 


'hoaghts  reverted  back  to  the  days 
wlien  he  roamed  along  the  valley  of 
tiie  Minnesota  river.  It  was  my 
iurtune  to  meet  him  for  the  last  time 
in  the  year  1842  in  Washington  City. 
A  short  time  before  his  death  I  re- 
ceived a  kind  but  mournful  letter 
from  him,  in  which  he  adverted  to 
the  fact  that  his  days  were  numbered, 
but  at  the  same  time  he  expressed  a 
hope  tliat  he  would  have  Btrenglh 
sufficient  to  enable  him  to  make  his 
-.iiy  to  our  country,  that  he  might 
yield  up  his  breath  and  be  interred 
on  the  banks  of  his  beloved  stream. 
"  It  would  have  been  gratifying  to 
bis  friends  to  know  that  the  soil  of 
the  region  which  had  employed  so 
much  of  his  time  and  scientific  re- 
search, had  received  bis  mortal  re- 


mains into  his  bosom,  but  they  were 
denied  this  melancholy  satisfaction 
He  sleeps  beneath  the  sod  far  away, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  capital  of  the 
nation,  but  his  name  will  continue 
to  be  cherished  in  Minnesota  as  one 
of  its  early  explorers,  and  one  of  its 
best  friends.  The  astronomer,  the 
geologist,  and  the  christian  gentle- 
man, Jean  N.  Nicollet,  will  long  be 
remembered  in  connection  with  the 
history  of  the  North-west. 

"Time  sfaall  quench  full  many 
A  people's  records,  and  a  hero's  acts. 
Sweep  empire  after  empire  Into  nothing; 
But  eren  then  Rhall  spare  this  deed  of  thlna. 
And  bold  it  up,  a  problem  few  dare  imitate^ 
And  none  despise." 

■  Alfred  Aitkin. 


Wl 


422 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


"  :^  r  r   "'     '  '•  -' 

CHAPTER    XX.   • 


The  history  of  missions  among  the  roving  tribes  of 
Minnesota  and  the  regions  adjacent,  must  necessarily  be 
a  dark  and  saddening  page.  They  are  all  bands  with- 
out law. 

The  frontispiece  of  the  first  volume  of  the  voyages 
of  Baron  La  Hontan  to  the  Lakes  of  the  West,  pub- 
lished more  than  one  hundred  end  fifty  years  ago,  is  an 
engraving  of  an  Indian,  attired  for  war,  with  a  bow  in 
one  hand  and  arrow  in  the  other,  a  statute  book  under 
one  foot,  and  a  crown  and  sceptre  beneath  the  other 
Over  his  head  is  the  appropriate  motto  "  Et  leges,  et 
sceptra  terit :"  On  laws  and  sceptres  he  tramples. 

The  savages  of  the  north-west,  as  has  been  shown, 
have  nothing  that  corresponds  to  a  civilized  government. 
Their  chiefs  hold  their  influence  by  a  trimming  and 
somersaulting  which  would  put  the  most  adroit  politi- 
cian to  the  blush.  Society  takes  no  cognisance  of 
offences,  and  each  man  revenges  his  real  or  imaginary 
wrongs.  If  one  is  killed,  the  relative  in  return  goes 
and  kills  the  person  who  committed  the  act.  They  also 
hold  their  property  in  common.  If,  on  a  hunting  expe- 
dition, a  man  shoots  a  deer,  he  does  not  claim  it  as  pri- 
vate property,  but  it  is  shared  with  all  present.     If  ai^ 


JESUITS  PERMITTED  HEATHEN  SACRIFICES. 


423 


industrious  person  should  settle  down  and  cultivate  a 
field  of  com  and  potatoes,  custom  requires  that  he 
should  share  it  with  the  idler  and  the  passer-by. 

The  aversion  to  labour  is  such  that  the  men  ordi- 
narily feel  it  an  insult  to  be  urged  to  work.  Toil  is 
only  becoming  to  women.  In  addition  to  these  preju- 
dices, when  not  hunting  for  wild  beasts,  they,  with  the 
ferocity  of  wild  beasts,  hunt  for  the  scalps  of  their  wild 
neighbours.  There  is  scarcely  a  large  plain  in  Minne- 
sota that  has  not  been  an  Aceldama. 

The  youth  from  his  earliest  childhood  is  trained  to 
delight  in  war.  Bancroft,  catching  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  narratives  of  the  early  Jesuits,  depicts,  in  language 
which  glows,  their  missions  to  the  North-west ;  yet  it  is 
erroneous  to  suppose  that  they  exercised  any  permanent 
influence  on  the  Aborigines. 

Fond  of  novelty  and  attention,  the  untutored  children 
of  the  forest  for  a  little  while  were  interested  in  the 
pictures  and  vestments  and  tales  of  the  "  black  gown," 
but  the}  at  length  grew  weary.  Marquette,  while  at 
La  Pointe  on  Lake  Superior,  made  a  fatal  mistake  as  a 
minister  of  Christianity.  In  his  narrative  he  says  that 
he  allowed  the  Ojibways  to  retain  such  sjicrifices  to  ima- 
ginary spirits  as  he  thought  were  harmless,  as  if  it  was 
possible  to  serve  God  and  Manitou.  After  he  was 
driven  from  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  no  further 
attempt  was  made  to  elevate  the  Aborigines  of  that 
legion,  until  the  arrival  of  Protestant  missionaries  more 
than  a  century  subsequent. 

The  devout  Romanist,  Shea,  in  his  interesting  history 
of  Catholic  missions,  speaking  of  the  Dahkotahs  n^marks 
ihat,  "  Father  Menard  had  projected  a  S'oux  mission; 
Marquette,  AUouez,  Druilletes,  all  entertained  hopes  of 


"ripwifpw?-' 'i'.»w<.  '#,! 


424 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


realizing  it,  and  had  some  intercourse  with  that  nation, 
but  none  of  them  ever  succeeded  in  establishing  a  mis- 
sion." After  the  American  Fur  Company  was  formed, 
the  island  of  Mackinaw  became  the  residence  of  the 
principal  agent  for  the  North-west. 

In  the  month  of  June  of  the  year  1820,  the  Rev, 
Dr.  Morse,  father  of  the  inventor  of  the  Morsoograph,* 
visited  the  spot,  and  pre.ached  the  first  Protestant  ser- 
mon ever  delivered  in  this  portion  of  the  North-west. 
He  became  quite  interested  in  the  condition  of  traders 
and  natives ;  and  in  consequence  of  his  statements,  a 
Presbyterian  Missionary  Society  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  sent  a  graduate  of  Union  College,  the  Rev.  W. 
M.  Ferry,  in  1822,  to  explore  the  field.  In  October, 
1823,  with  his  wife,  he  commenced  a  school,  which, 
before  the  close  of  the  year,  contained  twelve  Indian 
children. 

Mackinaw  being  easy  of  access  to  the  Indians  of  the 
Upper  Lakes,  and  the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions,  who  had 
assumed  the  expense,  determined  to  make  it  a  central 
station,  at  which  there  should  be  a  large  boarding-school, 
composed  of  children  collected  from  all  the  Noi  th-west- 
em  tribes,  who  were  expected  to  remain  long  enough  to 
acquire  a  common  school  education,  and  a  knowledge  of 
manual  labour.  Mechanics'  shops  and  gardens  were 
provided  for  the  lads,  and  the  girls  were  trained  for 
household  duties.  The  school,  for  many  years,  succeeded 
admirably;  and  gained  the  confidence  of  traders  and 
chiefs.  At  times  there  were  nearly  two  hundred  pupils 
present,  representatives  of  the  Ottawas,  Ojibways,  Dah- 

'  This  word  is  a  novelty  found  at  the  head  of  the  telegraphic  report* 
of  the  Philndelphia  Public  Ledger. 


HAPPY  INFLUENCE  OF  MACKINAW  SCHOOL. 


425 


kotahs,  Winnebagoes,  Pottowattamies,  Knistenoes,  Sauks, 
Foxes,  and  Menomonees,  There  are  those  now  in 
Minnesota,  surrounded  by  all  the  comforts  of  civiliza- 
tion, who  are  indebted  to  this  school  for  their  entire 
education.  After  a  series  of  years,  the  plan  was  modi- 
fied, the  school  limited  to  fifty,  and  smaller  stations 
commenced  in  the  region  between  Lake  Superior  and 
the  Mississippi. 

During  the  summer  of  1830,  Mr.  Warren,  th»  father 
of  the  late  bois  hr\il6  William  Warren,  came  to  Macki- 
naw, Avith  an  extra  boat,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a 
missionary  to  his  post  at  La  Pointe.  As  there  were  no 
ordained  ministers  that  could  be  spared,  the  teacher  of 
the  boys'  school,  Mr.  Frederic  Ayer,  now  of  Belle  Prai- 
rie, with  one  of  the  scholars  as  an  interpreter,  returned 
with  the  trader  to  La  Pointe,  for  the  purpose  of  explor- 
ing the  field. 

After  surveying  the  country,  Mr.  Ayer  returned  to 
Mackinaw ;  but  in  August  of  the  next  year,  in  com- 
pany with  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  the  Rev. 
Sherman  Hall  and  wife,  left  with  the  intention  of  estab- 
lishing a  permar  mt  mission  among  the  Ojibways.  The 
brigade  with  which  they  travelled  consisted  of  five 
boats  and  about  seventy  persons'.  The  following  ex- 
tracts from  the  journal'  of  the  first  Protestant  minister 
among  the  Ojibways  of  the  far  west,  may  be  perused 
with  interest : — 

"August  fifth,  1831.  The  manner  of  travelling  on 
the  upper  waters  of  the  great  lakes,  is  with  open  canoes 
and  batteaux.  The  former  are  made  in  the  Indian 
style,  the  materials  of  which  are  the  bark  of  the  white 
h'm-h,  and  the  wood  of  the  white  cedar.     The  cedar 

I  Rev.  Sherman  Hall 


w^m 


426 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


forms  the  ribbing,  and  the  bark  the  part  which  come» 
in  contact  with  the  water.  These  are  made  of  various 
sizes,  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  in  length.  The  largest 
are  sufficiently  strong  to  carry  from  two  to  three  tons 
of  lading.  They  are  propelled  with  the  paddle ;  and 
when  well  built  and  well  manned,  without  lading,  will 
go  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  miles  in  a  day,  in  calm 
weather. 

"  Batteaux  are  light-made  boats,  about  forty  feet  in 
length,  and  ten  or  twelve  feet  wide  at  the  centre,  capa- 
ble of  carrying  about  five  tons  burden  each,  and  are 
rowed  by  six  or  seven  men.  They  have  no  deck* 
Upon  articles  of  lading,  with  which  the  boat  is  filled^ 
is  the  place  for  the  passengers,  who  have  no  other  seats 
than  they  can  form  for  themselves,  out  of  their  travel- 
ling trunks,  boxes,  beds,  etc.  On  these  they  place 
themselves  in  any  position  which  necessity  may  require, 
or  convenience  suggest,  with  very  little  regard  to  grace- 
fulness of  position.  Such  is  the  vehicle  which  is  to 
convey  us  to  the  place  of  our  destination.  In  the  small 
compass  of  this  boat  we  have  to  find  room  for  eleven 
persons,  including  our  family  and  our  men,  one  of  whom 
is  an  Indian,  and  four  are  Frenchmen. 

"  A  person  travelling  in  this  region,  is  obliged  to  sub- 
mit to  many  inconveniences.  Here  the  traveller  must 
take  his  bed,  his  house,  his  provisions,  and  his  utensils 
to  cook  tbem  with,  along  with  him,  or  consent  to  sleep 
in  the  open  air  on  the  ground,  and  to  subsist  on  what 
the  woods  and  the  waters  may  chance  to  afford.  In 
short,  if  he  would  have  anything  to  make  himself  com- 
fortable, he  must  provide  himself  with  it  before  he 
leaves  home.  There  are  no  New  England  taverns  here, 
at  which  the  traveller  can  rest  when  he  is  weary,  and 


m 


CAMPING  FOR  THE  NIGHT. 


427 


find  supplies  for  all  his  wants.  Journeys  are  frequent. 
In  this  country,  people  think  those  near  neighbours 
who  live  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  miles  distant. 
A  journey  of  this  length,  even  in  the  dead  of  winter, 
is  no  more  accounted  of  here,  than  a  ride  from  one  city 
to  another  on  the  searcoast  of  the  United  States,  though 
he  who  performs  it  must  take  his  provision  and  his 
snow  shoes,  and  march  without  a  track  through  the 
unbroken  wilderness. 

"At  night  our  tent  is  pitched  at  some  convenient 
place  on  the  shore.  After  the  tent  is  raised,  a  painted 
cloth  is  spread  within  it  on  the  ground.  This  forms  a 
kind  of  flooring.  On  this  a  carpet  of  Indian  mats, 
made  of  a  kind  of  coarse  grass  or  rush,  which  answers 
the  triple  purpose  of  a  carpet,  a  table,  luid  a  bedstead. 
The  bed  is  composed  of  several  thicknesses  of  blankets^ 
coverlets,  or  anything  else  one  may  choose  to  carry  for 
this  purpose,  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  other  clothes 
for  covering.  Each  family  of  travellers  has  a  willow 
basket,  with  a  lock  and  key,  sufficiently  capacious  to 
hold  from  one  to  two  bushels,  of  close  texture,  which  is 
covered  with  a  swinging  lid.  This  basket  answers  the 
purpose  of  a  pantry.  This  is  divided  into  various  de- 
partments in  the  inside,  for  meat,  tea,  bread,  coffee,  and 
dishes.  The  cooking  is  done  without,  in  the  open  air. 
With  such  accommodations  a  journey  of  several  hun- 
dred miles  may  be  performed  with  tolerable  comfort, 
though  at  the  expense  of  some  inconveniences. 

"August  thirtieth.  After  sailing  thirty  leagues  in  a 
day  and  a  tialf,  we  arrived  at  La  Pointe,  the  place  of 
our  destination,  about  noon  to-day,  all  heartily  glad  to 
find  a  resting  place,  and  a  shelter  from  the  stcjrm  and 
cold.     We  were  agreeably  disappointed  on  finding  the 


"wm 


428 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


place  so  much  more  pleasant  than  we  had  anticipated. 
As  we  approached  it,  it  appeared  like  a  small  village. 
There  are  several  houses,  stores,  bams,  and  out-build- 
ings about  the  establishment,  and  forty  or  fifty  acres  of 
land  under  cultivation. 

"  September  first.  This  evening  we  cooked  our  first 
meal,  and  united  together  around  the  family  altar  in 
our  new  abode.  We  returned  thanks  to  God  for  his 
goodness  in  preser\ing  us  and  bringing  us  to  this  place, 
as  we  had  prayed,  and  besought  his  blessing  on  our 
future  labours." 

Mr.  Hall  immediately  established  a  school  for  child- 
ren, and  placed  it  in  charge  of  Mr.  Ayer. 

The  next  year,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  trader, 
Mr.  Aitkin,  Mr.  Ayer  went  to  Sandy  Lake  and  opened  a 
school  for  the  children  of  voyageurs  and  Indians. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth ;  in 
the  summer  of  1832,  after  his  tour  with  H.  R.  School- 
craft, became  a  colleague  of  Mr.  Hall  at  La  Pointe,  and 
took  charge  of  the  school. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1832,  the  Rev.  Sherman 
Hall  made  an  exploring  tour  to  Lac  du  Flambeau,  in 
North-western  Wisconsin,  and  reached  the  trading-post 
of  Charles  H.  Oakes,  at  that  place,  on  the  twentieth  of 
the  month.     His  journal  is  instructive  : — 

"  September  eleventh,  1832.  I  left  La  Pointe  for  Lac 
du  Flambeau,  accompanied  by  one  man  to  cari'y  my 
provisions  and  baggage.  Our  journey  was  partly  by 
water  and  partly  by  land,  and  much  of  the  way  througl 
dense  forests  of  tall  and  heavy  timber.  Our  road  was 
a  small  foot-path,  which  has  been  formed  by  those  who 
make  this  wilderness  their  highway  to  the  interior.  The 
ground  :n  this  great  forest  is  not  as  level  as  much  of  the 


REV.  S    HALL  VISITS  OAKBS'  TRADING  HOUSE. 


429 


western  country.  We  crossed  no  high  hills,  but  the 
surface  of  the  country  was  continually  undulating.  Tbu 
soil  appeared  to  be  of  excellent  quality,  and  capable  of 
furnishing  the  means  of  subsistence  for  a  dense  popula- 
tion, if  it  should  be  cleared  of  its  present  heavy  burden 
of  timber,  and  suitably  tilled.  It  is  not  stony,  though 
stones  are  to  be  found  nearly  all  the  way.  The  country 
seems  to  be  well  watered  witli  clear  transparent  streams." 

Crossing  Forty-five  Mile  Portage,  between  Montreal 
river  and  Portage  Lake,  at  the  same  time  that  the  gen- 
tleman engaged  in  the  fur  trade  at  Lac  du  Flambeau 
was  conveying  his  goods  to  that  post,  Mr.  Hall  describes 
the  laborious  method  of  transportation,  which  is  neces- 
sarily resorted  to  in  those  uncultivated  and  almost  deso- 
late regions. 

"All  the  goods  for  this  department  of  the  Indian 
trade,  together  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  provi- 
sions, are  carried  across  this  portage  on  the  backs  of 
men.  Not  a  pound  of  flour^  or  salt,  or  butter,  or  pork, 
or  scarcely  any  other  article  of  living  consumed  at  the 
post,  except  vegetables,  a  little  com,  wild  rice,  and  fish, 
and  a  small  quantity  of  wild  meat,  can  be  obtained  in 
any  other  manner.  All  the  tobacco,  powder,  shot,  and 
balls,  used  in  the  trade,  and  every  heavy  utensil  for 
household  use,  and  implements  for  cultivating  the 
ground,  which  cannot  be  made  by  unskilful  mechanics 
on  the  spot,  all  the  nails  and  glass  for  building,  and  the 
tools  necessary  for  mechanical  purposes,  must  all  find 
their  way  through  these  forests  in  the  same  manner. 
On  the  other  hand,  all  the  furs  and  peltries  collected  in 
the  department,  many  of  which  are  brought  some  hun- 
•Ireds  of  miles  before  they  reach  Lac  du  Flambeau,  are 


,i....„i.,iijy(!iii('ii 


430 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


conveyed  to  market  over  the  same  road,  and  by  the 
same  kind  of  conveyance. 

"  The  goods  are  obtained  at  Mackinaw,  and  brought 
through  the  lake,  till  they  enter  the  Montreal  river,  a 
distance  of  five  or  six  hundred  miles,  in  boats  rowed  by 
men.  At  the  commencement  of  the  portage,  th(?y  are 
put  up  into  packs  or  bales,  convenient  for  carrying, 
which,  in  the  language  the  country,  are  termed 
pieces.  Each  piece  is  allow  v  d  to  weigh  eighty  pounds. 
A  barrel  of  flour  is  put  into  two  bags,  and  each  is  con- 
sidered a  piece.  A  keg  of  pork  or  a  keg  of  gunpowder 
is  considered  also  a  piece,  and  a  bushel  and  a  half  of 
corn.  Two  of  these  pieces  constitute  each  man's  load. 
The  carrier  uses  a  collar,  which  is  composed  of  a  strap 
of  leather  about  three  inches  wide  in  the  middle,  to 
which  smaller  straps  are  attached  of  a  sufficient  length 
to  tie  round  the  object  to  be  carried.  These  straps  are 
tied  round  each  end  of  the  piece,  which  is  then  swung 
upon  the  back,  the  lower  part  restinfi;  about  on  the  loins, 
and  the  collar  is  brought  over  the  top  of  the  head.  The 
person,  when  he  takes  bis  load,  inclines  a  little  forward, 
so  that  it  rests  considerably  on  the  back,  and  draws  but 
gently  on  the  collar  suspended  across  the  head.  After 
the  first  piece  is  thus  swung  on  the  back,  the  second  is 
taken  up  and  laid  on  the  top  of  it,  reaching,  if  it  be 
large,  nearly  to  the  top  of  the  head.  I  was  surprised 
to  see  with  what  ease  these  men,  after  they  had  sus- 
pended the  first  piece,  would  raise  up  the  second  and 
place  it  on  the  top  of  it.  The  party  consisted  of  ten 
men,  and  each  man  had  ten  pieces,  or  five  loads  to  carry 
across  the  portage.  They  keep  the  whole  of  the  goods 
together ;  that  is,  each  one  takes  one  load  and  marches 
with  it,  the  distance  of  one-half  or  one-third  of  a  mile, 


RBV.  MR.  BOUTWELL'8  MISSION  AT  LEECH  LAKE. 


481 


nnd  then  returns  for  a  second.  This  they  repeat  till  all 
their  loads  are  brought  up  to  this  point.  Each  man's 
pieces  are  allotted  to  him  at  the  commencement  of  the 
portage,  and  he  keeps  the  same  through.  There  are  in 
all  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  poses,  or  stopping 
places,  on  this  portage.  The  carriers  march  very 
rapidly  when  loaded.  About  two  hundred  of  these 
pieces,  in  goods  and  provi.s'  ons,  are  required  for  this 
department  annually.  When  we  passed  these  men, 
they  had  been  sixteen  days  on  the  portage,  and  had 
got  about  two-thirds  of  the  way  across  it.  After  they 
cross  this,  they  have  two  other  portages  to  make  1)efore 
they  reach  Lac  du  Flambeau,  one  of  which  is  one 
hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  rods,  and  the  other 
about  three  miles  in  length. 

"  September  twenty-third.  I  reached  the  trading- 
post  of  Mr.  Oakes,  by  whom  I  was  very  kindly  received, 
on  the  twentieth.  The  village  of  the  Indians  is  two  or 
three  miles  distant  from  his  post.  This  raorning  three 
men,  having  heard  that  I  had  arrived,  came,  as  they 
said,  to  see  mo,  and  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say  to  them. 
Two  of  them  were  young  men,  and  the  other  I  should 
judge  to  be  about  fifty,  of  a  straight,  well  proportioned 
body  and  limbs,  not  very  tall,  a  countenance  rather 
dignified,  a  keen,  arch-looking  eye,  and  a  carriage  that 
told  him  to  be  a  man  who  claimed  some  title  to  chief- 
tainship among  his  band.  I  greeted  them  in  a  friendly 
manner,  and  told  them  I  was  glad  to  see  them,  and  if 
they  would  listen,  I  would  tell  them  something  about 
God  and  his  word." 

On  the  fifteenth  of  September,  18.^3,  Mr.  Ayer  arrived 
at  Yellow  Lake,  also  in  the  extreme  north-western  por- 
tion of  Wisconsin,  for  the  purpose  of  commencing  a  mis- 


tmm 


482 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


flion  station.  In  October  of  the  same  year  the  Rev.  W.  T. 
Boutwell  proceeded  to  Leech  Lake,  and  established  the 
first  mission  in  Minnesota  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Mr. 
E.  F.  Ely*  became  a  teacher  during  this  year,  at  the 
trading-post  of  Mr.  Aitkin,  at  Sandy  Lake,  Minnesota ; 
but  the  next  year  opened  a  school  at  Fond  du  Lac,  on 
the  St.  Louis  river. 

Calvinism  is  frequently  i«presented,  by  those  who  do 
not  embrace  its  tenets,  as  a  mere  abstract  system,  only 
anxious  to  impress  upon  the  race  stem  theological  for- 
mulas ;  but  the  journals  of  its  missionaries  among  the 
savages  are  always  eminently  cheerful,  hopeful,  and 
practical.  They  came  to  the  untutored  Indians  of  Min- 
nesota, not  with  a  long-drawn  countenance,  and  severe 
exterior,  but  they  came  singing  songs  for  the  little  ones, 
and  teaching  the  men  to  plough,  and  the  women  to  sew 
and  knit. 

The  following  letter,  written  in  1833,  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Boutwell,  is  full  of  sunshine  from  one  of  the  dark  places 
of  earth,  Leech  Lake,  the  abode  of  the  Pillagers,  the 
most  savage  of  all  the  bands  of  Minnesota : — 

"  I  arrived  at  this  place  October  third.  Passing  for 
the  present  in  silence  the  particulars  of  my  voyage,  I 
will  proceed  directly  to  give  you  some  account  of  my 
reception.     When  I  arrived,  the  men,  with  few  excep- 


'  Letter  from  Mr.  Ely,  at  Sandy 
Lake,  September  twenty-fifth,  1833. 

"  I  arrived  at  this  post  September 
nineteenth,  and  am  happily  disap- 
pointed in  the  appearance  of  the  pi  ace. 
I  occupy  a  large  chamber  in  Mr.  Ait- 
kin's house,  which  is  both  a  school- 
room and  lodging-room,  commanding 
an  eastern  view  of  Mr.  A.'s  fi  Vs 
and  meadows,  and  of  the  lake  pnd 
hills  covered  with  pines,  together 


with  the  outlet  of  the  lake  running 
within  eighty  feet  of  the  house ;  the 
Mississippi  is  about  the  same  dis- 
tance on  the  west ;  and  their  conflu- 
ence is  about  ten  rods  below.  On 
the  twenty-third  Mr.  Boutwell  left 
us  for  Leech  Lake.  My  school  was 
commenced  on  the  same  day  with 
six  or  eight  scholars.  To-day  I 
have  had  fifteen." 


mmmmmi 


LITTLE  CHILDBEN  ATTRACTED  BY  SONGS. 


488 


tions,  were  making  their  fall  hunts,  while  their  families 
remained  at  the  lake,  and  in  its  vicinity,  to  gather  their 
corn  and  make  rice.  A  few  lodges  were  encamped  quite 
noiir.  •  These  I  began  to  visit  for  the  purpose  of  read- 
ing, singing,  etc.,  in  order  to  interest  the  children,  and 
inviiken  in  them  a  desire  for  instruction.  I  told  them 
about  the  children  at  Mackinaw,  the  Sault,  and  at  La 
Pointe,  who  could  read,  write,  and  sing.  To  this  they 
would  listen  attentively,  while  the  mother  would  often 
reply,  *  My  children  are  poor  and  ignorant.'  To  a  per- 
son unaccustomed  to  Indian  manners  and  Indian  wild- 
ness,  it  would  have  been  amusing  to  have  seen  the  little 
ones,  as  I  approached  their  lodge,  running  and  scream- 
ing, more  terrified,  if  possible,  than  if  they  had  met  a 
bear  robbed  of  her  whelps.  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  most  of  them  overcame  their  fears ;  and  in  a  few 
days  my  dwelling  (a  lodge  which  I  occupied  for  three 
or  four  weeks)  was  frequented  from  morning  till  eve- 
ning by  an  interesting  group  of  boys,  all  desirous  to 
learn  to  read  and  sing.  To  have  seen  them  hanging, 
some  on  one  knee,  others  upon  my  shoulder,  reading  and 
singing,  while  others,  whether  from  shame  or  fear  I 
know  not,  who  dared  not  venture  within,  were  peeping 
in  through  the  sides  of  the  cottage,  or  lying  flat  upon 
the  ground  and  looking  under  the  bottom,  might  have 
provoked  a  smile,  especially  to  have  seen  them  as  they 
caught  a  glance  of  my  eye,  springing  upon  their  feet 
and  running  like  so  many  wild  asses'  colts.  The  rain, 
cold,  and  snow  were  alike  to  them,  in  which  they  would 
come  day  after  day,  many  of  them  clad  merely  with  a 
l)lanket  and  a  narrow  strip  of  cloth'  about  the  loins. 

"The  men  at  length  returned,  and  an  opportunity 
was  presented  me  for  reading  to  them.     The  greater 


■M 


484 


HISTORY  Of  MINNESOTA. 


part  listened  attentively.     Some  would  come  back  and 
ask  me  to  read  more.     Others  laughed  and  aimed  to 
make  sport,  both  of  me  and  my  book.     I  heeded  as  if 
I  understood  not.     I  had  been  laughed  at  and  called  a 
fool  before.     Besides,  I  remembered  to  have  read,  '  the 
servant  is  not  above  his  master.'      The  second  chief 
\Riji  Osaie),  the  Elder  Brother  as  he  is  called,  now  re- 
turned.    This  chief,  though  nominally  second,  is  really 
the  first  in  the  >•  Sections  of  the  band.     He  is  a  man 
who  courts  neither  the  favour,  nor  fears  the  frown  of 
his  fellow,  but  speaks  independently  what  he  thinks. 
0->e  morning,  after  breakfasting  with  us,  I  said  to  him, 
'  1  have  come  to  pass  the  winter  with  your  trader,  and 
I  thought  1  would  teach  some  of  the  children  to  read  if 
their  parents  were  pleased.'     *  It  is  a  good  thing  to  in- 
struct the  children,  and  I  do  not  think  an  Indian  in  the 
whole  band  can  be  displeased  or  say  a  word  against  it,' 
replied  he.     A  higher  object  than  this,  even  this  man 
could  not  appreciate  at  pi  esent.    This  was  all  and  even 
more  than  I  anticipated  from  him,  knowing  as  I  did 
something  of  the  past  history,  as  well  as  present  dispo- 
sition of  the  band.     A  few  days  after,  as  an  Indian  was 
leaving  with  his  family  for  his  winter  hunt,  he  came  and 
asked  me  if  I  should  be  pleased  to  have  his  Uttle  boy, 
a  lad  of  ten  ysars,  remain  with  me.    '  Certainly,'  replied 
I,  *  if  I  had  the  means  of  feeding  him.'     The  trader  sit- 
ting by  kindly  offered  to  feed  the  boy,  and  the  father  left 
him  in  my  care,  saying,  '  If  you  will  teach  him  to  read 
as  the  whites  do,  I  should  be  so  glad  I  do  not  know 
what  I  could  do  for  you.'    He  is  a  lad  of  much  promise, 
enthusiastically  Ibnd  of  his  books ,  and  often  expresses  a 
strong  desire  to  learn  to  read  English.     It  is  but  about 
six  weeks  since  he  first  saw  a  book  in  his  own  lauguiige ; 


"•^t^ 


NOTICE  OF  LEECH  LAKE  OJIBWAYS. 


435 


yet  he  now  reads  and  spells  in  two  syllables,  counts  one 
hundred  in  Indian,  and  forty  in  English,  repeats  and 
sings  several  hymns  in  Indian,  and  is  committing  the 
ten  commandments.  The  like  request  was  made  by 
one  or  two  others,  but  I  had  no  means  of  my  own  of 
either  feeding  or  sheltering  them. 

"  You  are  now  prepared  to  hear  me  say  from  what  I 
have  seen,  and  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  the  Loi'd 
hath  opened  a  door,  and  apparently  preparing  the  way 
for  you  t  occupy  this  field  as  soon  as  you  can  furnish 
the  men  and  the  means.  In  my  opinion  the  sooner 
you  occupy  it  the  better.  The  question  has  often  been 
put  to  me  by  the  Indians,  '  Will  you  leave  in  the 
spring?'  '  Will  you  come  back  again  ?'  The  only  reply 
I  could  make  (but  to  an  Indian  of  ambiguous  interpre- 
tation) ,  '  the  Lord  willing,  I  will  return  or  send  some 
other  person.'  That  there  are  ndividuals  who  would 
be  unwilling  to  have  their  children  instructed  at  present, 
1  have  no  doubt.  I  am  not  withwut  hop',  however, 
that  by  kindness  and  a  judicious  course  of  conduct,  their 
l)rejudices  would  soon  give  way.  I  am  equally  confident 
also,  that  there  are  individuals  in  the  band,  and  I  trust  a 
goodly  number,  who  would  be  highly  pleased  to  have  a 
kind  and  judicious  missionary  located  here. 

"  In  relation  to  their  numbers  and  locality,  my  jour- 
nal, now  in  your  possession,  may  perhaps  give  you  all 
necessary  information.  Including  the  small  bojid  on 
i^ear  Island,  excluded  from  the  estimate,  there  are  at 
I'tist  eight  hundred  souls  belonging  to  Leech  Lake. 
The  Winnipeg  and  Upper-Red-Cedar  Lake  bands  are 
distant  but  a  day's  march,  which  in  this  country  and 
by  an  Indian  is  not  a  matter  of  reckoning. 

"  The  means  of  subsistence  which  the  country  aflbrds 


486 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


m. 


[I  f""A 


are  not  inconsiderable.  These  are  fish,  com,  and  rice, 
and  they  are  the  almost  entire  dependence  of  the  traders. 
Fish  is  the  principal.  Not  less  than  thirty  thousand 
were  taken  this  fall  for  the  winter  supply  of  the  four 
houses  here.  They  are  called  tullibees,  the  only  name 
save  the  Indian  (Etonibins)  that  I  have  ever  heard. 
They  will  average  from  one  to  three  pounds  as  they  are 
taken  from  the  water.  The  manner  of  curing  them  is 
merely  to  hang  them  in  the  air  to  freeze — a  simple 
rather  than  a  safe  way.  The  trader  with  whom  I  pass 
the  winter  has  now  upon  the  scaflfold  about  ten  thou- 
sand. For  two  weeks  past  the  weather  has  been  quite 
warm,  and  he  fears,  as  do  his  neighbours,  that  we  shall 
not  be  able  to  use  them.  If  fish  fail,  to  biy  the  least,  we 
shall  all  grow  poor,  if  we  do  not  some  of  us  grow  hungry. 
There  was  comparatively  little  corn  raised  the  past 
season  by  the  Indians,  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fift} 
bushels.  They  are  now  in  the  habit  of  exchanging  corn 
and  rice  with  their  traders  for  strouds  and  blankets, 
which,  happily  for  the  Indians,  have  taken  the  place  of 
liquor,  which  is  now  a  prohibited  article  in  the  trade.  I 
am  credibly  informed  that  the  exceptions  were  rare  in 
which  an  Indian  would  not  give  his  last  sack  of  provi- 
sions for  whiskey.  Wild  rice,  an  article  of  much  de- 
perdence  among  the  Indians,  nearly  failed  the  past 
season  on  account  of  high  water.  Hundreds  of  bushels 
of  this  excellent  food  are  often  gathered  from  the  small 
lakes  in  the  vicinity,  and  from  the  deep  bays  of  this 
lake.  Nowhere  between  Lake  Superior  and  the  head 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  has  the  God  of  providence  so 
bountifully  provided  for  the  subsistence  of  man  as  here. 
In  addition  to  rice  and  several  species  of  fish  which  thix 
lake  aflbrds,  the  soil  is  also  of  a  rich  quality  and  highlj. 


FERTIMTY  OF  SOIL  AT  LEECH  LAKE. 


48r 


susceptible  of  cultivation.  All  the  English  grains,  5* 
my  opinion,  may  be  cultivated  here.  At  present  ar 
Indian's  garden  consists  merely  of  a  few  square  rods  in 
which  he  plants  a  little  corn  and  a  few  squashes.  Very 
few  as  yet  cultivate  the  potato,  probably  for  want  of 
.seed.     Fish,  instead  of  bread,  is  here  the  staff  of  life. 

"  The  traders  here  have  found  it  impr  u,ticable  to  keep 
any  domestic  animal  save  the  dog  Piid  cat.  For  the 
leiist  offence  an  Indian  here  will  sooner  shoot  a  horse 
or  cow  for  revenge  than  a  dog.  Still  a  missionary  by 
the  second  or  third  year  will  be  better  able  to  judge 
than  I  now  can,  with  how  much  security  he  could  make 
the  experiment. 

"  If  the  Indians  can  be  induced  by  example  and  other 
helps  (such  as  seed  and  preparing  the  ground),  to  culti- 
vate more  largely,  they  would,  I  have  no  doubt,  furnish 
provisions  for  their  children  in  part.  If  a  mission  here 
sliould  furnish  the  means  of  feeding,  clothing,  and  in- 
structing the  children,  as  at  Mackinaw,  I  venture  to  say 
there  would  be  no  lack  of  children.  But  such  an  esta- 
blishment is  not  only  impracticable  here ;  it  is  such  as 
would  ill  meet  the  exigencies  of  this  people.  While  a 
mission  proffers  them  aid,  they  should  be  made  to  feel 
tiiat  they  must  try  at  least  to  help  themselves.  It 
should  be  placed  on  a  footing  that  will  instruct  them  in 
the  principles  of  political  economy.  At  present  there  is 
iiiuong  them  nothing  like  personal  rights,  or  individual 
]iioperty,  any  further  than  traps,  guns,  and  kettles  are 
concerned.  They  possess  all  things  in  common.  If  an 
Indian  has  anything  to  eat.,  his  neighbours  are  all  alloAved 
to  share  it  with  him.  While,  therefore,  a  mission  extends 
'.he  hand  of  charity  in  the  means  of  instruction.,  and  occa- 
sionally an  article  of  clothing,  and  perhaps  some  aid.  in 


488 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


procuririfj  the  means  of  subsistence,  it  sTiould  be  only  to 
such  individuals  as  will  themselves  use  the  means  so  far 
as  they  possess  them.  This  might  operate  as  a  stimulus 
with  them  to  cultivate  and  fix  a  value  upon  corn,  rice, 
etc.,  at  least  with  such  as  care  to  have  their  children 
instructed,  rather  than  squander  it  in  feasts  and  feeding 
such  as  are  too  indolent  to  make  a  garden  themselves. 
It  will  require  much  patience,  if  not  a  long  time,  to 
bieak  up  and  eradicate  habits  so  inveterate.  An  Indian 
cannot  eat  alone.  If  he  kills  a  pheasant,  his  neighbours 
must  come  in  for  a  portion,  small  indeed,  but  so  it  is. 
As  it  respects  furnishing  them  with  seeds  and  imple- 
ments of  husbandry,  this  may  be  done,  but  only  to  a 
certain  extent.  An  Indian  would  most  surely  take 
advantage  of  your  liberality.  Every  one  would  come, 
the  last  expecting  to  be  served  as  well,  if  not  better, 
than  the  first.  The  mention  of  a  single  fact  may  throw 
sufficient  light  upon  this  trait  in  Indian  character. 
While  at  Sandy  Lake,  on  my  way  here,  I  presented  a 
little  boy  with  a  shirt.  Not  half  an  hour  after  he  had 
gone  out,  no  less  than  half  a  dozen  others  came  for  the 
«ame  favoui.  But  more,  I  have  known  boys  who  had 
a  shirt  pull  it  off  and  throw  it  aside,  while  they  would 
come  expecting  to  get  a  new  one,  in  case  you  had  made 
a  present  to  one  who  had  none.  They  are  so  jealous, 
that  the  utmost  precaution  must  be  observed  in  making 
a  present  of  the  least  article  to  one  that  you  cannot 
make  to  another. 

"  So  fai-  as  my  observation  extends,  polygamy  is  more 
common  among  this  band  than  any  other  with  which 
I  am  acquainted.  Not  only  the  chiefs,  but  all  the  best 
hunters  who  are  able  to  clothe,  in  their  miserable  man- 
ner, more  than  one  woman,  keep  from  two  to  five.    One 


HOUSEKEEPINO  OF  LEECH  LAKE  MISSIONARY. 


480 


individual  keeps  three  who  are  sisters;  and  this  not 
being  sulHicient,  has  a  fovrth  woman." 

In  the  year  1834,  Mr.  Boutwell  was  married  at  Fond 
du  Lac,  to  an  interesting  and  educated  Anglojibway 
lady,  who  died  a  few  years  ago.  The  experiences  of 
married 'life  at  Leech  Lake,  are  narrated  in  his  journal 
published  in  the  Missionary  Herald,  and  are  probably  the 
first  housekeeping  of  a  couple  married  according  to  the 
rites  of  Christianity,  beyond  the  walls  of  Fort  Snelling, 
in  Minnesota. 

"  The  clerk  very  kindly  invited  me  to  occupy  a  part 
of  his  quarters,  until  I  could  prepare  a  place  to  put 
myself  I  thought  best  to  decline  his  offer ;  and  on  the 
thirteenth  instant,  removed  my  effects,  and  commenced 
housekeeping  in  a  bark  lodge.  Then,  here  I  was,  with- 
out a  quart  of  com  or  Indian  rice  to  eat  myself,  or  give 
ray  man,  as  I  was  too  late  to  purchase  any  of  the  mere 
pittance  which  was  to  be  bought  or  sold,  x-iy  nets, 
under  God,  were  my  sole  dependence  to  feed  myself 
and  hired  man.  I  had  a  barrel  and  a  half  of  flour,  and 
ninety  pounds  of  pork  only  before  me  for  the  winter. 
But  on  the  seventeenth  of  the  same  month,  I  sent  my 
fisherman  ten  miles  distant  to  gather  our  winter's  stock 
of  provisions  out  of  the  deep.  In  the  mean  time,  I 
must  build  a  house,  or  winter  in  an  Indian  lodge. 
Iliither  than  do  worse,  I  shouldenni  my  axe  and  led  the 
way,  having  procured  a  man  of  the  trader  to  help  me ; 
and  in  about  ten  days  had  my  timbers  cut  and  on  the 
ground  ready  to  put  up. 

"On  the  twelfth  of  November,  I  recalled  mj'  fisher- 
man, and  found  on  our  scaffold  nearly  six  thousand 
tulibees  (a  kind  of  fish  found  in  the  north-western 
lakes),  for  our  winter  supplies. 


■^■^%.<  ' 


I4C 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


"On  the  second  of  December,  I  quit  my  bark  lodge 
for  a  mud- walled  house;  the  timbers  of  which,  I  not 
only  assisted  in  cutting,  but  also  carrying  on  my  back, 
until  the  rheumatism,  to  say  the  least,  threatened  to 
double  and  twist  me,  and  I  was  obliged  to  desist.  My 
house,  when  I  began  to  occupy  it,  had  a  door,  three 
windows,  and  a  mud  chimney;  but  neither  chair,  stool, 
nor  bedstead.  A  box  served  for  the  former,  and  an  In- 
dian mat  for  the  two  latter.  A  rude  figure,  indeed,  my 
house  would  make  in  a  New  England  city,  with  its 
deer-skin  windows,  a  floor  that  had  never  seen  a  plane, 
or  a  saw,  and  a  mud  chimney;  but  it  is,  nevertheless, 
comfortable. 

"  When  I  arrived,  the  Indians,  as  I  expected,  were 
mostly  off  for  their  fall  hunt.  As  their  gardens  were 
nearly  destroyed  last  summer  by  the  worm,  and  rice 
again  failed,  their  families  were  obliged  to  go  to  the 
deer  country,  ten  days'  march  from  us.  This  circum- 
stance has  tended  to  remove  them,  for  the  time  being, 
from  our  intercourse  and  influence.  March  will  bring 
them  back  and  settle  them  down  around  us,  at  least  the 
major  part  of  them,  as  they  make  sugar  and  cultivate 
little  gardens  here  and  there,  where  each  family  chooses. 

"  Among  those  whom  I  have  seen,  is  the  Elder  Bro- 
ther, the  second  chief,  who  expressed  his  satisfaction 
that  I  had  returned,  and  regretted  that  he  was  not 
present  at  my  arrival,  while  there  remained  a  few  men 
with  whom  he  would  have  smoked  and  spoken  on  the 
occasion.  The  first  chief,  a  few  days  since,  sent  me 
word  that  he  would  call  his  young  men  together  in  the 
spring,  when  he  returns  from  his  hunt.  Thus  far  these 
two  men  have  taken  an  honourable  and  decided  course, 
so  far  iis  precept  can  go,  and  have  given  assurance  that 


-^msti 


FIRST  MISSIONS  ESTABLISHED  AMONG  DAHKOTAHS.       441 

this  should  be  followed  by  practice,  in  ciase  a  permanent 
missionary  was  located  here.  What,  however,  the 
spring  will  decide,  when  the  good,  bad,  and  indifferent 
all  meet  together,  I  do  not  pretend  to  foretell.  The 
cause  is  God's,  and  he  will  order  all  things  well." 

The  Jesuits  considered  the  Dahkotahs  as  the  most 
fierce  of  all  the  tribes,  and  did  not  venture  their  lives 
in  their  midst,  except  for  a  few  months  by  the  side  of  a 
French  officer. 

It  was  not  till  the  year  1834,  that  any  formal  attempt 
was  made  to  instruct  them  in  the  arts,  letters,  or  in  the 
morality  r,f  the  Bible.  The  Eev.  Samuel  W.  Pond,  at 
that  time  a  layir.an  and  school  teacher  in  Galena,  Illi- 
nois, hearing  accounts  of  the  Dahkotahs  from  Red  river 
einigran  ts,  became  interested  in  their  welf  ire,  and  wrote 
to  h  18  brother  GMeon  H.  Pond,  then  a  young  man  in 
their  native  placef  in  Connecticut,  proposing  that  they 
should  cast  their  lot  with  the  Dahkotahs,  and  try  to  do 
them  good. 

The  proposition  was  accepted,  aati  in  the  spring  of 
1834,  provided  with  neither  brash,  nor  scrip,  nor  purse, 
he  joined  his  brother  at  Galena,  ami  embarking  on  board 
of  a  steamer,  they  arrived  at  Fort  Snelling  ii»  May. 

They  stated  their  plans  to  Mr  Taliaferro,  iUo  Dah- 
kotah  agent,  and  were  treMted  with  kindness  bv  him 
and  Major  Blips,  the  comn  .inderof  the  fort.  Without 
aid  or  encouragtmerT  from  an-  miv-ionfti  societ  ,  they 
pro(;eeded  to  the  <  i  >rt     f  Lt    e  Calhoun,    m  the 

banks  of  v  ach  md  i^ake  iiarriet,  dyroH  small  bands 
of  Dahkotahs,  and  with  their  own  hands  er«;cted  a  rude 
cabin  on  the  site  of  a  building  in  recent  times  occupied 
hy  Charles  Musou. 

About  this  period,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and 


'I-. 


,i    *»'  •«« 


M2 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


graduate  of  Jeflferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  the  Rev. 
T.  S.  Williamson,  M.  D.,  who,  previous  to  his  ordinar 
tion,  had  been  a  respectable  physician  in  Ohio,  was 
appointed  by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
Foreign  Missions  to  visit  the  Dahkotahs,  with  the  view 
of  ascertaining  what  could  be  done  to  introduce  Christ- 
ian instruction.  Having  made  inquiries  at  Prairie  du 
Chien  and  Fort  Snelling,  he  reported  that  the  field 
was  favourable.  The  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
churches,  through  their  joint  missionary  society,  ap- 
pointed the  following  persons  to  labour  in  Minnesota : 
Rev.  Thomas  S.  Williamson,  M.  D.,  missionary  and  phy- 
sician ;  Rev.  J.  D.  Stevens,  missionary ;  Alexander  Hug- 
gins,  farmer ;  and  their  wives ;  Miss  Sarah  Poage,  and 
Lucy  C.  Stevens,  teachers;  who  were  prevented  during 
the  year  1834,  by  the  state  of  navigation,  from  entering 
upon  their  work. 

During  the  winter  of  1834-35,  a  pious  officer  of  the 
army  exercised  a  good  influence  on  his  fellow  officers, 
and  soldiers  under  their  command.  In  the  absence  of 
a  chaplain  or  ordained  minister,  he,  like  General  Have- 
lock  of  the  British  army  in  India,  was  accustomed  not 
only  to  drill  the  soldiers,  but  to  meet  them  in  his  own 
quarters,  and  "  reason  with  them  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance, and  judgment  to  come."' 

In  the  month  of  May,  1835,  Dr.  Williamson  and 
mission  band  arrived  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  were  hospita- 
bly received  by  the  officers  of  the  garrison,  the  Indian 
agent,  and  Mr.  Sibley,  then  a  young  man,  who  had  re- 


'  The  growling  Englishman  Feii- 
therstonhfiugh,  whose  book  has 
been  noticed,  became  very  much 
offended  because  this  o£Scer  did  not 


as  he  thought  sufficiently  notice  him, 
and  vents  his  spleen  by  calling  him 
a  long,  lean,  canting,  "  psalm-Binging 


FIRflT  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNION  IN  MINNESOTA. 


44& 


tem- 


cently  taken  charge  of  the  trading-post  at  Mendota. 
()n  the  second  Sabbath  in  June,  a  Presbyterian  church 
was  organized  in  one  of  the  company  rooms  of  the 
fort,  and  the  communion  was  administered  for  the  first 
time  in  Minnesota  to  twenty-two  persons  of  European 
extraction,  composed  of  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army, 
those  engaged  in  the  fur  trade,  and  the  mission  families. 
The  late  Major  Ogden,  of  the  army,  who  died  at  Fort 
Riley,  here  professed  his  faith  in  Christianity.  Two 
posts  were  selected  by  the  missionaries  as  stations. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Stevens  and  family  proceeded  to  Lake 
Harriet,  in  Hennepin  county,  and  erected  a  house  near 
the  property  of  Eli  Pettijohn ;  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson and  wife,  Mr.  Huggins,  the  farmer,  and  wife, 
and  Miss  Poage,  proceeded  to  Lac  qui  Parle.  After  a 
fatiguing  journey  of  seventeen  days,  without  meeting 
man  or  beast,  they  arrived  at  the  lake  on  the  ninth  of 
July,  and  were  warmly  welcomed  by  the  well  known 
trader,  Renville,  whose  name  is  attached  to  one  of  the 
counties  of  Minnesota. 

Immediately  after  their  arrival  at  the  stations,  the 
missionaries  began  to  study  the  language  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs,  and  teach  the  children  what  they  could.  In  a 
letter  to  the  Cincinnati  Journal,  written  in  November, 
1835,  Dr.  Williamson  describes  Dahkotah  habits  as 
follows : — 

"  Gathering  the  corn,  as  well  as  whatever  else  pen  ains 
to  cultivating  the  earth,  is  considered  to  be  the  business 
of  the  women.  They  gather  it  in  their  blankets,  and 
carry  it  to  the  scaffold,  on  which  they  stand  to  drive 
off  the  birds.  Here  it  is  thrown  in  a  heap  exposed  to 
the  sun,  till  the  husks  begin  to  wilt.  These  husks  are 
then  stripped  from  the  corn,  but  most  of  them  still  left 


444 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


attachecf  to  the  cob.  The  husks  of  many  ears,  still  fast 
tx5  the  ear,  are  then  platted  together  into  a  long  string, 
by  which  the  corn  is  suspended  over  a  hole  to  dry. 
After  hanging  for  several  weeks,  exposed  to  the  weather 
till  it  is  entirely  freed  from  moisture,  the  com  is  threshed 
off  the  cobs,  and  put  in  bags  made  of  skins  of  small  fibres 
of  lynn  bark  woven  together  with  the  fingers. 

"  The  smallest  and  most  urripe  ears  are  prepared  in 
a  different  way.  The  husks  being  entirely  torn  off, 
they  are  boiled.  Then  the  corn  is  shelled,  and  dried  by 
being  strewed  thin  where  it  will  be  exposed  to  the  direct 
rays  of  the  sun.  When  thoroughly  dried  it  is  put  in 
bags  same  as  the  other.  When  the  com  is  sufficiently 
dried  it  is  put  in  sacks  containing  from  one  to  two 
bushels  each;  and  put  away  in  what  are  called  ca  ■'< 
by  the  traders.  These  are  made  by  digging  a  circular 
hole  about  eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  perpendicularly 
one  or  two  feet  deep,  and  then  enlarging  it  in  the  form 
of  an  earth  oven  till  of  sufficient  size  to  contain  what 
they  have  to  put  into  it.  They  are  usually  five  or  six 
feet  in  diameter  at  the  bottom,  and  as  much  in  depth. 
The  bottom  and  sides  are  lined  with  dry  grtiss,  on  which 
the  sacks  of  com  are  placed.  Dry  grass  is  also  put  on 
top  of  the  corn  till  it  is  filled,  except  the  perpendicular 
part.  This  is  filled  with  earth  which  is  stamped  down 
firmly.  Corn  thus  laid  away  keeps  dry  and  good  from 
September  till  April  under  ground. 

"  Flesh  of  every  kind  is  such  a  rarity  with  the  Dah- 
kotahs  of  these  parts,  that  they  eat  every  kind  of  quad- 
rupeds and  fowls  they  can  obtain.  Npt  only  deer,  bear, 
and  squirrels,  grouse,  ducks,  and  geese,  but  muskrats. 
otters,  wolves,  foxes  and  badgers,  cranes,  hawks,  and 
owls.     They  eat  not  only  what  is  pt'operly  called  the 


WEEPING   AND  WAILINQ  AT  LAKE  HARRIET. 


44J 


flesh  of  these  animals,  but  every  part  which  can  be 
supposed  to  contain  nutriment, — the  heads,  feet,  en- 
trails, and  the  skins,  if  they  be  not  valuable  as  an  article 
of  traffic.  After  picking  the  llesh  off  tht  larger  bones, 
they  break  them  and  boil  them  to  get  any  little  oil  they 
may  contain  to  mix  with  their  corn.  Exclusive  of  their 
com,  their  food  consists  in  winter  chiefly  of  niuskrats, 
badgers,  otters,  and  raccoons ;  in  the  spring,  of  fi-sh,  and 
roots  which  the  earth  produces  spontaneously,  with  some 
(lucks;  In  the  summer,  roots,  fish,  wild  pigeons,  and 
lues ;  in  autumn,  wild  ducks,  geese,  and  muskrats." 
Ab  there  had  never  been  a  chaplain  at  Fort  Snelling, 
the  Rev.  J.  D.  Stevens,  the  missionary  at  Lake  Harriet, 
preached  on  Sundays  to  the  Presbyterian  church,  re- 
cently organized.  V  ting  on  January  tweii  y-seventh, 
IS'jb,  he  says,  in  relu     m  to  hif-  'ield  of  labour : — 

••Yesterday  a  portii^ii  of  this  hand  of  Indians,  who 
had  been  some  time  absent  from  this  village,  retiirned. 
One  of  the  number  (a  woman)  wa«  informed  that  a 
brother  of  hers  had  died  during  her  absence.  He  A\a8 
not  at  this  village,  b  it  with  another  band,  nd  the  in- 
formation had  just  rea<  bed  here.  In  the  evening  they 
set  up  a  most  piteous  crying,  or  rather  wailing,  which 
continued,  with  some  little  cessations,  during  the  night. 
The  sister  of  the  deceased  brother  would  repeat,  tinies 
withou*^^  .  iber,  words  which  may  be  thus  translated 
into  E]..:;l:s  'Come,  my  brother,  I  shall  see  you  no 
more  fo  *  r.'  The  night  was  extremely  cold — the 
thermomet^i  standing  from  ten  to  twenty  below  zero. 
Alx)ut  sunrise,  next  morning,  preparation  was  made  for 
ptrformiug  the  ceremony  of  cutting  their  flesh,  in  order 
to  give  relief  to  their  grief  of  mind.  The  snow  was 
removed  from  the  frozen  ground  over  about  as  large  a 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

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HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


flpace  as  would  be  required  to  place  a  small  Indian 
lodge  or  wigwam.  In  the  centre  a  very  small  fire  was 
kindled  up,  not  to  give  warmth  apparently,  but  to 
cause  a  smoke.  The  sister  of  the  deceased,  who  was 
the  chief  mourner,  came  out  of  her  lodge  followed  by 
three  other  women,  who  repaired  to  the  place  prepared. 
They  were  all  barefooted,  and  nearly  naked.  Here 
they  set  up  a  most  bitter  lamentation  and  crying,  ming- 
ling their  wailings  with  the  words  before  mentioned. 
The  principal  mourner  commenced  gashing  or  cutting 
her  ankles  and  legs  up  to  the  knees  with  a  sharp  stone, 
until  her  legs  were  covered  with  gore  and  flowing  blood ; 
then  in  like  manner  her  arms,  shoulders,  and  breast. 
The  others  cut  themi  "Ives  in  the  same  way,  but  not  so 
severely.  On  this  poor  infatuated  woman  I  presume 
there  were  more  than  a  hundred  long  deep  gashes  in  the 
flesh.  I  saw  the  operation,  and  the  blood  instantly  fol- 
lowed the  instrument,  and  flowed  down  upon  the  flesh. 
She  appeared  frantic  with  grief  Through  the  pain  of 
her  wounds,  the  loss  of  blood,  exhaustion  of  strength 
by  fasting,  loud  and  long-continued  and  bitter  groans, 
or  the  extreme  cold  upon  her  almost  naked  and  lacerated 
body,  she  soon  sunk  upon  the  frozen  grcmd,  shaking  as 
wim  a  violent  fit  of  the  ague,  and  writhing  in  apparent 
agony.  'Surely,'  I  exclaimed,  as  I  beheld  the  bloody 
scene,  '  the  tender  mercies  of  the  heathen  are  cruelty !' 

"  The  little  church  at  the  fort  begins  to  manifest 
something  of  a  missionary  spirit.  Their  contributions 
are  considerable  for  so  small  a  number.  I  hope  they 
will  not  only  be  willing  to  contribute  liberally  of  their 
substance,  but  will  give  themselves,  at  least  some  of 
them,  to  the  missionary  work. 

"  The  surgeon  of  the  military  post.  Dr.  Jarvis,  has 


0.  H.  POND.— 8.  W.  POND.— 8.  R.  RIQGS. 


4iJ 


t)een  very  assiduous  in  his  attentions  to  us  in  our  sick- 
ness, and  has  very  generously  made  a  donation  to  our 
board  of  twenty-five  dollars,  being  the  amount  of  his 
medical  services  in  our  family. 

"  On  the  nineteenth  instant  we  commenced  a  school 
with  six  full  Indian  children,  at  least  so  in  all  their 
liabits,  dress,  etc. ;  not  one  could  speak  a  word  of  any 
language  but  Sioux.  The  school  has  since  increased  to 
the  number  of  twenty-five.  I  am  now  collecting  and 
arranging  words  for  a  dictionary.  Mr.  Pond  is  assidu- 
ously employed  in  preparing  a  small  spelling-book,  which 
we  may  forward  next  mail  for  printing. 

"  Since  the  Indians  have  returned  to  their  village,  I 
have  felt  it  important  to  spend  the  Sabbath  at  the  star 
tion  generally.  I  have  determined  on  going  to  the  fort 
only  on  one  Sabbath  in  each  month.  We  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  collect  the  Indians  together,  to  give  them 
religious  instructions  on  the  Sabbath,  for  want  of  an 
interpreter." 

During  the  year  1836  a  Presbyterian  church  was 
organized  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  and  the  bois  brul^  trader, 
Renville,  became  a  member,  and  subsequently  his  wife, 
the  first  pure  Dahkotah  that  ever  professed,  and  the 
first  that  ever  died  in  the  Christian  faith. 

During  the  year  1837  Mr  G.  H.  Pond  ofiered  his  ser- 
vices as  farmer  and  teacher  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  and  Mr. 
S.  W.  Pond  became  a  teacher  in  the  mission  at  Lake 
Harriet.  The  mission  was  also  strengthened  by  the 
arrival  of  Rev.  Stephen  R.  Riggs,  a  graduate  of  Jefier- 
son  College,  Pennsylvania,  and  his  wife.  After  remain- 
ing some  time  at  Lake  Harriet,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riggs  went 
to  Lac  qui  Parle. 


WP 


Its 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA 


CHAPTER   XXI. 


Minnesota  has  ever  been  a  favourite  ranging-ground 
of  the  buffalo.  This  animal  does  not  appear  to  have 
roamed  in  what  is  now  called  Canada,  and,  previous  to 
the  visit  of  Perrot  to  the  region  of  Lake  Michigan,  but 
little  was  known  concerning  its  habits.  Two  centuries 
ago,  in  a  description  of  New  York,  it  is  said  "  traders 
who  come  from  a  great  distance  make  mention  of  lions* 
skins,  which  will  not  be  bartered  because  they  are  used 
for  clothing,  being  much  warmer  than  others."  These 
supposed  lions*  skins  were  evidently  buffalo  robea. 
Joliet  and  Marquette,  descending  the  Mississippi,  in 
1673,  saw  these  animals;  and  the  latter,  in  his  journal, 
says : — 

"  We  call  them  wild  cattle  because  they  are  like  our 
domestic  cattle ;  they  are  not  longer,  but  almost  as  big 
again,  and  more  corpulent ;  our  men  having  killed  one, 
three  of  us  had  considerable  trouble  in  moving  it.  The 
head  is  very  large,  the  forehead  flat,  and  a  foot  and  a 
half  broad  between  the  horns,  which  are  exactly  like 
our  cattle,  except  that  they  are  black  and  much  larger. 
Under  the  neck  there  is  a  kind  of  large  crop  hanging 
down,  and  on  the  back  a  pretty  high  hump.  The  whole 
head,  the  neck,  and  part  of  the  shoulders  are  covered 


RED  RIVER  UART8.— HUNTERS. 


449 


with  a  great  mane  like  a  horse's ;  it  is  at  least  a  foot 
long,  which  renders  them  hideous,  and,  falling  over  their 
eyes,  prevents  their  seeing  before  them.  The  rest  of 
the  body  is  covered  with  a  coarse,  curly  hair  like  the 
wool  of  our  sheep,  but  much  stronger  and  thicker.  It 
fulls  in  summer,  and  the  skin  is  then  as  soft  as  velvet. 
At  this  time  the  Indians  employ  the  skins  to  make 
beautiful  robes,  which  they  paint  with  various  colours." 

The  first  engraving  of  the  buffalo  is  found  in  the  book 
of  travels  of  Hennepin.  In  1677  La  Salle  was  in 
France,  and  represented  to  Colbert,  the  minister,  that 
he  wished  to  continue  discoveries  where  commerce  in 
the  skins  and  wool  of  the  buffalo  mig'it  establish  a  great 
trade  and  support  powerful  colonies. 

For  many  years  the  half-breeds  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  have  subsisted  by  hunting  the  buffalo  on  the 
plains  of  Minnesota,  and  their  encroachments  on  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  have  been  a  just  ground 
of  complaint.'  With  the  commencement  of  each  spring 
those  hunters  commence  preparations  for  their  campaign, 
and  about  the  month  of  June  they  march  forth  to 
the  plains.  Their  carts  are  truly  primitive,  having 
the  appearance  of  being  made  before  the  days  of  Tubal 
Cain.  Not  a  particle  of  iron  faster iS  them  together. 
The  wheels  are  without  tires,  and  wooden  pegs  take  the 
place  of  iron  spikes.  Into  the  shafts  an  ox  is  harnessed 
with  gearing  made  of  raw  hide,  and  with  this  vehicle 
they  travel  hundreds  of  miles.     Women  and  children 


'  The  following  list  gives  an  idea 
nf  the  extent  of  the  hunting  by 
BriiiBb  half-breeds  in  Minnesota. 
The  number  of  carts  for  the  first  trip 
of  ench  3'eftr  is  given  : — 
29 


In  1825,  there  were  680  carts. 
"  1830,     "        "     820    " 
"  1835,     "        "     970    " 
"  1840,     "        "    1210    " 


""■m 


450 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


accompany  the  hunters,  and,  as  they  wind  over  the 
prairies  in  their  gay  hunting  attire,  they  appear  like  bold 
crusaders  on  a  pilgrimage.  When  they  halt  for  the 
night,  the  carts  are  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  circle,  with 
the  shafts  projecting  outward,  and  within  this  wooden 
cordon  the  tents  are  pitched  at  one  end,  and  the  animals 
tethered  at  the  other  exti'emity — when  danger  is  anti- 
cipated. The  camp  is  under  complete  organization.  At 
a  meeting  of  the  hunters,  chiefs  are  nominated,  one  of 
whom  acts  as  chief  captain.  The  rules  formed  by  the 
council  of  captains  are  implicitly  obeyed.'  At  the  hoistr 
ing  of  the  flag  in  the  morning  all  hands  are  "  up  and 
doing,"  and  at  the  lowering  of  the  flag  all  halt  for  the 
night  and  pitch  their  tents.  The  flag,  to  these  modern 
sons  of  Ishmael,  is  what  the  pillar  of  cloud  was  to  the 
camp  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

On  tl:3  fourth  of  July,  1840,  there  was  a  grand  buffalo 
chase  near  the  Cheyenne  river  in  Minnesota.  An  eye- 
witness '  describes  the  scene : — 

"  At  eight  o'clock,  the  whole  cavalcade  made  for  the 
buffalo;  first  at  a  slow  trot,  then  at  a  gallop,  and  lastly 
at  full  speed.     Their  advance  was  on  a  dead  level;  ,the 


'  In  1840,  the  following  were  some 
of  the  rules  of  the  camp,  as  deter- 
mined at  Pembina : — 

1.  No  buffalo  to  be  run  on  the 
Sabbath  day. 

2.  No  party  to  fork  off,  lag  be- 
hind, or  go  before,  without  permis- 
sion. 

3  No  person  to  run  buffalo  before 
the  general  order. 

4.  Erery  captain  with  his  men,  in 
turn  to  patrol  the  camp  and  keep 
guard. 

5.  For  the   first  trespass  against 


these  laws,  the  offender  to  bare  his 
saddle  and  bridle  cut  up. 

6.  For  the  second  offence,  the  coat 
to  be  taken  off  the  offender's  back, 
and  cut  up. 

7.  For  the  third  offence,  offendet 
to  be  flowed. 

8.  Any  person  convicted  of  theft, 
even  to  the  value  of  •<ii  sinew,  to  be 
brought  to  the  middle  of  the  Damp, 
and  the  crier  to  call  out  his  or  her 
name  three  times,  adding  the  word 
"  Thief,"  at  each  time. 

'  Alexander  Ross. 


BUFFALO  HUNT  IN  l(i40. 


451 


plain  having  no  hollow  or  shelter  of  any  kind  to  con- 
ceal their  approach.  When  within  four  or  five  hundred 
yards,  the  bulls  began  to  curve  their  tails  and  paw  the 
ground,  and  in  a  moment  more  the  herd  take  flight, 
and  the  hunters  burst  in  among  them  and  fire.  Those 
who  have  seen  a  squadron  of  horse  dash  into  battle 
may  imagine  the  scene.  The  earth  seemed  to  tremble 
when  the  horses  started ;  but  when  the  animals  fled,  it 
was  like  the  shock  of  an  earthquake.  The  air  was 
darkened,  and  rapid  firing  at  last  became  more  faint,  as 
the  hunters  became  more  distant." 

During  the  day,  at  least  two  thousand  buffaloes  must 
have  been  killed,  for  there  were  brought  in  to  the  camp 
that  evening  1375  tongues.  The  hunters  are  exceed- 
ingly expert ;  with  their  mouth  full  of  balls,  they  load 
and  fire  on  the  gallop.  The  carts  follow  out  after  the 
hunters  and  bring  in  the  carcasses,  and  for  several  days 
there  is  a  busy  scene  in  camp.  Much  of  the  meat  is 
useless  in  consequence  of  the  heat  of  the  season ;  but 
the  skins  are  dressed,  the  tongues  cured,  and  pemmican 
prepared.' 

The  last  buffalo  seen  below  St.  Paul  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, was  in  1832,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Trempe  k 
I'Eau. 

The  history  of  Minnesota  is  now  beginning  to  be 
identified  with  those  who  are  its  citizens,  and  still  in 
the  vigour  of  life. 

The  duty  of  the  historian  is  simply  to  narrate  facts; 


'  Pemmican  is  a  8tapl»  to  the  Sacks  of  raw  hide  are  then  made, 

hunter  and  voyageur.     It  is  made  by  into  which  the  preparation  is  poured 

Doiling  tlie  tallow  of  the  buffalo,  and  in  ^  fluid  state, 
tnising    with    it    shreds    of    meat. 


^mm 


152 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


BJid  his  views  concerning  living  men,  and  their  public 
acts,  arc  not  to  be  expected. 

During  the  year  1836,  a  Mr.  Dickson,  styling  himself 
General  of  the  Indian  Liberating  Army,  with  several 
others,  appeared  in  the  Red  River  settlement,  and 
endeavoured  to  enlist  the  settlers  in  a  project  to  unite 
all  the  Indian  nations  under  a  common  government,  of 
which  he  was  to  be  the  head,  with  the  title  of  Monte- 
zuma the  Second.  His  officers  were  dressed  in  showy 
uniforms  and  glittering  epaulettes.'  Befor'?  they  arrived 
at  Red  river,  the  cold  weather  came,  and  the  leader  had 
his  toes  frozen  off,  which  crippled  him  as  well  as  the 
whole  enterprise. 

The  latter  part  of  the  following  winter,  one  of  the 
expedition,  Martin  McLeod,  who  has  since  become  one 
of  our  most  active  citizens,  and  whose  name  is  attached 
to  a  county,  left  Red  river  for  the  United  States,  on 
snow  shoes.  His  two  companions,  a  Polander  and  an 
Irishman,  both  perished  in  a  snow  storm  near  Cheyenne 
river.  He  and  his  guide,  Pierre  Bottineau,*  were  twenty- 
six  days  without  seeing  a  living  soul ;  and  after  being 
five  days  without  food,  ate  one  of  their  dogs,  and  at 
last  reached  the  trading-post  of  the  Hon.  Joseph  R. 
Brown,  at  Lake  Traverse. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1837,  missionaries  sent 
out  by  the  Evangelical  Society  at  Lausanne,  Switzer- 
land, arrived  and  located  at  Red  Wing  and  Wapashaw 
villages ;  but  after  a  few  years  of  toil,  they  abandoned 
the  attempt  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  Dahko- 
tah.     About  the  same  time  a  Methodist  mission  was 


*  Martin's  Hudson's  Bay,  London. 


IMPORTANT  TREATIES  IN  1887. 


458 


commenced  at  Kaposia,  afterwards  moved  to  Red  Rock, 
after  a  large  expenditure,  was  finally  abandoned. 

The  year  1837,  forms  an  era  in  the  history  of  Min- 
nesota, as  the  first  steps  were  then  taken  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  woodman's  axe,  and  the  splash  of  the 
mill-wheel. 

Governor  Dodge,  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  convened 
the  Ojibways  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  made  a  treaty  by 
which  the  pine  forests  of  the  valley  of  the  St.  Croix 
and  its  tributaries  were  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

A  deputation  of  Dahkotahs  the  same  year  proceeded 
to  Washington,  and  in  the  month  of  September,  con- 
cluded a  treaty  by  which  they  ceded  all  their  lands  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  including  all  of  Washington  and 
Ramsey  counties,  to  the  United  States. 

J.  B.  Faribault  and  Pelagie,  his  wife,  presented  a 
claim  to  the  United  States  government  for  the  island  in 
front  of  Fort  Snelling,  which  Pike  had  purchased.  The 
claim  was  based  upon  a  grant  made  by  the  Dahkotahs 
in  1820.' 

After  the  treaties  with  the  Indians  were  concluded, 
Messrs.  Baker,  Taylor,  loid  Franklin  Steele  made  a 
claim,  and  commenced  the  improvement  of  the  valuable 
water-power  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix. 

Among  visiters  of  note  this  year  was  the  distinguished 
novelist,  Maryatt.     Like  all  mere  tourists,  he  has  been 


'  Extract  from  papers  presented  to 
the  secretary  of  war  by  Alexis  Bailly, 
and  S.  C.  Stambaugh,  prosecutors 
uf  the  claim.  Grant  confirmed  by 
Indians  August  ninth,  1820: — 

"  Also  we  do  hereby  reserve,  give, 
^rant  and  convey,  to  Pelagi  Farri- 
bault,  wife  of  John   Baptist  Farri- 


bault,  and  to  her  heirs  for  ever,  the 
island  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  St. 
Pierre,  being  the  large  island,  con- 
taining by  estimation,  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres.  ****** 
The  said  Pelagi  Farribault  I  ug  the 
daughter  of  Francois  Kinic  by  a 
woman  of  our  nation." 


464 


HI8T0RV  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Ijotrayed  into  inaccuracies ;  and  yet  it  is  interesting  to- 
note  the  impression  produf«d  by  an  intelligent  mind  at 
that  period — when  the  country  was  still  in  possession  of 
savages. 

The  winter  of  1837-38  was  one  of  suffering  among 
the  Dahkotahs  of  the  Upper  Minnesota.  Famine,  and 
the  loathsome  disease  small-pox,  made  its  appearance 
at  Lake  Traverse,  and  produced  wailing,  weeping,  and 
gnashing  of  teeth.  The  disease  was  communicated  by 
some  who  had  been  on  a  steamboat  on  the  Missouri, 
and  they  were  swept  off  by  scores.  In  addition  to 
famine  and  pestilence,  the  war  whoop  was  again  raised. 

On  the  first  of  April,  1838,  a  small  hunting  party 
left  Lac  qui  Parle,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Gideon  H.  Pond,, 
who  was  desirous  of  becoming  more  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  Dahkotah  modes  of  life.  In  the  fall 
of  1837,  Hole-in-the-day,  a  distinguished  Ojibway  chief,, 
father  of  the  young  man  who  now  bears  that  name,, 
liad  smoked  the  calumet  with  the  Dahkotahs,  and 
promised  to  meet  them  the  next  spring,  and  make 
them  presents  for  the  privilege  of  hunting  on  their 
lands. 

After  travelling  for  a  few  days,  the  hunting  party 
separated,  and  a  portion  proceeded  in  advance.  Three 
lodges  of  men,  women,  and  children  remained.  The 
afternoon  of  the  day  of  the  division  of  the  party,  eleven 
Ojibways  came  to  the  advance  lodges.  They  were  re- 
ceived as  friends :  two  dogs  were  killed,  and  they  feasted. 
Hilarity  ended,  the  Dahkotahs  lay  down  to  sleep.  When 
all  was  silent,  the  guests  arose  and  scalped  men,  women, 
children,  and  infants,  nearly  the  whole  camp.  Among 
those  who  escaped,  was  a  mother.  While  fleeing,  her 
babe  was  shot  in  her  arms,  and   she  was  wounded. 


nm 


Q.  H.  POND  BURIES  SLAUUHTERED  INDIANS. 


455 


Hastening  behind  a  tree,  she  eluded  the  enemy,  and 
watched  them  in  their  fiendish  work. 

After  they  left  the  scene,  she  returned  to  the  lodges, 
and  remained  till  the  dawn  of  day.  Fastening  two 
poles,  after  the  manner  of  Indians,  to  a  horse,  she 
placed  on  them  a  wounded  boy,  and  her  scalped  little 
ones,  and  proceeded  in  search  of  the  party  that  had 
gone  ahead.  At  length  finding  them,  she  told  her  tale 
of  woe.  Mr.  Pond,  in  company  with  an  Indian,  imme- 
diately reprared  to  the  scene  of  carnage,  and  found 
several  boaies  who  had  passed  from  the  sleep  of  life  to 
the  sleep  of  death,  without  opening  their  eyelids. 
Hastily  digging  a  grave,  the  severed  limbs,  heads,  and 
mangled  bodies  of  eleven  Dahkotahs  were  interred,  and 
covered  with  a  buffalo  skin  tSSpSe.  On  the  fourteenth 
of  April  the  survivors  returned  to  Lac  qui  Parle,  and 
the  intelligence  caused  "  wailing  and  weeping." 

In  the  month  of  August,  a  war  party  left  Lac  qui 
Parle  to  retaliate  for  the  April  slaughter.  Discovering 
five  or  six  Ojibways,  they  attempted  to  scalp  them,  but 
all  escaped  their  hands  but  a  woman.  About  to  become 
a  mother,  she  swam  a  stream  with  difficulty,  and  sank 
down  on  the  opposite  bank  exhausted.  Her  pursuers 
soon  tore  her  scalp  from  her  head,  and  then,  ripping 
open  her  body,  dashed  the  unborn  babe  to  pieces. 

The  Ojibways,  at  Pokeguraa,  became  very  much  afraid 
that  the  Dahkotahs  of  the  Mississippi  would  now  attack 
them.  Dancing  the  war  dance,  they  were  unfriendly  to 
the  mission  at  their  lake ;  shooting  cattle,  and  dashing 
a  canoe  to  pieces.  They  also  threatened  to  drive  the 
missionaries  and  all  others  from  the  country. 

Finding  some  lumbermen,  in  anticipation  of  the  rati- 
fication of  the  treaty  of  1837,  cutting  trees  at  the  mouth 


4&d 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


of  Snake  river,  they  pursued  them.  The  men  tied  down 
the  St.  Croix  in  their  canoes,  and,  at  the  imminent  risk 
of  their  lives,  floated  over  the  falls,  where  their  canoe 
sunk,  but  they  were  unhurt. 

A  few  miles  below  the  falls  they  were  met  by  the  first 
steamlwat  that  had  ever  ascended  the  St.  Croix,  bring- 
ing the  welcome  news  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
which  had  been  made  at  Fort  Snelling  the  year  before, 
and  ratified  by  the  Senate  on  the  fifteoiith  of  June,  1838. 

The  Palmyra,  Capt.  Holland,  arrived  at  Fort  Snelling 
on  the  loth,  but  did  not  reach  Fall  of  St.  Croix  until 
the  17th  of  July.  She  brought  men  and  machinery  for 
the  projected  mills. 

After  the  unprovoked  attack  of  Tfole-in-the-Day,  be- 
yond Lac  qui  Parle,  some  Dahkotahs  mot  an  Ojibway, 
near  the  grave-yard,  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  killed  him. 
The  murderers  were  for  a  time  confined  in  the  guard- 
house of  the  fort,  but  at  last  set  at  liberty.  During  the 
month  of  June,  1839,  hundreds  of  Ojibways  arrived  at 
Fort  Snelling,  under  the  erroneous  impression  that  they 
were  to  receive  their  annuities  there.  While  there,  the 
neighbouring  Dahkotahs  visited  them.  They  drank, 
they  feasted,  they  danced  together.  Two  sons  of  the 
Ojibway,  murdered  near  the  grave-yard  the  year  before, 
took  the  occasion  to  go  and  weep  over  the  burial-place 
of  their  father.  The  thought  of  their  murdered  parent 
excited  a  desire  for  revenge ;  and,  that  night  secreting 
themselves  near  a  frequented  trail  at  Lake  Harriet,  at 
the  next  day's  dawn  they  shot  and  scalped  one  of  that 
band  named  "  Badger,"  wl  was  starting  to  hunt.  The 
friends  of  the  murdered  one  soon  brought  him  home, 
wrapped  in  his  blanket. 

Yeetkadootah,  or  Red  Bird,  a  near  relative,  approach- 


BATTLES  OF  STILLWATER  AND  RUM  RIVER. 


457 


ing,  removing  the  ornaments  from  the  corpse,  kissed 
it,  and  said  he  would  die  for  it. 

His  voice  was  now  lifted  up  for  war.  Raising  a  party, 
he  crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Fort  Snelling,  in  pursuit 
of  the  Ojibways,  who  had  departed  for  their  country 
the  day  before.  While  assembled  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  they  bound  themselves  to  kill  all.  The 
Ojibways  had  gone  partly  by  the  St.  Croix,  and  partly 
by  the  Mississippi,  to  their  villages.  Red  Bird  deter- 
mined to  follow  the  party  that  had  ascended  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

The  same  day  warriors  from  Kapoaia,  and  the  other 
villages  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort,  followed  the  trail 
loading  through  St.  Paul,  in  search  of  the  Ojibways  that 
hod  gone  in  that  direction.  Travelling  until  night, 
ihey  found  the  Ojibways  sleeping  in  the  ravine  near 
the  penitentiary  at  Stillwater.  Perceiving  that  there 
was  a  white  man,  an  old  trader  (Mr.  Aitkin),  in  the 
enemy's  camp,  they  postponed  their  attack  until  dawn 
of  the  next  day,  as  they  did  not  wish  to  injure  him. 

At  daybreak,  the  first  intelligence  of  the  presence  of 
the  Dahkotahs  was  a  volley  of  musket  balls  poured 
from  the  bluffs  into  the  midst  of  the  Ojibway  camp. 

The  Oiibways,  fighting  bravely,  retreated  to  the 
shore  of  the  lake,  and  endeavoured  to  escape  in  their 
canoes ;  but,  before  the  conflict  was  over,  forty  or  fifty 
of  their  number  were  slain.  Ten  or  fifteen  Dahkotahs 
were  killed  and  wounded.' 

About  the  time  that  the  battle  of  Stillwater  ended, 
Yeetkadootah's  party  came  up  to  the  women  and  child- 

'  The  one-legged  Indian,  known  to  lost  his  leg  by  a  wound  in  this  batr 
the  citisoDH  of  St.  Paul  as  Lame  Jim,    tie. 


-\::5.-v-'^ 


458 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


ren  of  the  Qjibways,  who  were  making  a  portage  odj 
Rum  river,  while  the  men  were  absent  hunting  deer. 
With  lance,  scalping  knife,  and  tomahawk,  in  a  brief 
period  they  made  bloody  work.  In  their  haste  to  take 
scalps,  it  is  said  they  scalped  one  of  their  own  number. 

Yeetkadootah,  on  horseback,  approaching  a  wounded 
Ojibway,  who  still  held  his  gun  in  his  hand,  was  shot 
through  the  neck,  just  as  he  was  alighting  to  scalp  him. 

It  is  said  that  while  the  Ojibways  were  at  Fort  Snel- 
ling,  a  young  Dahkotah  brave  had  wooed  an  Ojibway 
maiden,  and  was  loved  in  return.  In  the  heat  of  the 
battle  he  found  his  tomahawk  raised  to  strike  a  woman, 
and  behold,  it  proved  to  be  her  whom  he  had  loved. 
She  begged  to  be  his  captive,  but  it  had  been  agreed 
that  there  should  be  no  quarter.  As  he  could  not  save 
her  lie  passed  on,  and  in  an  instant,  one  in  the  rear 
cleft  her  skull  with  the  sharp  tomahawk.  From  these 
two  engagements  the  Dahkotahs  brought  back  ninety- 
one  scalps,  and  were  frantic  with  glory. 

In  1836,  before  the  Indian  title  was  extinguished, 
settlers  located  on  the  tract  of  land  on  the  east  sid<^  of 
the  Mississippi,  between  St.  Paul  and  Fort  Snelling. 
By  the  treaty  of  September,  1837,  made  by  the  Dah- 
kotahs with  the  United  States,  which  was  ratified  by 
the  Senate  on  the  fifteenth  of  June,  1838,  the  Indian 
title  to  the  tract  in  question  ceased. 

In  March,  1838,  the  commander  at  Fort  Snelling 
selected  this  land  as  a  part  of  a  miiituxy  reservation. 
Consequently,  it  was  withheld  from  sale.  Those  who 
had  made  claims  upon  it,  were  much  dissatisfied,  and 
evinced  a  disposition  to  resist.  Orders  were  issued  from 
the  war  department,  to  the  United  States  Marshal  of 


m^ 


REMOVAL  OF  SQUATTERS. 


459 


Wisconsin,  to  remove  the  intruders.'  The  greater  por- 
tion of  the  settlers  were  Swiss,  and  after  all  of  their 
migrations  from  Switzerland,  via  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
])iuiy's  possessions,  to  the  present  desirable  location, 
they  were  loath  to  depart.  The  troops  were  sum- 
marily called  out  from  the  fort  on  the  sixth  of  May, 
1840,  and  the  settlers  with  undue  haste  removed,  and 
on  the  next  day  the  troops  destroyed  their  cabins,  to 
prevent  reoccupation. 


'  Order  for  removal  of  squatters  on 
Military  Reserve,  Fort  Snelling : — 

t*      "  War  Department, 

Oct.  21,  1839. 

"  Sir — The  interests  of  the  service, 
and  the  proper  and  effeotive  main- 
tenance of  the  military  post  at  Fort 
Snelling, requiring  that  the  intruders 
on  the  land  recently  reserved  for 
military  purposes,  opposite  to  that 
post  east  of  the  Mississippi  river 
be  removed  therefrom,  the  President 
of  the  United  States  directs  that 
when  required  by  the  commanding 
officer  of  Ae  post  you  proooed  there, 
and  remove  them  under  the  provi- 
Bions  of  the  act  of  March  third, 
1807,  entitled  'An  act  to  prevent 
settlement-B  being  made  on  lands 
ceded  to  the  United  States,  until 
authorized  by  law.' 

"  You  will  satisfy  yourself  of  the 
shortest  period  within  which  the 
intruders  can  make  their  arrange- 
ments for  removal,  and  depart  from 
the  reservation  without  serious  loss 
or  sacrifice  of  the  property  which 
they  may  have  to  take  with  them, 
and  you  will  promptly  make  known 
to  them  that  it  is  expected  they  will 


not  delay  beyond  that  period ;  as 
should  they  do  so,  it  will  become  your 
duty  to  remove  them  by  military  force. 
It  is  hoped,  however,  that  u  resort  to 
such  force  for  this  purpose  which  by 
the  Act  above-mentioned  the  Presi- 
dent is  authorized  to  employ,  will 
not  be  necessary  ;  but  that  they  will 
promptly  depart,  ou  being  informed 
of  the  determination  of  the  execu- 
tive, not  to  permit  them  to  remain. 
Should  you  however  be  unfortunate- 
ly obliged  to  use  force  in  order  to  ac- 
complish the  object,  you  are  author- 
ized to  call  for  such  as  you  may 
deem  necessary  on  the  commanding 
officer  at  Fort  Snelling.  In  this 
event  you  will  act  with  as  much 
forbearance,  consideration,  and  deli- 
cacy as  may  be  consistent  with  the 
prompt  and  faithful  performance  of 
the  duties  hereby  assigned  to  you, 
first  fully  RL'd  mildly  explaining  the 
folly  of  resivteaoe  on  their  part,  and 
your  own  want  of  discretion  in  the 
matter.  Very  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant, 

J.  R.  Poinsett. 

Edward  James,  Esq., 

United    State.s    Marshal    for  the 
x'erritory  of  Wiskonsan,  Peru." 


460 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


During  the  summer  of  1840,  a  tragic  and  melancholy 
occurrence  took  place  on  the  plains  of  Minnesota.  On 
the  sixth  of  June,  Thomas  Simpson,  the  youthful, 
educated,  and  adventurous  explorer,  who  had  disco- 
vered and  named  Victoria  Land,  in  the  Arctic  Regions, 
left  Fort  Garry,  in  the  Red  River  settlement,  to  visit 
England,  by  way  of  the  traders'  route  through  Minne- 
sota. He  left  the  settlement  with  quite  a  number,  but 
anxious  to  behold  Great  Britain,  from  which  he  had 
been  absent  for  years,  they  travelled  too  slow,  and  he 
moved  on  in  advance  with  a  Canadian,  two  half-breeds, 
and  a  lad,  the  son  of  one  of  the  latter. 

His  movements  were  those  of  one  whose  mind  was 
excited,  and  in  two  days  he  had  advanced  one  hundred 
miles.  He  then  complained  of  sickness,  and  said  he 
would  never  recover ;  and  when  told  that  there  was  a 
physician  at  the  mission-house  of  Lac  qui  Parle,  he 
replied  "  that  he  did  not  wish  a  doctor."  At  his  urgent 
solicitation,  his  guides  turned  back  on  the  fourteenth  of 
June,  and  an  hour  and  a  half  after  the  setting  of  the 
sun,  they  encamped  near  Turtle  river.  While  two  of 
the  men  and  the  lad  were  busy  in  raising  the  tent,  one  of 
them,  named  Bird,  was  shot,  and  instantly  died,  and  on 
turning  around,  the  others  saw  Simpson  fire  at  a  half- 
breed,  named  Legros,  father  of  the  boy,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  he  expired.  The  boy  and  surviving  guide  ran 
off,  when  Simpson  called  out  that  their  lives  were  safe, 
and  that  he  had  shot  the  others  because  they  intended 
to  murder  him  on  that  night,  and  take  the  papers  on 
his  recent  Arctic  explorations. 

Before  Legros  died,  he  called  his  son  and  kissed  hira. 
Bruce,  the  remaining  guide,  and  lad,  that  night  mounted 
their  horses,  and  proceeded  toward  the  main  camp  that 


INSANITY  AND  SUICIDE  OF  THOMAS  SIMPSON. 


461 


they  had  left  a  few  days  before.  Relating  their  strange 
story,  five  accompanied  them  to  the  scene  of  the  disaster. 
As  they  approached  the  cart  the  next  day,  on  their  re- 
turn, a  shot  was  fired,  as  they  at  first  supposed  at  their 
party.  Drawing  nigh  with  great  caution,  crawling 
through  the  grass  on  their  stomachs,  they  discovered 
Mr.  Simpson  stretched  out,  with  one  leg  across  the 
other,  the  butt  end  of  his  gun  between  his  legs,  the 
right  hand  with  the  glove  off  directed  to  the  trigger, 
all  the  head  above  the  nose  blown  off,  and  his  night- 
cap some  yards  distant  with  a  bullet  hole  in  it,  and 
some  of  his  hair  attached.  Since  Bruce  and  the  son 
of  Legros  left  the  night  before,  the  body  of  one  of  the 
guides  had  been  covered  with  the  tent,  and  the  poles 
laid  on  the  top,  and  the  body  of  the  other  had  been 
covered  with  a  blanket,  and  a  pillow  placed  beneath 
the  head.  From  the  beaten  path  it  was  supposed  that 
he  had  passed  the  whole  night  in  walking  between 
these  two  dead  bodies.  It  was  a  tragic  scene.  The 
moon  that  night  shone  brightly.  The  faithful  dog  of 
one  of  the  party  remained  watching,  and  Simpson,  with 
his  ovor-tasked  mind,  gibbered  over  the  corpses,  and 
wrapped  them  up,  filled  with  some  strange  fancy. 

On  the  f.ftt  ?nth  of  June,  Simpson,  only  thirty-two 
years  of  age,  and  his  two  guides,  were  wrapped  up  in 
the  same  winding-sheet,  the  cover  of  the  tent,  and  de- 
ijosited  in  the  same  grave.  The  news  of  this  tragedy 
did  not  reach  Red  river  until  the  party  returned  from 
Fort  Snelling,  in  the  month  of  October.  A  medical 
gentleman  with  some  men  then  proceeded  to  the  grave, 
and  disinterring  the  bodies,  made  a  post  mortem  exami- 
nation,  which   corresponded   with   the    deposition   of 


■Ml 


462 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Bruce,  as  given  before  Mr.  Sibley  at  Mendota  in  July 
His  body  was  conveyed  to  Red  river,  and  there  re-in- 
terred.' 

The  Dahkotahs  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lakes 
Harriet  and  Calhoun,  through  fear  of  their  enemies, 
after  the  troubles  of  1839,  began  to  reside  on  the 
banks  of  the  Minnesota,  near  Oak  Grove. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  June,  1840,  four  Ojibways  who 
had  secreted  themselves  about  two  miles  below  Mendota, 
on  the  Mississippi,  killed  and  scalped  a  Dahkotah  man 
and  woman. 

Joseph  R.  Brown,  who  since  1838  had  lived  at  Chan 
Wakan,  on  the  west  side  of  Grey  Cloud  Island,  this 
year  made  a  claim  near  the  upper  end  of  the  city  of 
Stillwater,  which  he  called  Dahkotah,  and  was  the  first 
to  raft  lumber  down  the  St.  Croix,  as  well  as  the  first 
to  represent  the  citizens  of  the  valley  in  the  legislature 
of  Wisconsin. 

On  the  second  of  September,  of  this  year,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Riggs,  of  the  Lac  qui  Parle  mission,  accompanied 
by  the  mission  farmer,  Mr.  Huggins,  made  a  tour  to  the 
Missouri,  in  company  with  a  party  of  Indians  on  a 
buffalo  hunt." 

Until  the  year  1841,  the  jurisdiction  of  Crawford 
county,  Wisconsin,  extended  over  the  delta  of  country 
between  the  St.  Croix  and  Mississippi.  Joseph  R. 
Brown,  having  been  elected  as  representative  of  the 


•  Alexander  Simpson,  in  "  Life 
and  TraoeU  of  T.  Simpson,"  Bentley, 
Ii<}ndou,  1845,  conveys  the  impres- 
sion that  he  was  murdered  bj  the 
iialt-breeds.  Ballantyne,  in  "  Hud- 
son's Ban,"  \m%  the  same  opinion,  but 
■Ross,    in    "  Red  River   Settlement," 


who  was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
examined  the  eye-witnesses,  thinks 
he  became  deranged,  and  shot  his 
guides  and  himself. 

'  An  interesting  account  of  this 
journey  is  published  in  the  Mission- 
ary Herald,  Boston,  1841. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  LAKE  POKEQUMA. 


468 


county,  in  the  territorial  legislature  of  Wisconsin,  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  passage  of  an  act  on  November 
twentieth,  1841,  organizing  the  county  of  St.  Croix, 
with  Dahkotah  designated  as  the  county  seat. 

At  the  time  prescribed  for  holding  a  court  in  the  new 
county,  it  is  said  that  the  judge  of  the  district  arrived, 
and  to  his  surprise,  found  a  claim  cabin  occupied  by  a 
Frenchman.  Speedily  retreating,  he  never  came  again, 
and  judicial  proceedings  for  St.  Croix  county  ended  for 
several  years. 

After  the  Ojibway  slaughter  of  1839,  the  missionaries 
removed  from  Lake  Harriet  to  the  stone  building  above 
Fort  Snelling,  now  known  as  the  St.  Louis  House.  Early 
in  the  spring  of  1841,  in  a  thicket  in  the  vicinity,  three 
Ojibway  warriors  lay  watching  for  scalps.  At  length 
Kaibokah,  a  Dahkotah  chief,  with  his  son,  and  another 
man,  passed.  The  chief  and  his  son  were  both  shot,  and 
their  foe  escaped  in  a  canoe  to  the  east  bank  of  the 
Mississippi.     For  this  act  retaliation  soon  took  place. 

Pokeguma  is  one  of  the  "  Mille  Lacs,"  or  thousand 
beautiful  lakes  for  which  Minnesota  is  remarkable.  It 
is  about  four  or  five  miles  in  extent,  and  a  mile  or 
more  in  width.  Its  shores  are  strewn  Avith  boulders 
that  in  a  past  geologic  age  iiav^e  been  brought  by  some 
mighty  impetus  from  the  icy  north.  Down  to  the 
water's  edge  grow  the  tall  pines,  through  which,  for 
many  years,  the  deer  have  bounded,  and  the  winds 
sighed  mournfully,  as  they  wafted  away  to  distant  lands 
the  shriek  of  many  Dahkotah  or  Ojibway  mothers, 
caused  by  the  slaughter  of  their  children. 

This  lake  is  situated  on  Snake  river,  about  twenty 
miles  above  the  junction  of  that  stream  with  the  St. 
Croix.     Though  as  late  as  the  year  1700,  the  Dahko- 


m 


464 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


tabs  resided  in  this  vicinity,  for  a  long  period  it  has 
been  the  abode  of  their  enemies,  the  Ojibways. 

In  the  year  1836,  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  connected  with  the  Congre- 
gational and  Presbyterian  denominations,  came  to  re- 
side among  the  Ojibways  of  Pokeguma,  to  promote  their 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare.  Their  mission-house 
was  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake ;  but  the  Indian 
village  was  on  an  island  not  far  from  the  shore.  In  a 
few  years,  several  Indian  families,  among  others  that 
of  the  chief,  were  induced  to  build  log  houses  around 
the  mission.  The  missionaries  felt,  to  use  the  language 
of  one  of  them,  that  "  the  motives  of  the  gospel  had  no 
more  influence  over  the  Indian,  in  themselves  consid- 
ered, than  over  the  deer  that  he  follows  in  the  chase." 
They  therefore  first  encouraged  the  Indian  to  work,  and 
always  purchased  of  him  his  spare  provisions. 

By  aiding  them  in  this  way,  many  had  become 
quite  industrious.  In  a  letter  written  in  1837,  we  find 
the  following :  "  The  young  women  and  girls  now  make, 
mend,  wash,  and  iron  after  our  manner.  The  men 
have  learned  to  build  log  houses,  drive  team,  plough, 
hoe,  and  handle  an  American  axe  with  some  skill  in 
cutting  large  trees,  the  size  of  which,  two  years  ago, 
would  have  afforded  them  a  sufficient  reason  why  they 
should  not  meddle  with  them." 

On  May  fifteenth,  1841,  two  young  men  had  gone, 
by  order  of  Mr.  Russell,  now  of  Sauk  Rapids,  then  In- 
dian farmer  at  Pokeguma,  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix, 
after  a  load  of  provisions.  On  the  next  day,  which  was 
Sunday,  the  news  arrived  there,  that  a  Dahkotah  war 
party,  headed  by  Little  Crow,  oi'  the  Kaposia  band, 
whose  face  is  so  familiar  to  the  older  citizens  of  St. 


BATTLE  OF  LAKE  POKEQCMA. 


465 


Paul,  was  on  the  way  to  their  village.  Immediately 
they  started  back  on  foot  to  give  the  alarm  to  their 
relatives  and  friends. 

They  had  hardly  left  the  Falls,  on  their  return,  be- 
fore they  saw  a  party  of  Dahkotahs,  stripped  and  be- 
daubed with  Vermillion,  and  preparing  themselves  for 
war.  The.  sentinel  of  the  enemy  had  not  noticed  the 
approach  of  the  young  men.  A  few  yards  in  front  of 
the  Ojibway  youth  sat  two  of  the  sons  of  Little  Crow, 
behind  a  log,  exulting,  no  doubt,  in  anticipation  of  the 
scalps  in  reserve  for  them  at  the  lake.  In  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye,  these  two  young  Ojibways  raised  their 
guns,  fired,  and  killed  both  of  the  chief's  sons.  The 
sentinel,  who  had  by  his  carelessness  allowed  them  to 
pass,  was  a  third  son.  The  discharge  of  the  guns  re- 
vealed to  him  that  an  enemy  was  near,  and  as  the  Ojib- 
ways were  retreating,  he  fired,  and  mortally  wounded 
one  of  the  two. 

Fiendish  was  the  rage  of  the  D'^hkotahs  at  this 
disastrous  surprise.  According  to  custom,  the  corpses 
of  the  chief's  « "»n«'  were  dressed,  and  then  set  up  with 
their  faces  towards  the  country  of  their  ancient  enemies. 
The  wounded  Ojibway  was  horribly  mangled  by  the 
infuriated  party,  and  his  limbs  strewn  about  in  every 
direction.  His  scalped  head  was  placed  in  a  kettle,  and 
suspended  in  front  of  the  two  Dahkotah  corpses,  in  the 
belief  that  it  would  he  gratifying  to  the  spirits  of  the 
deceased,  to  see  before  them  the  bloody  and  scalpless 
head  of  one  of  their  enemies. 

Little   Crow,  disheartened   by  the   loss   of  his  two 

boys,  returned  with  his  party  to  Kaposia.     But  other 

parties  were  in  the  field.     The  Dahkotahs  had  divided 

themselves  into  three  bands ;  and  it  was  the  understand- 
so 


466 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


mg  that  one  party  was  first  to  attack  Pokeguma,  and 
then  retire.  After  the  Ojibways  supposed  that  the 
attack  was  over,  the  second  party  was  to  commence 
their  fire,  and  after  they  had  ceased  to  fight,  the  third 
party  was  to  begin  to  slaughter. 

The  second  party  proceeded  as  far  as  the  mouth  of 
Snake  river,  but,  supposing  that  the  Ojibwjvys  had  dis- 
covered  them,  they  turned  back,  and  upon  their  arrival 
at  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix,  they  were  still  more  chagrined, 
by  hearing  of  the  death  of  the  sons  of  the  Kaposia 
ohief 

It  was  not  till  Friday,  the  twenty-first  of  May,  that 
the  death  of  one  of  the  young  Ojibways  sent  by  Mr. 
Russell,  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix,  was  known  at  Poke- 
guma. The  murdered  youth  was  a  son  of  one  of  those 
families  who  had  renounced  heathenism,  and  whose 
parents  lived  on  the  lake  shore,  in  one  of  the  log  build- 
ings, by  the  mission-house.  The  intelligence  alarmed 
the  Ojibways  on  the  island  opposite  the  mission,  and  on 
Monday,  the  twenty-fourth,  three  young  men  left  in  a 
canoe  to  go  to  the  west  shore  of  the  lake,  and  from 
thence  to  Mille  Lac,  to  give  intelligence  to  the  Ojibways 
there,  of  the  skirmish  that  had  already  occurred.  They 
took  with  them  two  Indian  girls,  about  twelve  years  of 
age,  who  were  pupils  of  the  mission  school,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  the  canoe  back  to  the  island.  Just  as 
the  three  were  landing,  twenty  or  thirty  Dahkotah  war- 
riors, with  a  war  whoop  emerged  from  their  conceal- 
ment behind  the  trees,  and  fired  into  the  canoe.  The 
young  men  instantly  sprang  into  the  water,  which  wn-i 
shallow,  returned  the  fire,  and  ran  into  the  woods,  esca- 
oing  without  material  injury. 

The  little  girls,  in  their  fright,  waded  into  the  lake  • 


BATTLE  OF  LAKE  POKEGUMA. 


467 


and  as  in  Indian  warfare  it  is  as  noble  to  kill  an  infant 
as  an  adult,  a  delicate  woman  as  a  strong  man,  the 
Dahkotah  braves,  with  their  spears  and  war  clubs,  rushed 
into  the  water  after  the  children  and  killed  them. 
Their  parents  upon  the  island,  heard  the  death  cries  of 
their  children ;  and  for  a  time  the  scene  was  one  of  the 
wildest  confusion.  Some  of  the  Indians  around  the 
mission-house  jumped  into  their  canoes  and  gained  the 
island.  Others  went  into  some  fortified  log  huts. 
The  attack  upon  the  canoe,  it  was  afterwards  learned, 
was  premature.  The  party  upon  that  side  of  the  lake 
were  ordered  not  to  fire,  until  the  party  stationed  in  the 
woods  near  the  mission  commenced. 

There  were  in  all  one  hundred  and  eleven  Dahkotah 
warriors,  and  the  fight  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mis- 
sion-house, and  the  Ojibways  mostly  engaged  in  it  were 
those  who  had  been  under  religious  instruction.  The 
re.st  were  upon  the  island.  During  the  engagement,  an 
incident  occui'red,  as  worthy  of  note  as  some  of  those 
in  Grecian  history. 

The  fathers  of  the  murdered  girls,  burning  for  re- 
venge, left  the  island  in  a  canoe,  and  drawing  it  up  on 
the  shore,  hid  behind  it,  and  fired  upon  the  Dahkotahs 
and  killed  one.  The  Dahkotahs  advancing  upon  them, 
they  were  obliged  to  escape.  The  canoe  was  now 
launched.  One  lay  on  his  back  in  the  bottom;  the 
other  plunged  into  the  water,  and,  holding  the  canoe  with 
one  hand,  and  swimming  with  the  other,  he  towed  his 
friend  out  of  danger.  The  Dahkotahs,  infuriated  at 
their  escape,  fired  volley  after  volley  at  the  swimmer, 
but  he  escaped  the  balls  by  putting  his  head  under 
Mater  whenever  he  saw  them  take  aim,  and  waiting  till 


468 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


he  heard  the  discharge,  when  he  would  look  up  and 
breathe. 

After  a  fight  of  two  hours,  the  Dahkotahs  retreated 
with  a  loss  of  two  men.  At  the  request  of  the  parents, 
Mr.  E.  F.  Ely,  now  of  Oneota,  from  whose  notes  the 
writer  has  obtained  these  facts,  being  at  that  time  a 
teacher  at  the  mission,  went  across  the  lake,  with  two 
of  his  friends,  to  gather  the  remains  of  his  murdered 
pupils.  He  found  the  corpses  on  the  shore.  The 
heads  cut  off  and  scalped,  with  a  tomahawk  buried  in 
the  brains  of  each,  were  set  up  in  the  sand  near  the 
bodies.  The  bodies  were  pierced  in  the  breast,  and  the 
right  arm  of  one  was  taken  away.  Removing  the 
tomahawks,  the  bodies  were  brought  back  to  the  island, 
and  in  the  afternoon  were  buried  in  accordance  with 
the  simple  but  solemn  rites  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  by 
members  of  the  mission. 

It  is  usual  for  Indians  to  leave  their  murdered  on 
or  near  the  battle-field,  with  their  faces  looking  towards 
the  enemy's  country;  and  on  Wednesday  the  Ojibways 
started  out  in  search  of  the  Dahkotahs  that  had  been 
killed.  By  following  the  trail,  they  soon  found  the  two 
bodies,  and  scalped  them.  One  of  the  heads  was  also 
cut  oif,  and  brought  to  the  island,  to  adorn  the  graves 
of  the  little  girls.  To  a  North-western  savage,  such  a 
head-stone  at  a  daughter's  grave  is  more  gratifying  than 
one  of  sculptured  Italian  marble.  Strips  of  flesh  were 
fastened  to  the  trees.  A  breast  was  also  taken,  and 
cooked  and  eaten  by  the  braves  to  express  their  hatred 
to  the  Dahkotahs. 

The  mother  and  wife  of  the  young  man  who  had 
been  killed  by  Little  Crow's  third  son,  were  each  pre- 
sented with  a  hand.    These  women  had  been  accustomed 


ATTACK  BELOW  ST.  PAUL. 


469 


to  attend  preaching  at  the  mission-house,  and  knew  the 
principles  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Though  they  had, 
in  1839,  lost  many  relatives  by  an  attack  from  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  on  Rum  river,  they  engaged  in  no  savage  orgies, 
but,  withdrawing  to  their  wigwam,  they  placed  the 
hands  of  their  foes  upon  their  knees,  gazed  in  silence, 
then  wrapped  them  in  white  muslin  and  interred  them. 
Such  is  one  of  the  many  similar  scenes  that  have  occurred 
in  our  own  territory  within  ten  years.  Governor  Ram- 
.sey,  the  president  of  the  Historical  Society,  in  his 
address  of  1851,  well  remarked  that  the  region  between 
the  Falls  of  St.  Croix  and  Mille  Lac,  was  a  "Gol- 
gotha"— a  place  of  skulls. 

The  sequel  to  this  story  is  soon  told.  The  Indians 
of  Pokeguma,  after  the  fight,  deserted  their  village,  and 
went  to  reside  with  their  countrymen  near  Lake  Supe- 
rior. 

In  July  of  the  following  year,  1842,  a  war  party  was 
formed  at  Fond  dii  Lac,  about  forty  in  number,  and  pro- 
ceeded towards  the  Dahkotah  country.  When  they 
reached  Kettle  river  they  were  joined  by  the  Ojibways 
of  St.  Croix  and  Mille  Lac,  and  thus  numbered  about 
one  hundred  warriors.  Sneaking,  as  none  but  Indians 
can,  they  arrived  unnoticed  at  the  little  settlement  below 
St.  Paul,  commonly  called  "  Pig's  Eye,"  which  is  oppo- 
site Kaposia,  or  Little  Crow's  village.  Finding  an 
Indian  woman  at  work  in  the  garden  of  her  husband,  a 
Canadian,  by  the  name  of  Gamelle,  they  killed  her; 
also  another  woman,  with  her  infant,  whose  head  was 
cut  off.  The  Dahkotahs,  on  the  opposite  side,  were 
mostly  intoxicated ;  and,  flying  across  in  their  canoes 
but  half  prepared,  they  were  worsted  in  the  encounter. 
They  lost  thirteen  warriors,  and  one  of  their  number, 


470 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


known  as  the  Dancer,  the  Ojibways  are  said  to  have 
wkinned. 

The  year  of  the  Pokeguma  battle,  Governor  Doty 
visited  the  Dahkotahs,  and  negotiated  a  treaty  with  the 
several  bands  at  Wapashaw,  Mendota,  and  Traverse  des 
Sioux,  by  which  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi 
would  have  been  ceded,  but  the  United  States  Senate  did 
not  ratify  it. 

During  the  winter  of  1842-3,  Mr.  Ayer  visited  Red 
Lake,  who?e  waters  flow  into  the  Red  River  of  tiie 
North,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  practicability 
of  missionary  operations  there.  The  chief  received 
the  proposition  with  favour,  and  thus  addressed  his 
warriors : — 

"  My  braves !  I  should  be  ashamed  to  suffer  one  who 
has  come  so  far  to  visit  us  to  turn  back  again.  We 
should  not  turn  him  away.  We  would  not  treat  our 
trader  in  this  way ;  we  should  run  to  meet  him.  My 
braves !  you  have  listened  to  what  he  said.  I  believe 
what  he  says.  Let  us  try  him  four  years,  and  if  we  do 
not  find  him  true,  then  we  will  send  him  away." 

On  the  17th  of  April  he  made  a  second  visit,  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  Spencer,  and  Mr.  E.  F.  Ely.  The  latter 
two  immediately  commenced  assisting  the  Indians  in 
their  ploughing  and  in  preparations  for  putting  in  a 
crop.  The  months  of  February  and  March,  1843,  were 
exceedingly  severe,  the  thermometer  ranging  lower  than 
ever  before  recorded.  The  snow  had  fallen  to  such 
depths  that  the  snow  shoe  was  not  very  serviceable,  and 
the  waters  were  so  troubled  by  high  winds  that  it  was 
difficult  for  the  Indians  to  spear  the  fish  through  the 
holes  cut  in  the  ice.  The  Dahkotahs  were  brought  to 
iJie  verge  of  starvation,  some  bands  being  reduced  to 


SETTLEMENT  OF  STILLWATER. 


471 


the  necessity  of  subsisting  on  a  syrup  made  of  hickory 
chips,  or  boiled  bitter  sweet.  The  United  States 
goveruiuent,  in  view  of  their  peculiar  necessities, 
grunted  them  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  worth  of  pro- 
visions, powder,  and  clothing. 

During  the  summer  the  Rev.  Mr.  Riggs,  on  his  return 
from  a  visit  to  Ohio,  commenced  a  mission  station  at 
Traverse  des  Sioux.  His  family  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Hopkins  and  wife  proceeded  to  Lac  qui  Parle.  While 
(hawing  to  the  close  of  their  last  day's  journey,  three 
young  Dahkotahs,  who  had  been  on  a  visit  to  Ohio, 
hurried  on  in  advance.  Shortly  two  Indian  lads  said 
that,  while  drinking  at  a  little  stream,  they  had  heard 
the  report  of  fire-arms,  and  had  seen  Ojibways.  The 
intelligence  was  confirmed  by  the  return  of  one  of  the 
three  who  had  gone  ahead,  who  said  that  he  had  con- 
versed with  the  Ojibways.  and  had  been  saved  by  his 
white  man's  dress.  In  a  little  while  the  travellers 
beheld  on  an  eminence  fifteen  or  twenty  Ojibway  war- 
riors, who  retreated  as  they  approached.  Crossing  the 
Maya-wakan,  they  found  the  two  corpses  of  the  young 
Dahkotahs.  Taking  the  wagon  cover  for  a  winding- 
sheet,  the  missionaries  wrapped  one  of  the  bodies  and 
proceeded  toward  Lac  qui  Parle.  The  Indians  there 
having  gained  intelligence  of  the  attack,  rushed  forth 
to  meet  them,  and  were  enraged  because  the  whites  had 
not  pursued  the  Ojibways. 

On  the  tenth  of  October,  1843,  was  commenced  a 
settlement  which  has  become  the  town  of  Stillwater. 
The  names  of  the  proprietors  were  John  McKusick 
Irom  Maine,  Calvin  Leach  from  Vermont,  Elam  Greeley 
IVom  Maine,  and  Elias  McKean  from  Pennsylvania. 
They  immediately  commenced  the  erection  of  a  saw- 


472 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


mill,  and  made  improvements  w'lich  fixed  the  point  as 
the  centre  of  the  lumbering  interests  of  the  valley  of 
the  St.  Croix. 

On  the  eleventh  of  August,  1844,  Captain  Allen,  with 
fifty  United  States  dragoons,  left  Fort  Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
and  passed  through  the  south-western  portion  of  Minne- 
sota; but,  the  guide  having  left  them  soon  after  they 
commenced  their  mar'.h,  they  wandered  through  the 
country  in  great  uncertainty.  After  floundering  through 
marshes,  they  came,  as  they  supposed,  to  a  tributary  of 
the  Minnesota ;  and,  on  the  tenth  of  September,  about 
latitude  45°,  they  found  the  Big  Sioux,  and  theve,  for 
the  first  time  since  they  started,  met  a  party  of  Dah- 
kotahs.     ■■•.!,,  ^  ^  .::-■:   '  ;,■   :..:i::.  ,i<Ui;j;-M-;rr '• 

B.  Gervais,  during  this  year,  moved  to  a  point  five 
miles  north-east  of  St.  Paul,  known  as  Little  Canada, 
and  erected  the  first  mill  in  Minnesota  beyond  the  mili- 
tary reservation  of  Fort  Snelling. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  a  party  of  drovers,  on 
their  waj  from  the  South  to  Fort  Snelling  with  cattle, 
lost  their  way,  and  were  captured  and  maltreated  by 
the  Sissetoan  Dahkotahs.  As  soon  as  the  intelligence 
reached  the  fort,  troops  were  despatched  in  pursuit  of 
the  offenders,  who  were  captured,  but  subsequently 
escaped. 

The  United  States,  having  learned  that  the  half-breed 
hunters  of  Red  River  settlement  were  killing  thousands 
of  buffalo  annually  in  Minnesota,  sent  a  military  expe- 
dition to  the  valley  of  the  Red  river,  under  the  charge 
of  Captain  Sumner  of  the  dragoons.  They  left  Fort 
Atkinson,  Iowa,  on  the  third  of  June,  1845,  and,  march- 
ins:  through  the  interior,  reached  Traverse  des  Sioux  on 
the  twenty-fifth.    Proceedinjr  to  Lac  qui  Parle,  a  council 


.:vi>._i;ij^ 


^«#-# 


SUMNER  ARRESTS  MURDERERS  OF  A  DROVER. 


473 


was  held  with  the  Dahkotahs  of  that  vicinity.  Although 
they  had  difficulty  with  the  half-breeds  of  the  North,  in 
consequence  of  hunting  buffalo  in  their  country,  they 
did  not  wish  the  United  States  to  interfere.  On  the 
fifth  of  July,  another  council  was  held  at  Big  Stone 
Lake,  but  it  was  unsatisfactory. 

The  next  day  they  marched  northward,  and,  on  the 
eighth,  while  Captain  Sumner  was  holding  an  informal 
council  in  the  saddle,  three  of  the  murderers  of  the 
drover  ("Watson)  and  party,  who  had  escaped  the  pre- 
vious autumn  from  Colonel  Wilson's  detachment  of  the 
First  Infantry,  boldly  walked  into  council.  Immediately 
they  were  recognised  and  arrested.  The  excitement  for 
a  few  moments  was  intense,  but  Sumner  told  them  that 
it  was  useless  to  talk  at  that  time,  as  he  would  be  there 
again  in  about  a  month.  The  prisoners  then  accom- 
panied the  troops  to  Minne  Wakan '  Lake,  about  the  48th 
degree  of  latitude,  which  was  reached  on  the  eighteenth. 
In  this  vicinity  they  struck  the  trail  of  thi-  Imnters,  and 
soon  met  a  deputation  of  them  with  an  interpretiir.  The 
next  morning  Captain  Sumner  proceeded  to  Hieir  camp, 
which  was  composed  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  men. 
In  his  interview  with  them  he  found  them,  frank  and 
sensible.  They  told  him  that  they  had  beeii  trained  to 
the  hunter's  life  from  childhood,  and  knew  no  other 
occupation,  and  that  the  buffalo  was  their  only  subsist- 
ence, and  they  desired  to  know  whether  they  would  be 
received  as  citizens,  if  they  inoved  within  the  American 
line.^.  The  officov  told  them  that  he  was  not  authorized 
io  express  any  opinion  on  such  points,  but  advised  them 
to  write  a  letter  to  Washington. 


*  Devil's  Lake. 


174 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


The  expedition  returned  to  Traverse  des  Sioux  on 
the  seventh  of  August,  and  was  surprised  at  seeing  two 
fine  horses,  that  belonged  to  the  officers  of  Captain 
Allen's  company,  and  some  mules,  among  the  Indians. 
The  thieves  were  arrested  and  sent  down  to  Fort 
Snelling.  ;   r'  -\ 

In  the  spring  of  1845,  one  of  Good  Road's  band  of 
Dahkotahs  was  killed  by  Pillagers  at  Otter  Tail  Lake. 
Not  long  after,  a  party  of  Ojibways  came  to  Fort  Snel- 
ling, and  to  protect  them  from  the  exasperated  Dahko- 
tahs, Captain  Backus  quartered  them  within  the  walls. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1846,  Joseph  Renville,  of 
Lac  qui  Parle,  whose  name  one  of  the  counties  of  the 
State  bears,  died.  Previous  to  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  of  1837,  he  was,  perhaps,  the  most  prominent 
citizen  in  Minnesota.' 


'  Joseph  Renville 
descent,  and  his  history  forms  a  link 
between  the  pa«t  and  the  present 
history  of  Minnesota.  His  father 
was  a  French  trader  of  much  repu- 
tation. His  mother  was  u  Dahkotah, 
connected  with  some  of  the  principal 
men  of  the  Kaposia  band.  He  was 
born  just  below  the  town  of  St.  Paul, 
about  the  year  1779,  during  the  war 
of  the  American  Revolution.  At 
that  time,  there  was  probably  not  a 
white  family  residing  in  the  whole 
of  that  vast  territory  that  now  com- 
prises Northern  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  exjepting  offi- 
cers of  the  British  army. 

Accustomed  to  see  few  European 
countenances,  in  sports,  habits,  and 
feelings  he  was  a  full  Dahkotah 
youth.  As  often  happens,  his  mo- 
ther deserted  her  husband,  and  went 


was  of  mixed  to  live  with  one  of  her  own  blood. 
The  father,  noticing  the  activity  of 
his  son's  mind,  took  him  to  Canada 
before  he  '^as  ten  years  of  age,  and 
placed  him  us  r  the  tuition  of  a 
priest  of  Ro"i«j.  His  instructor  ap- 
pears to  have  been  both  a  kind  and 
good  man,  and  from  him  he  received 
a  slight  knowledge  of  the  French 
language,  and  the  elements  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Before  he  at- 
tained to  manhood,  he  was  brought 
back  to  the  Dahkotah  land,  and  waa 
called  to  mourn  the  death  of  bis 
father. 

At  that  time,  there  was  a  British 
officer  by  the  name  of  Dickson,  who 
lived  in  what  is  now  Minnesota,  and 
the  head  of  an  £b£,lish  Fur  Com- 
pany. Knowing  that  young  Ren- 
ville was  energetic,  he  employed 
him  as  a  "  coureur  des  bois."    While 


ONE-EYED  CANADIAN,  EARLY  SETTLER  AT  ST.  PAUL.      475 


The  year  that  the  Dahkotahs  ceded  the  land  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  a  Canadian  Frenchman,  by  the  iiame 
of  Parant,  the  ideal  of  an  Indian  whiskey-seller,  erected 


a  mere  stripling,  he  had  guided  hia 
oanoe  from  the  Falls  of  Pukeguina 
to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  fol- 
lowed the  trails  from  Mendota  to  the 
MisAouri,  lie  knew  by  heart  the 
legends  of  Winona,  and  Ampato  Sa- 
pawin,  and  Hogan-wanke-kin.  He 
had  distinguished  himself  as  a  brave, 
and  also  became  identified  with  the 
Dahkotahs  more  fully  by  following 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  father  and 
purchasing  a  wife  of  that  nation. 

In  1797,  he  wintered,  in  company 
with  a  Mr.  Perlier,  near  Sauk  Ra- 
pids. The  late  General  Pike  was 
introduced  to  him  at  Prairie  du 
Chieu,  and  was  conducted  by  him 
to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  This 
officer  was  pleased  with  him,  and 
recommended  him  for  the  post  of 
United  States  Interpreter.  In  a  let- 
ter to  General  Wilkinson,  written  at 
Mendota,  September  ninth,  1805,  he 
says :  "  I  beg  leave  to  recommend 
for  that  appointment,  a  Mr.  Joseph 
Renville,  who  has  servad  as  inter- 
preter for  the  Sioux  last  spring  at 
the  lUinoiB,  and  who  has  gratuitous- 
ly and  willingly  served  as  my  inter- 
preter in  all  my  conferences  with 
the  Sioux.  He  is  a  man  respected 
by  the  Indians,  and  I  believe  an 
honest  one." 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  last 
war  with  Great  Britain,  Col.  Dickson 
was  employed  by  that  government, 
to  hire  the  warlike  tribes  of  the 
North-west  to  fight  against  the 
United  States.  Renville  received 
from  him,  the  appointment  and  rank 


of  captain  in  the  Britisli  army,  and 
with  warriors  from  tlie  Wapashaw, 
Kaposia,  and  other  bands  of  Dahko- 
tahs, marched  to  the  American  fron- 
tier. 

In  1822  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Columbia  Fur  Company.  Shortly 
after,  the  American  Fur  Company 
of  New  York,  of  which  John  Jacob 
Astor  was  one  of  the  directors,  not 
wishing  any  rivals  in  the  trnde,  pur- 
chased their  posts,  and  good-will, 
and  retained  the  "coureurs  des 
hois."  Under  this  new  arrangement, 
Renville  removed  to  Lac  qui  Parle, 
and  erected  a  trading-house,  and 
here  he  resided  until  the  end  of  his 
days. 

Living  as  he  had  done,  for  more 
than  a  half  century  among  the 
Dahkotahs,  over  whom  he  exercised 
the  most  unbounded  control,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  in  his  advanced 
age  he  sometimes  exhibited  a  domi- 
neering disposition.  As  long  as  Min- 
nesota exists,  he  should  be  known 
as  one  given  to  hospitality.  He 
invariably  showed  himself  to  be  a 
friend  to  the  Indian,  the  traveller, 
and  the  missionary.  Aware  of  the 
improvidence  of  his  mother's  race, 
he  used  his  influence  towards  the 
raising  of  grain.  He  was  instru- 
mental in  having  the  first  seed  corn 
planted  on  the  Upper  Minnesota. 
An  Indian  never  left  his  house 
hungry,  and  they  delighted  to  do 
him  honour.  He  was  a  friend  to  the 
traveller.  His  conversation  was  in- 
telligent, and  he  constantly  commu- 


470 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


a  shanty  at  what  is  now  the  principal  steamboat  land- 
ing ill  St.  Paul.  Ignorant  and  overbearing,  he  loved 
money  more  than  his  soul.     Destitute  of  one  eye,  and 


nioated  facts  that  were  worthy  of  ra- 
cord.  His  post  obtained  a  reputation 
among  explorers,  and  their  last 
day's  journey  to  it  was  generally  a 
quick  march,  for  they  felt  sure  of  a 
warm  welcome.  His  son  was  the 
interpreter  of  Nicollet,  that  worthy 
man  of  science  who  explored  this 
country  in  connection  with  Fremont, 
This  gentlemen,  in  his  report  to 
Congress,  pays  the  following  tribute 
to  the  father  and  son : — 

"  I  may  stop  a  while  to  say,  that 
the  residence  of  the  Renville  family, 
for  a  number  of  years  back,  has 
afforded  the  only  retreat  to  travellers 
to  be  found  between  St.  Peter's  and 
the  British  posts,  n  distance  of  seven 
hundred  miles.  The  liberal  and 
untiring  hospitality  dispensed  by 
this  respectable  family,  the  great 
influence  exercised  by  it  over  the 
Indians  of  this  country  in  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  and  the  protection 
of  travellers,  would  demand,  besides 
our  gratitude,  some  especial  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  United  States,  and 
also  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany." 

The  only  traveller  that  has  ever 
given  any  testimony  opposed  to  this 
is  Featherstonhaugh,  a  dyspeptic  and 
growling  Englishman,  whose  book, 
published  in  London  in  1847,  and 
styled  a  'Canoe  Voyage  up  the 
Minnay  Sotor,'  betrays  a  filthy  im- 
agination.    He  remarks: — 

"On  reaching  the  fort,  Renville 
advanced  and  saluted  me,  but  iiot 
cordially.     He  was  a  dark,  Indian- 


looking  person,  showing  no  white 
blood,  short  in  his  stature,  with 
strong  features  and  coarse  black 
hair.  ♦  *  »  ♦  *  I  learnt  that 
Renville  entertained  a  company  of 
stout  Indians  to  the  number  of  fifty, 
in  a  skin  lodge  behind  his  house,  of 
extraordinary  dimensions,  whom  he 
calls  his  braves,  or  soldiers.  To 
these  men  he  confided  various  trusts, 
and  occasionally  sent  them  to  distant 
points  to  transact  his  business.  No 
doubt  he  was  a  very  intriguing  per- 
son, and  uncertain  in  his  attach- 
ments. Those  who  knew  him  inti- 
mately, supposed  him  inclined  to  the 
British  allegiance  although  he  pro- 
fesses great  attachment  to  the  Amer- 
ican government,"  a  circumstance, 
however,  which  did  not  prevent  him 
from  being  under  the  surveillance 
of  the  garrison  at  Fort  Snelling." 

He  was  also  a  friend  to  the  Mis- 
sionary of  the  Cross.  Until  the  year 
1834,  no  minister  of  the  church, 
made  arrangements  to  devote  bu 
life  to  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
welfare  of  the  Dahkotahs. 

The  Rev.  T.  S.  Williamson,  M.D., 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Chilicothe,  ar- 
rived at  Fort  Snelling  in  1834 ;  then 
returned  to  the  East,  and  in  1835 
came  back  with  assistant  mission- 
aries. Renville  warmly  welcomed 
him,  and  rendered  him  invaluable 
assistance  in  the  establishment  of 
the  missions.  Upon  the  arrival  of 
the  missionaries  at  Lac  qui  Parlo. 
he  provided  them  with  a  tempoi-ary 
home.    He  acted  as  interpreter,  he 


ORIGIN  OP  THE  TERM  "PIG'S  EVE.' 


47i 


the  other  resembling  that  of  a  pig,  he  was  a  good  repre- 
sentative of  Caliban. 

In  the  year  1842,  some  one  writing  a  letter  in  his 


ABsisted  in  translating  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  removed  many  of  the  pre- 
judices of  tlie  Indians  against  the 
teachers  of  the  white  man's  religion. 
His  name  appears  in  connection 
with  several  Dabkotah  books.  Dr. 
Watts'  second  Catechism,  for  child- 
ren, published  in  Boston,  in  1837, 
by  Crocker  &  Brewster,  was  partly 
translated  by  him. 

In  1839,  a  volume  of  extracts  from 
the  Old  Testament,  and  a  volume 
containing  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  was 
published  by  Kendell  &  Henry,  Cin- 
cinnati, the  translation  uf  which  was 
;.;iven  orally  by  Mr.  Renville,  and 
penned  by  Dr.  Williamson.  Crocker 
&  Brewster,  in  1842,  published  Dah- 
kotah  Dowanpi  Kin,  or  Dahkotah 
Hymns,  many  of  which  were  com- 
posed by  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  following  tribute  to  his  ability 
us  a  translator,  appeared  in  the  Mis- 
oinnary  Herald  of  1846,  published  at 
Boston : — 

"  Mr.  Renville  was  a  remarkable 
man,  and  he  was  remarkable  for  the 
energy  with  which  he  pursued  such 
objects  as  he  deemed  of  primary  im- 
f,  -tance.  His  power  of  observing 
and  remembering  facts,  and  also 
words  expressive  of  simple  ideas,  was 
extraordinary.  Though  in  his  latter 
years  he  could  read  a  little,  yet  in 
translating  he  seldom  took  a  book  in 
his  hand,  choosing  to  depend  on 
hearing  rather  than  sight,  -  and  I 
have  often  had  occasion  to  observe, 
that  after  hearing  a  long  and  unfa- 
miliar verse  read  from   the  Scrip- 


tures, he  would  immediately  render 
it  from  the  French  into  Dahkotah, 
two  languages  extremely  unlike  iu 
their  idioms  and  ideas  of  the  vrords, 
and  repeat  it  over  two  or  three  words 
at  a  time,  so  as  to  give  full  opportu- 
nity to  write  it  down.  He  also  had 
a  remarkable  tact  in  discovering  the 
aim  of  a  speaker,  and  conveying  the 
intended  impr  ission,  when  many  of 
the  ideas  and  words  were  sueli  r» 
had  nothing  corresponding  to  them 
in  the  minds  and  language  of  the 
addressed.  These  qualities  fitted 
him  for  an  interpreter,  and  it  was 
generally  admitted  he  had  no  equal." 

It  would  be  improper  to  conclude 
this  article  without  some  reinarkb 
upon  the  religious  character  of  Ren- 
ville. Years  before  there  was  a 
clergyman  in  Minnesota,  he  took  his 
Indian  wife  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  «ud 
was  married  in  accordance  with 
Christian  rites  by  a  minister  of  the 
Roman  Church.  Before  he  became 
acquainted  with  missionaries,  he 
sent  for  a  large  folio  Bible  in  the 
French  language,  and  requested 
those  connected  with  him  in  the  fui 
trade  to  procure  for  him  a  clerk  who 
could  read  it.  This  Bible  was  pro- 
bably the  first  Bible  in  Minnesota, 
and  in  itself  valuable  for  its  anti 
quity.  It  was  printed  at  Geneva, 
in  1588,  and  had  a  Latin  preface  by 
John  Calvin,  the  great  Reformer. 

The  writer,  in  1853,  requesteii  Dr. 
Williamson,  of  the  Dahkotah  Mis- 
sion, to  procure  this  same  copy  for 
the  Historical  Society.    At  his  soli- 


478 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


groggery,  for  the  want  of  a  more  euphonious  name, 
designated  the  place  as  "  Pig's  Eje,"  referring  to  the 
peculiar  appearance  of  the  whiskey-seller.     The  reply 


citation,  one  of  the  bous  of  the  late 
Mr.  Benville,  brought  it  to  the  Mis- 
Bion  House  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  to  be 
forwarded  to  St.  Paul.  Before  an 
•opportunity  occurred,  the  Mission 
House,  with  all  of  its  contents,  was 
consumed  by  fire. 

After  the  commencement  of  the 
mission  at  Lao  qui  Parle,  his  wife 
was  the  first  full  Dahkotah  that  join- 
ed the  Church  of  Christ,  of  whom  we 
have  any  record.  She  was  also  the 
first  Dahkotah  that  died  in  the 
Christian  faith.  Befi're  she  had 
ever  seen  a  teacher  of  the  religion 
of  Christ,  through  the  instruction 
(if  her  husband  she  had  re/niuuced 
the  gods  of  the  Dahxotaha.  The 
following  is  an  extract  from  a  trans- 
lation of  Mr.  Renville's  account  of 
his  wife's  death: — "Now,  to-day, 
you  seem  very  much  e.thausted,  and 
she  said  '  yes  ;  this  day,  now  Qod 
invites  me.  I  am  remembering 
Jesus  Christ  who  suffered  for  me, 
and  depending  on  him  alone.  To- 
day I  shall  stand  before  God,  and 
will  ask  him  for  mercy  for  you,  and 
for  all  my  children,  and  all  my 
kip"ft)lk." 

terwards,  when  all  her  children 
lelatives  sat  round  her  weeping, 
8  'd,  "it  is  holy  day,  sing  and 

praj,  From  very  early  in  the 
morning,  she  was  speaking  of  God, 
and  telling  her  husband  what  to  do. 
Thus  she  died  "  when  the  clock 
struck  two." 

Like  Nicodemus,  one  of  the  rulers 
of   Israel,   he  loved  to  inquire  in 


relation  to  spiritual  things.  Of 
independent  mind,  he  olaimed  and 
exercised  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment in  matters  of  faith. 

In  1841,  he  was  chosen  and  or- 
dained a  ruling  elder,  and  from 
that  time,  till  his  death,  discharged 
the  duties  of  his  office  in  a  manner 
acceptable  and  profitable  both  to  the 
native  members  of  the  church  and 
the  missiou. 

After  a  sickness  of  some  days,  in 
March,  1846,  his  strong  frame  begau 
to  give  evidence  of  speedy  decay. 
He  was  a\7are  he  was  soon  to  taka 
"  his  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of 
death,"  but  he  knew  "in  whom  he 
had  believed,"  and  went, 

"  Not  like  the  quarry  sInTe.  at  night 
Ssourged  to  hla  duageon;  but  sustained  and 

SDuthed, 
Lika  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  bis  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreamn!" 

Dr.  Williamson  thus  narrates  the 
death-scene:  "The  evening  before 
his  decease,  he  asked  me  what  be- 
came of  the  soul  immediately  after 
death?  I  reminded  him  of  uur 
Saviour's  words  to  the  thief  on  the 
cros.<<,  and  Paul's  desire  to  depart 
and  be  with  Christ.  He  said, '  That 
is  sufficient,'  and  presently  odded, 
'  I  have  great  hope  I  shall  be  saved 
through  grace.'  Next  morning  (Sun- 
day) about  eight  o'clock,  I  was  called 
to  see  him.  He  was  so  evidently  in 
the  agonies  of  death,  I  did  not  think 
of  attempting  to  do  anything  for  him, 
After  some  time,  his  breathing  be- 
coming easier,  he  was  asked  if  he 


FIRST  STORE  AT  ST.  PAUL. 


479 


to  the  letter  was  directed  in  good  faith  to  "  Pig's  Eye," 
und  was  received  in  due  time. 

In  1842,  the  late  Henry  Jackson,  of  Ma^kahto, 
settled  at  the  same  spot,  and  erected  the  first  store  on 
the  height  just  above  the  lower  landing ;  and  shortly 


wished  to  hear  a  hymn.  Be  replied, 
'  Yes.'  After  it  was  sung  he  said, 
'It  is  very  good.'  As  he  reclined 
on  the  bed,  I  saw  a  sweet  serenity 
settling  on  his  countenance,  and  I 
thought  that  his  severest  struggle 
was  probably  past,  and  so  it  proved. 
The  clock  striking  ten,  he  looked  at  it 
and  intimated  that  it  was  time  for 
us  to  go  to  church.  As  we  were 
about  to  leave,  he  extended  his 
withered  hand.  After  we  left,  he 
spoke  some  words  of  exhortation  to 
his  family,  then  prayed,  and  before 
noon  calmly  and  quietly  yielded  up 
his  spirit." 

Sixty-seven  years  passed  by,  before 
he  closed  his  eyes  upon  the  world. 
The  citizens  of  Kentucky  delight  in 
the  memory  of  Daniel  Boone;  let 
the  citizens  of  Minnesota  not  forget 
Joseph  Renville,  though  he  was  a 
"  bois  brul6." 

His  descendants  are  still  living 
among  the  Dahkotahs.  The  son  who 
bove  his  name,  died  on  February 
eighth,  1856,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  mission  at  Payutazee.  The 
Rev.  S.  R.  Riggs,  in  a  communica- 
tion to  tlie  St.  Paul  Daily  Times, 
remarks : — 

"  The  deceased  was  about  forty- 
seven  years  of  age,  a  son  of  Joseph 
Renville,  who  died  at  Lao  qui  Parle 
some  years  since,  and  whose  memory 
is  identified  with  the  past  history  of 


Minnesota.  Inheriting  from  his 
father  many  noble  and  generous 
qualities,  unfortunately  for  himself 
and  family,  the  habits  of  the  Indian 
trade  in  which  the  deceased  v^-as 
educated,  were  not,  such  as  enabled 
him  to  gain  a  comfortable  livelihood 
by  labour.  After  the  death  of  his 
father,  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  resided  for  .some 
time  at  Kaposia,  with  Little  Crow's 
band,  many  of  whom  were  his 
mother's  relatives.  Soon  after  the 
cession  of  this  Minnesota  country  to 
the  United  States,  he  with  a,  younger 
brother,  and  cousin  of  the  same 
family  name,  removed  up  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  Fort  Ridgley. 
When  they  attended  the  payment  at 
Yellow  Medicine,  he  was  already  far 
gone  in  the  disease  which  has  just 
terminated  his  earthly  career.  Here, 
in  the  house  of  a  younger  brother, 
and  with  other  relations,  he  with 
his  family  found  a  temporary  home, 
und  a  place  to  die.  Through  the 
kindness  of  friends  and  neighbours, 
they  have  not  wanted.  It  ha?  been 
pleasant  to  see  that  former  kind- 
nesses received  from  the  family  when 
his  father  was  a  prince  in  wealth 
among  them,  have  not  been  entirely 
forgotten  by  the  Dahkotahs,  but 
have  been  returned  now  to  the  sou 
in  his  sickness." 


480 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


after,  Roberts  and  Simpson  followed,  and  opened  small 
Indian  trading  shops.  In  the  year  1846,  the  site  of  St. 
Paul  was  chiefly  occupied  by  a  few  shanties,  owned  by 
"certain  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,"  who  sold  rum 
to  the  soldier  and  Indian.  It  was  despised  by  all  decent 
white  men,  and  known  to  the  Dahkotahs  by  an  expres- 
sion in  their  tongue,  which  means,  the  place  where  they 
sell  minne-wakan.' 

The  chief  of  the  Kaposia  band  in  1846,  was  shot  by 
his  own  brother  in  a  drunken  revel,  but  surviving  the 
wound,  and  apparently  alarmed  at  the  deterioration 
under  the  influence  of  the  modern  harpies  at  St.  Paul, 
went  to  Mr.  Bruce,  Indian  agent,  at  Fort  Snelling,  and 
requested  a  missionary.  The  Indian  agent  in  his 
report  to  government,  says : — 

"  The  chief  of  the  Little  Crow's  band,  who  reside  below 
this  place  (Fort  Snelling)  about  nine  miles,  in  the  im- 
mediate neighbourhood  of  the  whiskey  dealers,  has 
requested  to  have  a  school  established  at  his  village.  He 
says  they  are  determined  to  reform,  and  for  the  future, 
will  try  to  do  better.  I  wrote  to  Doctor  Williamson 
soon  after  the  request  wa  made,  desiring  him  to  take 
charge  of  the  school.  He  has  had  charge  of  the  mis- 
sion school  at  Lac  qui  Parle  for  some  years ;  is  well 
qualified,  and  is  an  excellent  physician." 

In  November,  1846,  Dr.  Williamson  came  from  Lac 
qui  Parle  as  requested,  and  became  a  resident  of  Ka- 
posia. While  disapproving  of  their  practices,  he  felt  a 
kindly  interest  in  the  whites  of  Pig's  Eye,  which  place 
was  now  beginning  to  be  called,  after  a  little  log  chapel 


■5,.    '  Supernatural  water. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAME  OF  CITY  OF  ST.   PAUL. 


481 


which  had  been  erected  by  the  voyageurs,  St.  raul's.' 
Though  a  missionary  among  the  Dahkotahs,  he  was 
the  first  to  take  steps  to  promote  the  education  of  the 
whites  and  half-breeds  of  Minnesota.  In  the  year  1847, 
he  wrote  to  Ex-Governor  Slade,  President  of  the  Na- 
tional Popular  Education  Society,  in  relation  to  the 
condition  of  what  has  subsequently  become  the  capital 
of  the  state.* 


>  St.  Paul  wail  then  called  St. 
Paul's,  because  at  that  time  refer- 
ence was  had  to  the  chapel  of  St. 
Paul,  the  designation  of  the  log 
church. 

'  The  letter  of  Dr.  Williamson 
gives,  probably,  the  first  description 
nf  the  hamlet  of  St.  Paul  as  it  was 
=n  1847:— 

'  My  present  residence  is  on  the 
utmost  verge  of  civilization,  in  the 
north-vrestern  part  of  the  United 
States,  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
principal  village  of  white  men  in 
the  territory  that  we  suppose  will 
bear  the  name  of  Minnesota,  which 
some  would  render  'clear  wat«r,' 
though  strictly  it  signifies  slightly 
tiirbid  or  whitish  water. 

"Tlie  village  referred  to  has  grown 
up  within  a  few  years  in  a  romantic 
situation  on  a  high  bluff  of  the  Mis- 
Hissippi,  and  has  been  baptized  by 
the  Roman  Catholics,  by  the  name 
>f  St.  Paul.  They  have  erect«d  in 
it  a  small  chapel,  and  constitute 
much  the  larger  portion  of  the  inha- 
bitants. The  Dahkotahs  call  it  Ini- 
ni-ja-ska  (white  rock),  from  the 
colour  of  the  sandstone  which  forma 
tlio  bluff  on  which  the  village  stands. 
81 


This  village  has  five  stores,  as  they 
call  them,  at  all  of  which  intoxicat- 
ing drinks  constitute  a  part,  and  I 
suppose  the  principal  part,  of  what 
they  sell.  I  would  suppose  the  vil- 
lage contains  a  dozen  or  twenty  fa- 
milies living  near  enough  to  send  to 
school.  Since  I  came  to  this  neigh- 
bourhood I  have  hod  frequent  occa- 
sion to  visit  the  village,  and  have 
been  grieved  to  see  so  many  children 
growing  up  entirely  ignorant  of  God, 
and  unable  to  read  his  Word,  with 
no  one  to  teach  them.  Unless  your 
Society  can  send  them  a  teacher, 
there  seems  to  be  little  prospect  of 
their  having  one  for  several  years. 
A  few  days  since,  I  went  to  the  place, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  inquiries 
in  reference  to  the  prospect  of  a 
school.  I  visited  seven  families,  in 
which  there  were  twenty-three  child- 
ren of  proper  age  to  attend  school, 
and  was  told  of  five  more  in  which 
were  thirteen  more  that  it  is  sup- 
posed might  attend,  making  thirty- 
six  in  twelve  families.  I  suppose 
more  than  half  of  the  parents  of  these 
children  are  unable  to  read  them- 
selves, and  care  but  little  about  hav- 
ing their  children  taught.    Possibly 


482 


HISTORV  OK  MINNESOTA. 


Ill  accordance  with  his  request,  Miss  H.  E.  Bishop 
came  to  his  mission-house  at  Kaposia,  and,  after  a  short 
time,  was  inti"oduced  by  him  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Paul. 
The  first  school-house  in  Minnesota  besides  those  con- 
nected with  the  Indian  missions,,  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  thus  described  by 
the  teacher: — 

"The  school  was  commenced  in  a  little  log  hovel, 
covered  with  bark,  and  chinked  with  mud,  previously 
used  as  a  blacksmith  shop.  It  was  a  room  about  ten 
by  twelve  feet.  On  three  sides  of  the  interior  of  this 
humble  log  cabin,  pegs  were  driven  into  the  logs,  upon 
Avhich  boards  were  laid  for  seats.  Another  seat  was 
made  by  placing  one  end  of  a  plank  between  the  cracks 
of  the  logs,  £uid  the  other  upon  a  chair.     This  was  for 


the  priest  might  deter  some  from  at- 
tending, who  might  otherwise  be 
able  and  willing. 

"  I  suppose  a  good  female  teacher 
can  do  more  to  promote  the  cause  of 
education  and  true  religion  than  a 
man.  The  natural  politeness  of  the 
French  (who  constitute  more  than 
half  the  population)  would  cause 
them  to  be  kind  and  courteous  to  a 
female,  even  though  the  priest  should 
seek  to  cause  opposition.  I  suppose 
she  might  have  twelve  or  fifteen 
scholars  to  begin  with,  and  if  she 
should  have  a  good  talent  of  winning 
the  affections  of  children  (and  one 
who  has  not  should  not  come),  after 
a  few  months  she  would  have  as 
many  as  she  could  attend  to. 

"One  woman  told  me  she  had 
four  children  she  wished  to  send  to 


school,  and  that  she  would  give 
boarding  and  a  room  in  her  house  to 
a  good  female  teacher,  for  tha  tuition 
of  her  children. 

"  A  teacher  for  this  place  should 
love  the  Saviour,  and  for  his  sake 
should  be  willing  to  forego,  not  only 
many  of  the  religious  privileges  and 
elegances  of  New  England  towns, 
but  some  of  the  neatness  also.  She 
should  be  entirely  free  from  preju- 
dice on  account  of  colour,  for  amun^ 
her  scholars  she  might  find  not  only 
English,  French,  and  Swiss,  but 
Sioux  and  Ohippewas,  with  some 
claiming  kindred  with  the  African 
stock. 

"  A  teacher  coming  should  brinji 
books  with  her  sufficient  to  begin  a 
school,  as  there  is  no  book  (itore 
within  three  hundred  miles." 


FIRST  SCHOOL-HOUSE  IN  WHITE  SETTLEMENTS. 


488 


visiters.  A  rickety  cross-legged  table  in  the  centre,  and 
a  hen's  nest  in  one  corner,  completed  the  furniture."* 

St.  Croix  county,  in  the  year  1847,  was  detached 
from  Crawford  county,  Wisconsin,  and  reorganized  for 
judicial  purposes,  and  Stillwater  made  the  county  seat, 
111  the  month  of  June  the  United  States  District  Court 
held  its  session  in  the  store-room  of  Mr.  John  McKueick; 
Judge  Charles  Dunn  presiding.  A  large  number  of 
lumbermen  had  been  attracted  by  the  pineries  in  the 
upper  portion  of  the  valley  of  St.  Croix,  and  Stillwater 
was  looked  upon  as  the  centre  of  the  lumbering  interest. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell,  feeling  that  he  could  be  more 
useful,  left  the  Ojibways,  and  took  up  his  residence  near 
Stillwater,  preaching  to  the  lumbermen  at  the  Falls  of 
St.  Croi:;;'.,  Marine  Mills,  Stillwater,  and  Cottage  Grove. 
In  a  letter,  speaking  of  Stillwater,  he  says,  "  Here  is  a 
little  village  sprung  up  like  a  gourd,  but  whether  it  is 
to  perish  as  soon,  God  only  knows." 

For  a  long  time  it  had  been  thought  expedient  to 
change  the  location  of  the  Winnebago  Indians,  from  the 
neutral  ground  of  Iowa,  to  a  point  more  remote  from 
white  men.  By  the  terms  of  a  treaty,  made  at  Wash- 
ington in  October,  1846,  they  agreed  to  recede  from 
their  possessions,  in  Iowa,  in  the  year  1848.  Hon. 
Henry  M.  Rice  had  selected  for  them  a  new  home,  and 
with  difficulty  obtained  it  from  the  Ojibways,  between 
the  Sauk  and  Long  Prairie,  and  Crow  Wing  rivers. 

In  the  spring  of  1848  their  agent,  Mr.  J.  E.  Fletcher, 
discovered  that  a  large  portion  of  the  tribe  were  desirous 
of  emigrating  to  the  Missouri,  and  grumbled  at  the  pre- 
parations to  remove  northward.      The  treaty  granted 


»  "  Floral  Sketches,"  by  Mibb  H.  E.  Bishop,  p.  87. 


484 


HISTORY  OF  M1NNK80TA. 


twenty  thousand  dollars  to  the  Indians,  to  pay  the  ex- 
penses of  their  removal  to  their  new  location,  to  be  paid 
after  they  arrived  there.  As  no  one  was  willing  to  trust 
Indians,  for  large  amounts,  Mr.  Rice,  and  a  few  others, 
were  obliged  to  advance  the  supplies  necessary  for  the 
support  of  the  tribe. 

The  difficulty  in  relation  to  subsistence  being  over- 
come, it  was  agreed  that  the  tribe  should  move  in  two 
parties,  one  in  canoes  and  boats  up  the  Mississippi,  in 
charge  of  Mr.  Rice,  the  other  by  land,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Agent  Fletcli  When  the 'appointed  time  came 
to  start,  June  the  sixth,  1848,  the  Indians  dallied,  and 
the  agent  grew  impatient,  and,  in  the  hope  of  hurrying 
them,  had  their  baggage  placed  in  the  wagons,  which 
was  as  quickly  thrown  out  again  by  the  savages.  The 
agent  seht  for  the  troops  at  Fort  Atkinson,  and  the 
Indians  made  ready  for  battle.  The  troops  remained 
drawn  up  in  hostile  array  until  dark ;  the  next  day  an 
appeal  was  made  to  the  stomach  of  the  Winnebagoes, 
always  potent:  beef  was  plentifully  distributed,  and  jj, 
calm  ensued. 

The  land  party  now  agreed  to  move,  provided  they 
could  join  the  river  detachment  at  Wapashaw  Prairie. 
At  Wapashaw  they  arrived  without  any  trouble,  and 
found  Mr.  Rice,  with  his  division  of  the  tribe,  and  the 
company  of  volunteers  that  had  accompanied  him,  wait- 
ing for  their  appearance.  Almost  the  entire  nation, 
with  the  exception  of  Little  Hill,  instead  of  encamping 
on  the  river  bank,  near  the  whites,  sought  the  land 
beneath  the  bluffs,  thus  causing  a  creek  and  slough  to 
intervene.  ^     ..., 

Pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  prairie,  where  the 
town  of  Winona  now  stands,  they  purchased  it  of  Wapa- 


WINNEDAGOES  DESIRE  TO  SETTLE  AT  WINONA. 


4^6 


shaw,  the  Dahkotah  chief,  and  expressed  their  deter- 
mination not  to  move  a  step  further.  Wapashaw  and 
liis  band  uniting  with  them,  they  made  war  speeches, 
prepared  for  battle,  and  worked  tiiemselves  into  frenzy 
Mr.  Rice,  perceiving  that  this  was  a  critical  juncture, 
chartered  a  steamboat  that  happened  to  be  there,  and 
it  was  hurried  to  Fort  Snelling. 

By  request,  Captain  S.  H.  Eastman  came  down  with 
a  company  of  infantry,  and  a  party  of  Dahkotah  s  from 
the  Minnesota  river,  who  came  to  welcome  the  Winne- 
bagoes,  and  say  that  they  would  be  pleased  to  have 
them,  in  the  place  of  the  Ojibways,  for  their  neighbours 
on  the  north.  The  company  of  volunteers  from  Crawford 
county,  the  United  States  dragoons  from  Fort  Atkinson, 
and  the  infantry  from  Fort  Snelling,  and  sixty  armed 
teamsters,  were  now  planed  under  the  command  of 
Eastman.  The  Indians,  arrayed  on  the  other  side  of 
the  slough,  numbered  about  twelve  hundred.  The 
next  day  was  appointed  for  a  council,  between  the 
Winnebagoes   and   the    Dahkotahs   of  the   Minnesota 

river.  ,v.mi,-:i\i-m 

The  day  was  one  of  those  beautiful  dkys  in  June 
which  so  charm  the  resident  of  Minnesota,  and  the 
troops  were  all  drawn  out  ready  for  service  at  a  mo- 
ment's warning ;  the  teamsters,  near  the  wagons,  under 
Mr.  Culver,  now  deceased  on  the  right,  the  infantry 
in  the  centre,  with  two  six-pounders  charged  with 
giape ;  the  dragoons  on  the  left.  About  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  the  Indians,  chiefly  on  horseback,  painted 
and  decked  with  all  their  war  ornaments,  marched 
around  the  head  of  the  slough  toward  the  camp. 

A  mile  from  the  council  ground  they  halted,  and  sent 
forward  a  deputation  to  ask  "  Why  the  array  of  glitter- 


436 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


ing  muskets,  as  they  supposed  they  were  coming  ta 
council,  and  not  to  fight  ?"  Captain  Eastman  replied, 
"that  he  was  prepared  for  eithti":  if  they  wished  to 
hold  a  council,  they  would  not  be  molested."  Permis- 
.sion  being  granted,  they  rode  around  the  arranged 
council  ground  and  returned.  In'  a  moment  the  whole 
cavalcade,  twelve  abreast,  were  in  motion  toward  the 
United  States  troops  ^  and  as  the  terrific  war  whoop  was 
sounded,  the  Americans  began  to  think  that  they  might 
feel  the  scalping  knife.  Everything  wa«  made  ready 
for  the  worst:  the  cannon  weic  loaded,  and  soldiers 
stood  by  with  the  lighted  matches,  waiting  for  the  voice 
of  command. 

While  the  council  was  proceeding  between  the  Dah- 
kotahs  and  Winnebagoes,  an  Indian  and  a  soldier  met, 
and  were  about  to  fight.  Should  either  party  fire,  the 
slaughter  would  be  ine^antaneous,  as  both  sides  knew ; 
and  the  excitement  for  a  moment  was  intense.  By  the 
timely  interposition  of  Mr.  Rice  and  others,  the  Indian 
and  soldier  were  led  away,  and  the  danger  passed. 

During  the  rest  of  the  day  the  Indians  were  in  coun- 
cil, but,  sustained  by  Wapashaw,  they  still  remained 
firm  in  their  determination  not  to  leave  thai  prairie. 
Little  Hill,  and  a  small  band  of  Winnebagoes,  had  never 
sympathized  in  the  revolt ;  and  at  last.  Agent  Fletcher, 
taking  theni  on  board  of  a  steamboat,  carried  them  up 
to  Fort  Snelling,  leaving  matters  at  Wapashaw  in  charge 
of  Mr.  nice. 

This  sudden  movement  was  a  great  surprise  to  the 
disaffected,  -^nd  by  the  effoHs  of  Mr.  E.  A.  Hatch,  S. 
B.  Lowry,  George  Culver  and  others,  they  began  to 
waver,  and  by  the  time  the  boat  "ame  back  seventeen 
hundred  were  ready  to  embark  j  the  remainder  retreat- 


H.  M.  RICE  ARRESTS  WAPA8HAW. 


487 


ir  the  voice 


iLig  towards  the  Missouri  river  or  into  Wisconsin  Mr. 
Rice,  with  a  lieutenant  and  two  soldiers,  now  proceeded 
to  the  lodge  of  Wapashaw,  and  arresting  him,  he  was 
sent  a  prisoner  to  Fort  Snelling. 

About  the  first  of  July,  the  Winnebagoes  began  to 
move  again ;  but  on  their  route,  those  who  had  charge 
of  the  Indians  were  much  annoyed  by  creaturt-.s  that 
were  destitute  of  the  instincts  of  manhood,  selling  liquor 
to  them.  As  a  precaution  against  further  difficulty, 
orders  were  given  to  destroy  all  the  whiskey  that  was 
discovered  on  the  line  of  march.  About  the  first  of 
August  they  arrived  at  Watab  in  their  new  country, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  above  St.  Cloud.' 

'  For  the  facta  concerning  the  re-  Qeorge  Culver,  of  St.  Paul,  and  to 
moval,  I  am  indebted  to  t  manu-  oonTeraations  with  Hon.  Henry  M 
loript  kindly  furniehed  mo  by  Mr.    Rica. 


.r^ 


4Uh 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


OnAPTER  XXII. 

Three  ye-  -s  elapsed  from  the  time  that  the  Territory 
of  Minnesota  was  proposed  in  Congress  to  the  final  pas- 
sage of  the  organic  act.  On  the  sixth  of  August,  1846, 
an  act  was  passed  by  Congress  authorizing  the  citizens 
of  Wisconsin  Territory  to  frame  a  constitution,  and 
form  a  state  government.  The  act  fixed  the  St.  Louis 
river  to  the  rapids,  from  thence  south  to  the  St.  Croix, 
and  thence  down  that  river  to  its  junction  with  the 
Mississippi,  as  the  v.  estern  boundary. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  December,  1846,  the  delegate 
fro^n  Wisconsin,  Morgan  L.  Martin,  introduced  a  bill  in 
Congress  for  the  organization  of  a  territory  of  Minne- 
sota. This  bill  made  its  western  boundary  the  Sioux 
and  Red  River  of  the  North.  On  the  third  of  March, 
1847,  permission  was  granted  to  Wisconsin  to  change 
her  boundary,  so  that  the  western  limit  would  proceed 
due  south  from  the  first  rapids  of  the  St.  Louis  river, 
and  fifteen  miles  east  of  the  most  easterly  point  of  Lake 
St.  Croix,  thence  to  the  Mississippi. 

A  number  in  the  constitutional  convention  of  Wis- 
consin were  anxious  that  Rum  river  should  be  a  part 
of  her  western  boundary,  while  citizens  of  the  valley 
of  St.  Croix  were  desirous  that  the  Chippeway  river 


itory 
pas- 
.846, 
izens 
and 
Liouis 
roix, 
I  the 

egate 
ill  in 
inne- 
iioux 
arch, 
lange 
)ceed 
nver. 
Lake 

Wi8- 

part 

alley 

river 


"  ■'«¥  iK'.e^oKiigir. 


GOVERNCH    OF  VilNN'tSOTA 


REMONSTRANCE  AGAINST  PROPOSED  BOUNDARY. 


489 


should  be  the  limit  of  Wisconsin.  The  citizens  of  Wis- 
consin Territory,  in  the  valley  of  the  St.  Croix,  and 
about  Fort  Snelling,  wished  to  be  included  in  the  pro- 
jected new  territory,  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  March, 
1848,  a  memorial  signed  by  H.  H.  Sibley,  Henry  M. 
Rice,  Franklin  Steele,  William  R.  Marshall  and  others, 
was  presented  to  Congress,  remonstrating  against  the 
proposition  before  the  convention  to  make  Rum  river  a 
portion  of  the  boundary  line  of  the  contemplated  state 
of  Wisconsin.     The  petitioners  remark  : — 

"  Your  memorialists  conceive  it  to  be  the  intention 
of  your  honourable  bodies  so  to  divide  the  present  terri- 
tory of  Wisconsin  as  to  form  two  states  nearly  equal  in 
size  as  well  as  other  respects.  A  line  drawn  due  south 
from  Sbagwamigan  Bay,  on  Lake  Superior,  to  the  inter- 
section Oi  the  main  Chippeway  river,  and  from  thence 
down  the  middle  of  said  stream  to  its  debouchure  into 
the  Mississippi,  would  seem  to  your  memorialists  a  very 
proper  and  equitable  division,  which,  while  it  would 
secure  to  Wisconsin  a  portion  of  the  Lake  Superior 
shore,  would  also  afford  to  Minnesota  some  countervail- 
ing advantages.  But  if  the  northern  line  should  be 
changed,  as  suggested  by  the  convention,  Minnesota 
would  not  have  a  single  point  on  the  Mississippi  below 
tlie  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  which  is  the  limit  of  steam- 
l)oiit  navigation.  This  alone,  to  the  apprehension  of 
your  memorialists,  would  be  a  good  and  sufficient  reason 
wh}-  the  mouth  of  Rum  river  should  not  be  the  bound- 
ary, as  that  stream  pours  its  waters  into  the  Mississippi 
nearly  twenty  miles  above  the  Falls.  Besides  ihis,  the 
(Jhippeway  and  St.  Croix  valleys  are  closely  connected 
in  geographical  position  with  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
wliile  they  are  widely  separated  from  the  settled  parts 


490 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


of  Wisconsin,  not  only  by  hundreds  of  miles  of  mostly 
waste  and  barren  lands,  which  must  remain  uncultivated 
for  ages,  but  equally  so  by  a  diversity  of  interests  and 
character  in  the  population." 

On  the  twenty- ninth  of  May,  1848,  the  act  to  admit 
Wisconsin  changed  their  boundary  line  to  the  present, 
and  as  first  defined  in  the  enabling  act  of  1846.  After 
the  bill  of  Mr.  Martin  was  introduced  into  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  1846  it  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Territories,  of  which  Mr.  Douglas  was  chair- 
man. On  the  twentieth  of  January,  1847,  he  reported 
in  favour  of  the  proposed  territory  with  the  name  of 
Itasca.  On  the  seventeenth  of  February,  before  the 
bill  passed  the  House,  a  discussion  arose  in  relation  to 
the  proposed  names.  Mr.  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts 
•proposed  Chippeway  as  a  substitute,  alleging  that  this 
tribe  was  the  principal  in  the  proposed  territory,  which 
was  not  correct.  Mr.  J.  Thomson  of  Mississippi  dis- 
liked all  Indian  names,  and  hoped  that  the  territory 
would  be  called  Jackson.  Mr.  Houston  of  Delaware 
thought  that  there  ought  to  be  one  territory  named  after 
the  "  Father  of  his  country,"  and  proposed  Washington. 
All  of  the  names  proposed  were  rejected,  and  the  name 
in  the  original  bill  inserted.  On  the  last  day  of  the 
session,  March  third,  the  bill  was  called  up  in  the 
Senate  and  laid  on  the  table.      ^lifT 

When  Wisconsin  became  a  state  the  query  arose 
whether  the  old  territorial  government  did  not  continue 
in  force  west  of  the  St.  Croix  river.  The  first  meeting 
on  the  subject  of  claiming  territorial  privileges  was  held 
in  the  building  at  St.  Paul,  known  as  Jackson's  store, 
near  the  comer  of  Bench  and  Jackson  streets,  on  the 
bluSF.    This  meeting  was  held  in  July,  and  a  conveution 


in«Asaix[Lne5  stkiio,!?. 


PUBLIC  MEETING  AT  STILLWATER. 


49t 


was  proposed  to  consider  their  position.  The  first  pul> 
lie  meeting'  was  held  at  Stillwater  on  August  fourth,  and 
Messrs.  Steele  and  Sibley  were  the  only  persons  present 
from  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  This  meeting: 
issued  a  call  for  a  general  convention  to  take  steps  to 
secure  an  early  territorial  organization,  to  assemble  on 
the  twenty-sixth  of  the  month  at  the  same  place 
Sixty-two  delegates  answered  the  call,  and  to  the  con- 
vention a  letter'  was  presented  from  Mr.  Catlin,  wha 


'  Among  those  present,  were  W. 
D.  Phillips,  J.  W.  Bass,  A.  Larpen- 
teur,  J.  McBoal,  and  others  from  St. 
Paul. 

»  "  Madison,  August  22,  1848. 
Hon.  Wm.  Holoombe : 

"  Dear  Sir :  I  take  the  liberty  tu 
write  yon  briefly  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  what  the  citizens  of  the 
present  Territory  of  Wisconsin  desire 
in  relation  to  the  organization  of  a 
territorial  government.  Congress 
adjourned  on  the  fourteenth  instant, 
without  taking  any  steps  to  organize 
tlie  Territory  of  Minnesota,  or  of 
amending  the  act  of  1836,  organizing 
Wisconsin,  so  that  the  present  go- 
vernment could  be  successfully  con- 
tinued. 

"  I  have  given  Mr.  Bowron,  by 
whom  I  send  this,  a  copy  of  Mr. 
Buchanan's  opinion,  by  which  he 
gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  laws 
of  Wisconsin  are  in  force  in  your 
territory;  and  if  the  laws  are  in 
furce,  I  think  it  is  equally  clear  that 
the  officers  necessary  to  carry  out 
those  laws  are  still  in  office.  After 
the  organization  of  the  State  of 
Michigan,  but  before  her  admission. 
Gen.  G.  W.  Jones  was  elected   by 


the  Territory  of  Michigan  (now 
State  of  Wisconsin),  and  was  allowed 
to  take  his  seat. 

"  It  is  my  opinion  that  if  your  peo- 
ple were  to  elect  a  delegate  this  fall, 
he  would  be  allowed  to  take  his  seat 
in  December,  and  then  a  government 
might  be  fully  organized:  and 
unless  a  delegate  is  elected  and  sent 
on,  I  do  not  believe  a  government 
will  be  organized  for  several  years. 
You  are  aware  of  the  difficulty  which 
has  prevented  the  organization  of 
Oregon  for  two  years  past ;  and  the 
same  difficulty  will  prevent  th( 
organization  of  Minnesota.  If  Mr 
Tweedy  were  to  resign,  (and  he 
would  if  requested),  I  do  not  see- 
anything  to  prevent  my  issuing  a 
proclamation  for  an  election  to  fill 
the  vacancy,  as  the  acting  governor ; 
but  I  should  not  like  to  do  so  unlesa- 
the  people  would  cct  under  it,  and 
hold  the  election. 

"  If  a  delegate  was  elected  by  oo 
lour  of  law,  Congress  never  would  in 
quire  into  the  legality  of  the  election 

"  It  is  the  opinion  of  almost  all  thia 
way  that  the  government  of  the 
Territory  of  Wisconsin  still  conti- 
nues, although  it  is  nearly  inopera- 


492 


HI8T0RV  OF  MINNESOTA. 


claimed  to  be  acting  governor,  giving  his  opinion  that 
the  Wisconsin  territorial  organization  was  still  in  force. 
The  meeting  also  appointed  Mr.  Sibley  to  visit  Wash- 
ington and  represent  their  vievrs ;  but  the  Hon.  John 
H.  Tweedy  having  resigned  his  office  of  delegate  to 
Congress  on  September  eighteenth,  1848,  Mr.  Catlin, 
who  had  made  Stillwater  a  temporary  residence,  on 
the  ninth  of  October  issued  a  proclamation  ordering 
a  special  election  at  Stillwater  on  the  thirtieth,  to  fill 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation.  At  this 
election  Henry  H.  Sibley  was  elected  as  delegate  of  the 
citizens  of  the  remaining  portion  of  Wisconsin  Territory. 
His  credentials  were  presented  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  the  committee  to  whom  the  matter  wm 
referred  presented  a  majority  and  minority  report ;  but 
the  resolution  introduced  by  the  majority  passed,  and 
Mr.  Sibley  took  his  seat  as  a  delegate  from  Wisconsin 
Territory  on  the  fifteenth  of  January,  1849. 

Mr.  H,  M.  Rice,  and  other  gentlemen,  visited  Wash- 
ington during  the  winter,  and,  uniting  with  Mr.  Sibley, 
used  all  their  energies  to  obtain  the  organization  of  a 
new  territory. 

On  the  third  of  March,  1849,  a  bill  was  passed  or- 
ganizing the  Territory  of  Minnesota,'  whose  boundary 

"  I  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  ftom 
you  at  your  earliest  convenience. 


tive,  for  want  of  a  court  and  legisla- 
ture. 

"  I  write  in  haste,  and  have  not 
time  to  state  further  the  reasons 
-which  lead  me  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  territorial  government  is  still 
in  being;  but  you  can  confer  with 
Mr.  Bowron,  who,  I  believe,  is  in 
possession  of  the  views  and  opinions 
'«iitcrtaineJ  here  on  the  subject. 


"  Yours  very  respectfully, 

"John  Catlin." 

'  Boundaries  of  the  Territory  of 
Minnesota : — 

"  Beginning  in  the  Mississippi 
river,  at  the  point  where  the  line  of 
forty-three  degrees  and  thirty  mi- 
nutes of  north  latitude  crosses  the 


■:r  7n.:f>;T  w  ;. 


■lii)  '■■^U-ii     .('JiX' 


ar.     rc,>-i'.n» 


MEMiaY    Ci!.  1£U®I1, 


.■x;tf.|)  states  slnatok 


H'.iivf  AiiM:3:;UiU  ky  the  statr  i'ntii,  nf 


TERRITORY  OF  MINNESOTA  CREATED 


49a 


on  the  west  extended  to  the  Missouri  river.  At  the 
time  of  the  passage  of  the  bill,  organizing  the  Territory 
of  Minnesota,  the  region  was  little  more  than  a  wilder- 
ness. The  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  Iowa 
line  to  Lake  Itasca,  was  unceded  by  the  Indians. 

At  Wapashaw  was  a  trading-post  in  charge  of  Alexis 
Bailly,  of  'vhora  mention  has  been  made,  and  here  also 
resided  the  ancient  voyageur,  of  fourscore  years,  A. 
Rocque  At  the  foot  of  Lake  Pepin  was  a  store-house 
kept  by  Mr.  F  Richards.  On  the  west  shore  of  the 
lake  lived  the  itric  Wells,  whose  wife  was  a  bois 

brul^ — a  daughter  of  the  deceased  trader,  Duncan  Gra- 
liain.  The  two  unfinished  buildings  of  stone,  on  the 
l)eautiful  bank  opposite  the  renowned  Maiden's  Rock, 
and  the  surrounding  skin  lodges  of  his  wife's  relatives 
and  friends,  presented  a  rude  but  picturesque  scene. 
Above  the  lake  was  a  cluster  of  bark  wigwams,  the 
Dahkotah  village  of  Raymneecha,  now  Red  Wing,  at 
which  was  a  Presbyterian  mission-house.  The  next 
settlement  was  Kaposia,  also  an  Indian  village,  and  the 
residence  of  a  Presbyterian  missionary,  the  Rev.  T.  S. 
Williamson,  M.D. 


Bnme,  thence  running  due  west  on 
Hiiid  line,  which  is  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  to 
the  north-west  corner  of  the  said 
State  of  Iowa,  thence  southerly  along 
the  western  boundary  of  said  State 
to  the  point  whoro  said  boundary 
strikes  the  Missouri  river,  thence  up 
the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of 
the  Missouri  river,  to  the  mouth  of 
White  Earth  river,  thence  up  the 
middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the 
White  Earth  river  to  the  boundary 
line  between  the  possessionc  of  the 


United  States  and  Oreat  Britaiu ; 
thence  east  and  south  of  east  along 
the  boundary  line  between  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  United  States  and 
Oreat  Britain,  to  Lake  Superior ; 
thence  in  a  straight  line  to  the  north- 
ernmost point  of  the  State  of  Wis- 
consin in  Lake  Superior :  thence 
along  the  western  boundary  line  of 
said  State  of  Wisconsin,  to  the  Miss- 
issippi river ;  thence  down  the  main 
channel  of  said  river  to  the  place  of 
beginning." 


494 


HISTORY  01  MINNESOTA. 


On  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi^  tbe  iirst  settle- 
ment, at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix,  was  Point  Douglas, 
then,  as  now,  a  email  hamlet.  At  Red  Rock,  the  site 
of  a  former  Methodist  mission  station,  there  were  a  few 
farmers.  St.  Paul  was  just  emerging  from  a  collection 
of  Indian  whiskey  shops,  and  birch-roofed  cabins  of 
half-breed  voyageurs.  Here  and  there  a  frame  tene- 
ment was  erected ;  and,  un  lor  the  auspices  of  the  Hon. 
H.  M.  Rice,  who  had  obtained  an  interest  in  the  town, 
softie  warehouses  were  being  constructed,  and  the  foun- 
dations of  the  American  House  were  laid.  In  1849,  the 
population  had  increased  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  or 
three  hundred  inhabitants,  for  rumours  had  gone  abroad 
that  it  might  be  mentioned  in  the  act,  creating  the  ter- 
ritory, as  the  capital. 

More  than  a  month  after  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress, just  at  eve,  on  the  ninth  of  April,  amid  terrific 
peals  of  thunder  and  torrents  of  rain,  the  weekly  steam- 
packet,  the  first  to  force  its  way  through  the  icy  barrier 
of  Lake  Pepin,  rounded  the  rocky  point,  whistling  loud 
and  lore;,  as  if  the  bearer  of  glad  tidings.  Before  she 
was  safely  moored  to  the  landing,  the  shouts  of  the  ex- 
cited villagers  announced  that  there  was  a  Territory  of 
Minnesota,  and  that  St.  Paul  was  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. Every  successive  steamboat  arrival  poured  out 
on  the  landing  men  big  with  hope,  and  anxious  to  do 
something  to  mould  the  future  of  the  new  state. 

Nine  days  after  the  news  of  the  existence  of  the  Ter- 
I'itory  of  Minnesota  wjis  received,  there  arrived  James 
M.  Goodhue  with  press,  types,  and  printing  apparatus. 
A  graduate  of  Amherst  College,  and  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, he  wielded  a  sharp  pen,  and  wrote  editorials, 
which,  m.^re  than  anything  else,  perhaps,  induced  immi- 


tirst  settle- 
int  Douglas, 
ick,  the  site 

were  a  few 
a  collection 
i  cabins  cf 
frame  tene- 
of  the  Hon. 
in  the  town, 
nd  the  foun- 
[n  1849,  the 

and  fifty  or 
gone  abroad 
ting  the  ter- 

lent  of  Con- 
imid  terrific 
eekly  steam- 
e  icy  barrier 
listling  loud 

Before  she 
ts  of  the  ex- 
Territory  of 
t  of  govern- 

poured  out 
ixious  to  do 
state. 

e  of  the  Ter- 
rived  James 

apparatus, 
vyer  by  pro- 
tc  editorials, 
duced  inimi- 


,  !U  i£  z  A.  w  E  if;  'm.   ir  a  a] .?  e  ^y. 

lt4B_  Ibl? 
•.     rt:l'-.  KiS.I,  HE.EI.K -T.'iD   FiiRT-Hll  r:t<:'.V.. 


grj 
th( 
eig 
"I 


the 
to 
pro 
con 
nes 
H. 
I 
thei 
raei 
Mir 
The 
Ear 


deli 
onb 

1  ■ 

Davi 
limn 
appp 
Bais 

llOUSi 

Myri 
«nd 


ALEXANDER  RAMSEY,  FIRST  GOVERNOR. 


49u 


gration.  Though  a  man  of  some  glaring  faults,  one  of 
the  counties  properly  bears  his  name.  On  the  twentj- 
eighth  of  April,  he  issued  the  first  number  of  the 
"Pioneer."' 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  May,  Alexander  Ramsey, 
the  governor,  and  family  arrived  at  St.  Paul,  but,  owing 
to  the  crowded  state  of  the  public-houses,  immediately 
proceeded  in  the  steamer  to  the  establishment  of  the  fur 
company  known  as  Mendota,  at  the  junction  of  the  Min- 
nesota and  Mississippi,  and  became  the  guest  of  the  Hon. 
H.  H.  Sibley. 

For  several  weeks  there  resided,  at  the  confluence  of 
these  rivers,  four  individuals  who,  more  than  any  other 
men,  have  been  identified  with  the  public  interests  of 
Minnesota,  and  given  the  state  its  present  character. 
Their  names  are  attached  to  the  thriving  counties  of 
Ramsey,  Rice,  Sibley,  and  Steele. 

"  As  unto  the  bow,  the  cord  is, 
So  unto  the  man  is  the  woman, 
Though  she  bends  him,  she  obeys  him, 
Though  she  draws  him,  yet  she  follows, 
Useless  each  without  the  other ;" 

Therefore  we  venture,  fully  aware  of  the  extreme 
delicacy  of  the  undertaking,  to  attempt  a  portrait,  not 
only  of  these  citizens,  but  of  those  who  are  their  wives. 


'  By  advertisements  in  its  columns, 
David  Lambert,  deceased,  and  Wil- 
liam D.  Phillips,  of  Washington  City, 
apppur  a8  the  only  lawyers ;  J.  W. 
Bnss  and  Lott  Moffett,  keepers  of 
houses  of  entertainment ;  Forbes, 
Mjrifk,  Simpson,  Fuller  &  Brother, 
and    David    Olmsted,    as    traders; 


John  J.  Dewey,  as  doctor  ;  Miss  Bi 
shop  as  school  teacher;  and  Rev.  E. 
D.  Neill,  as  a  resident  clergyman  ; 
W.  H.  Nobles,  and  D.  C.  Taylor,  as 
blacksmiths;  John  R.  Irvine,  as  plas- 
terer ;  C.  P.  Lull,  as  house  builder  ; 
B.  W.  Branson,  surveyor. 


4dv^ 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


and  >»'h<i  must  always  be  considered  as  among  tLe  pro- 
minent early  settlers. 

Alexander  Ramsey  is  still  living  in  Saint  Paul  and 
was  bom  near  the  city  of  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania. 
Blessed  with  worthy  and  industrious  parents,  he  was 
not  trained  to  habits  of  idleness.  From  an  early  period, 
he  betrayed  a  fondness  for  reading,  and  amid  difficulties 
which  would  have  deterred  many,  he  persevered  until 
he  succeeded  in  entering  Lafayette  College,  at  Easton, 
Pennsylvania.  Circumstances  were  such  that  he  re- 
mained but  a  brief  period.  A  correspondent  of  tlie 
Public  Ledger,  of  Philadelphia,  under  date  of  April 
fourth,  1849,  thus  writes  : —  .m^vn 

"  By  untiring  industry  and  perseverance,  he  struggled 
through  the  study  of  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
of  Oauphiu  county.  The  first  public  office  ever  held 
by  him,  was  that  of  Secretary  of  the  Harrison  Electoral 
College  of  1840.  A  month  afterward,  in  January,  1841, 
he  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representative? 
of  Pennsylvania.  In  1843,  he  was  nominated  by  the 
Whig  Conference  as  a  candidate  for  Congress,  to  repre- 
sent the  district,  embracing  the  counties  of  Dauphin, 
Lebanon,  and  Schuylkill.  He  was  elected  by  a  decisive 
majority;  and  in  Harrisburg,  his  place  of  residence, 
which  before  had  given  a  Democratic  majority,  there 
v/as  a  large  vote  in  his  favour.  His  course  in  Congress 
was  marked  rather  by  a  practical  business  devotion  to 
his  duties,  than  by  any  effijrt  at  oratorical  display.  He 
was  nominated  and  re-elected  for  a  second  term ;  and  in 
1S46,  dyclined  in  favour  of  another.  He  is  social  and 
good-humoured,  but  cool,  cautious,  shrewd,  and  perse- 
vering. He  is  a  man  of  very  large  perceptive  powers, 
And  of  much  grasp  of  intellect ;  altogether  what  might 


tl.e  pro 

aul  and 
lylvania. 
he  was 
y  periodj 
.fficulties 
•ed  until 
:.  Easton, 
it  he  re- 
t  of  the 
of  April 

struggled 

0  the  bar 
;ver  held 
Electoral 
iry,1841, 
jentative? 
id  by  the 

to  reprp- 
Dauphin, 
a  decisive 
residence, 
rity,  there 

1  Congress 
evotion  to 
jlay.  He 
m ;  and  in 
social  and 
md  perse- 
re  powers, 
rhat  might 


>\! 


IhA, 


ANNA  E.  RAMSEY. 


497 


be  termed  a  man  of  a  good  deal  of  force  of  character. 
He  speaks  well,  not  eloquently;  but  to  the  point,  quite 
as  fluently  in  German  as  in  English."     No  longer 


I  V 


"  In  the  land  of  the  Dahkotahs, 
Lives  the  arrowmaker's  daughter,' 
Minnehaha,  Laughing  Water, 
Handsomest  of  all  the  women  ;" 


Yet  the  fii'st  governor  of  the  territory  appears  to 
have  received  from  some  one,  as  good  advice  as  Old 
Nokomis  gave  to  Hiawatha: — 

"  Bring  not  here  an  idle  maiden, 
Bring  not  here  a  useless  woman, 
Hands  unskilful,  feet  unwilling. 
Bring  a  wife  with  nimble  fingers, 
Heart  and  hand  that  move  together, 
Feet  that  run  on  willing  errands." 

His  wife  is  Anna  E.,  the  daughter  of  Hon.  Mr.  Jenks, 
of  Newtown,  a  fonner  member  of  Congress  from  Bucks 
county,  Pennsylvania.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage  in 
1845,  she  was  eighteen  years  of  age.  Accompanying 
her  husband  to  Minnesota,  whtn  it  was  chiefly  occupied 
by  savages,  removed  from  the  associations  of  her  child- 
hood, she  with  great  cheerfulness  adapted  herself  to  her 
new  position.  Queenly  and  attractive  in  appearance, 
she  well  fulfilled  the  duties  of  a  governor's  wife.  Affa- 
ble, open-hearted,  and  well  informed,  she  immediately 
became  a  favourite,  not  only  with  "  those  in  authority," 
but  also  with  the  plain  frontiersman.  Domestic  in  her 
tastes,  she  is  best  appreciated  by  those  who  know  her 
most  intimately. 

Henry  Hastings  Sibley  was  born  in  Detroit,  in  1812. 
ills  father  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  one  of 

32 


498 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  early  settlers  of  Michigan,  having  been  a  member 
of  the  first  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  North-west  Ter- 
ritory, which  met  at  Cincinnati.  Subsequently  he  was 
delegate  to  Congress,  and  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Michigan.  His  mother  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island, 
who  removed  with  her  parents  at  an  early  age  to  Ohio. 
Educated  at  the  celebrated  Moravian  School  at  Bethle- 
hem, and  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  she  was  refined 
and  accomplished,  and  trained  her  children  well. 

When  the  sujiject  of  this  sketch  was  eighteen  years 
of  age,  he  became  a  clerk  of  Mr.  Stewart,  a  gentleman 
of  probity  and  intelligence,  who  had  charge  of  the 
dep6t  of  the  American  Fur  Company  at  Mackinaw.  In 
the  year  1834,  when  but  twemty-two  years  of  age,  Mr. 
Sibley  commenced  his  residence  at  Mendota,  as  agent 
of  the  American  Fur  Company's  establishment.  After 
this  company  failed  in  1842,  the  inventory  was  pur- 
chased by  P.  Chouteau,  Jr.,  and  Co.,  of  St.  Louis,  and 
Mr.  Sibley  continued  the  business  until  he  became  a 
delegate  to  Congress  in  1848-49,  which  post  he  held 
for  several  years,  and  faithfull)-  discharged  its  duties. 
After  a  long  delay,  in  1858  was  declared  by  the  board 
of  canvassers  the  governor  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Sibley's  wifewaa  •  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  sister  of  Mr.  Franklin  Steele.  Married  at  an  early 
age,  she  also  gracefully  accommodated  herself  to  the 
novelty  of  frontier  life,  although,  living  immediately  op- 
posite to  Fort  Snelling,  she  found  some  congenial  society 
among  the  families  of  the  officers.  Sprightly  in  disposi- 
tion, and  devoted  to  her  children,  her  venerable  mother 
and  her  husband  her  death  was  a  great  loss. 

Henry  M.  Rice,     was      the     first  to  represent   tlie 
state  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  is  a  native  of 


»  Died  May  21, 1869. 


lember 
St  Ter- 
he  was 

Court 
Island, 
o  Ohio. 
Bethle- 

reiined 
I. 

n  years 
itleman 
of  the 
aw.     In 
age,  Mr. 
as  agent 
.     After 
«ra8  pur- 
)uis,  and 
ecame  a 

he  held 
s  duties, 
he  board 

mia,  and 
an  early 
If  to  the 
lately  op- 
al society 
n  disposi- 
e  mother 


a?f    g.^aKAKl 


[E  LlEl 


jsent  the 
native  of 


I'! 


!i 


^■■■H 


SKETCH  OP  HEN  BY  M.  RICE. 


499 


Vermont,  although  his  life,  from  youth,  hns  been  passed 
in  the  far  West.  With  much  foresight,  and  quick  in 
execution,  he  has  always  been  prominent  in  develop- 
ing the  resources  of  the  state  he  represents.  The  fol- 
lowing sketch,  published  a  few  years  ago,  gives  the 
views  of  one  of  Mr.  Rice's  friends : — 

"  He  settled  hero  when  there  were  no  white  men  in 
the  territory,  except  Indian  traders,  missionaries,  and 
soldiers ;  and  during  his  long  residence,  has  been  noted 
as  the  promoter  of  every  enterprise  tending  to  develop 
the  hidden  wealth  of  Minnesota,  and  attract  hither  im- 
migration from  other  portions  of  the  country.  Two 
years  ago,  he  was  elected  to  Congress  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing vote ;  and  then  commenced  a  series  of  labours  on 
his  part  which  will  make  him  long  remembered  in  the 
territory  as  the  most  efficient  of  representatives.  The 
pre-emption  system  he  caused  to  be  extended  to  unsur- 
veyed  lands;  the  military  reserves  opened  to  actual 
settlers;  land  offices  to  be  established;  post  routes 
opened  out  and  offices  established  ;  millions  of  acres  of 
lands  to  be  purchased  from  Indians,  and  thrown  open 
to  settlers ;  and  thousands  of  dollars  to  be  appropriated 
to  the  construction  of  government  roads.  Nor  was  this 
all :  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  individuals  entitled  to 
it,  was  secured,  and  no  exertion  ever  spared,  in  Congress 
and  out  of  it,  at  the  executive  departments  or  elsewhere, 
that  would  benefit  the  territory.  The  heavy  immigra- 
tion of  the  past  two  years  is  as  strong  proof  as  could 
be  desired  that  Minnesota  is  regarded  as  the  chosen 
spot  of  the  West,  either  for  immigrants  seeking  to  estab- 
lish themselves, or  capitalists  desiring  investments;  and 
for  much  of  this  heavy  immigration,  we  cannot  help 
thinking  our  territory  is  indebted  to  the  late  delegate; 


J 


» 


.11 

i 


500 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


the  beneficial  legislation  he  procured  for  us,  rendered 
Minnesota  indeed  a  land  of  promise. 

"  Mr.  Rice  possesses  in  a  great  degree  the  qualities 
necessary  to  make  a  good  delegate.  His  winning  man- 
ners secure  him  hosts  of  fiiends,  and  enable  him  to 
acquire  great  influence;  his  business  habits,  industry, 
and  perseverance,  insure  the  accomplishment  of  what- 
ever he  undertakes,  while  his  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
wants  of  the  territory,  prevents  his  efforts  from  being 
misdirected.  His  political  opinions  are  those  of  a  Njv- 
tional  Democrat — coinciding  with  those  of  the  president 
and  heads  of  departments,  a  majority  of  the  Senate, 
and  a  respectable  and  united  minority  in  the  House — 
which  will  successfully  combat  a  divided  majority." 

In  the  year  1849  Mr.  Rice  was  married  to  Miss 
Matilda  Whitall,  whose  family  reside  in  the  vicinity  of 
Richmond,  Virginia.  Youthful,  graceful  in  bearing,  and 
with  warm  impulses,  her  houses  in  Washington  and  8t. 
Paul  have  always  been  an  agreeable  resort  to  her  hus- 
band's friends.  With  a  disposition  to  be  identified  with 
wliatever  will  promote  the  interests  of  her  husband, 
she  proves  a  valuable  wife  as  well  as  attentive  mother. 

Franklin  Steelewaaa  native  of  Chester  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, and,  when  a  youth,  was  advised  by  Andrew- 
Jackson,  late  President  of  the  United  .States,  to  identify 
himself  with  the  West.  John  H.  Stevens,  Esq.,  of 
Glencoe,  formei'ly  a  clerk  of  Mr.  Steele's,  in  a  lecture 
before  Hennepin  County  Lyceum,  says : — "  The  day  he 
landed  at  Fort  Snelling,  the  Indians  had  concluded 
a  treaty  with  the  whites,  by  which  the  St.  Croix  Falls 
were  ceded  to  the  latter.  Mr.  Steele  wont  over ;  liked 
the  place  much,  made  a  claim,  hired  a  large  crew  of 
men,  put  Calvin  A.  Tuttle,  Esq.,  now  of  St.  Anthony, 


M^??  MAITDILlii^A   iSOSfS. 


'?  ' ; ■'•   ^       ^  ' 


<^^M,'' 


''  ;^^\ 


-l^:lLJ-:„ 


MP.  FRANKLIN  STEELE  AND  WIFE. 


501 


at  their  head,  and  commenced  in  earnest  to  build  mills. 
Upon  being  appointed  sutler  to  the  army  at  Fort  Snel- 
ling,  he  disposed  of  the  St.  Croix  property,  and  became 
interested  on  the  east  side  of  St.  Anthony's  Falls.  He 
has  continued  to  m^^ke  this  county  his  home  ever  since 
his  first  arrival  in  the  territory.  Mr.  Steele  has  been 
a  good  friend  to  Hennepin,  and  as  most  of  the  citizens 
came  here  poor,  they  never  had  to  ask  Mr.  Steele  a 
second  time  for  a  favour.  Fortune  has  favoured  him, 
and  while  many  a  family  has  reason  to  be  thankful 
for  his  generosity  and  kindness,  he  has  constantly  made 
money.'"  On  the  tenth  of  September,  1880,  he  died 

Mrs.  Franklin  Steele  was  born  in,  Maryland,  and 
was  a  Miss  Barney,  a  relative  of  the  naval  officer  whose 
name  is  associated  with  the  glory  of  our  marine.  Com- 
manding in  person,  and  well  educated,  she  had  been 
muv^h  admired  in  societ3^  In  January,  1881,  she  died. 

About  the  last  of  May,  1 849,  the  Dahkotahs  of  the  Ka- 
posia  band,  just  below  St.  Paul,  performed  one  of  their 
peculiar  ceremonies.  A  short  distance  from  their  lodges 
they  formed  an  elliptical  enclosure  with  willow  bushes 
stuck  in  the  grounc  In  the  centre  was  placed  a  large 
buflfalo  fish  on  some  green  fern,  and  a  cat-fish  on  a  bunch 
of  dry  grass.  A  small  arbour  was  placed  over  the  fiph. 
At  one  end  of  the  enclosure  was  a  teepee,  in  which 
were  men  singing  Hah-yay,  Hah-yay,  Hob,  Hob,  Hob, 
lloh-ah.  Soon  six  men  and  three  boys  issued  with  bent 
l)i)dies  and  long,  dishevelled  hair,  who  moved  around 
the  enclosure,  keeping  their  faces  as  much  as  possible 
in  the  direction  of  the  fishes.  Then  a  tall  man,  of 
Hireescore  years,  painted  entirely  blaek,  appeared  with 
a  small  hoop  in  each  hand,  walking  "  on  all  fours,"  and 
howling  like  a  liear.     Entering  within  the  enclosure  of 


502 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


'1:T: 


willow  branches,  he  moved  around  as  if  scenting  some- 
thing. While  thus  occupied,  two  more  made  their 
appearance  smeared  all  over  with  white  clay,  one  repre- 
senting a  grizzly  bear,  the  other,  with  a  tail  suspended 
from  his  breech  cloth,  and  body  bent,  represented  a 
wolf.  The  other  Indians  danced  and  sang  for  two  or 
three  hiurs,  while  these  men  as  beasts  prowled  around 
the  fishes,  pawing,  snuffing  at  them,  and  then  retreating. 
At  last  one  of  the  bears  crept  up  to  one  of  the  fish,  luiJ, 
after  much  growling,  bit  off  a  piece,  and  went  round  the 
ellipse  chewing.  The  other  bear  then  bit  the  remaining 
fish.  These  signals  caused  all  the  dancers  to  follow, 
and  flesh,  fins,  bones,  and  entrails  were  all  devoured 
without  being  touched  by  the  hands.  The  sacred  men 
also  prayed  to  the  spirits  of  the  fish,  and  the  object  of 
the  feast,  was  supposed  to  be,  to  induce  a  change  of 
weather. 

On  the  first  of  June,  Governor  Ramsey,  by  proclama- 
tion, declared  the  territory  duly  organized,  with  the  fol- 
lowing officers :  Alexander  Ramsey,  of  Pennsylvania, 
Governor ;  C.  K.  Smith,  of  Ohio,  Secretary ;  A.  Good- 
rich, of  Tennessee,  Chief  Justice ;  D.  Cooper,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  B.  B.  Meeker,  of  Kentucky,  Associate 
Judges;  Joshua  L.  Taylor,  Marshal;  H.  L.  Moss,  At- 
torney of  the  United  States.' 


^A  Proclamation,  by  Alexander  Ram- 
sey, Governor  of  the  Teiritory  of 
Minnesota. 

TO  ALL  WHOM  IT  MAT  CONCERN. 

Whereas  by  an  net  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  of  America, 
entitled  "  ^n  act  to  establish  the 
I\errilorialOovernnientof Minnesota," 
approved  March  tliird,  1849,  a  true 
30py   whereof   is    hereto    annexed, 


a  government  was  erected  over  all 
the  cduntry  described  in  said  act  to 
be  called  "  The  Territory  of  Minne- 
sota ;"  and  whereas  the  following 
named  officers  have  been  duly  ap- 
pointed and  cohimisssioned  under 
the  said  act  as  officers  of  said  govern- 
ment, viz : 

Alexander  Ramsey,  Governor  of 
said   Territory,  ani  Commander-io 


mM:^' 


K'if:'-  lFfS.^faKO.ati    i^l^EraS, 


JUDGES  GOODRICH,  MEEKER,  AND  COOPER. 


508 


On  the  eleventh  of  June,  a  second  proclamation  was 
issued,  dividing  the  territory  into  three  temporary  judi- 
cial districts.  The  first  comprised  the  county  of  St. 
Croix ;  the  county  of  La  Pointe,  and  the  region  north 
and  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  north  of  the  Minnesota, 
and  of  a  line  running  due  west  from  the  headwaters  of 
the  Minnesota  to  the  Missouri  river,  constituted  the 
second ;  and  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
south  of  the  Minnesota,  formed  the  third  district. 
Judge  Goodrich  was  assigned  to  the  first.  Meeker  to  the 
second,  and  Cooper  to  the  third.  A  court  was  ordered 
to  be  held  at  Stillwater  on  the  second  Monday,  at  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony  on  the  third,  and  at  Mendota  on 
the  fourth  Monday  of  August. 

On  the  sixth  of  June,  Major  Wood  left  Fort  Snelling, 
charged  with  the  duty  of  making  a  military  examina- 
tion of  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Pembina,  in  view 
of  establishing  a  military  post  there.  Captain  Pope,  of 
the  topographical  engineers,  accompanied  the  expedi- 
tion, and  his  report,  published  by  Congress,  is  valuable 


Chief  of  the  Militia  thereof,  and 
Superintendent  of  Indian  aifairs 
therein, 

Charles  K.  Sroith,  Secretary  of 
said  territory, 

Aaron  Goodrich,  Chief  Justice, 
and  David  Cooper  and  Bradley  B. 
Meeker,  Associate  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  said  territory,  and 
to  act  as  Judges  of  the  District  Court 
of  said  territory, 

Joshua  L.  Taylor,  Marshal  of  the 
United  States  for  said  territory, 

Henry  L.  Mo  _,  Attorney  of  the 
United  States  for  said  territory, 

And  said  officers  having  respeo 


tively  assumed  the  duties  of  ti^eir 
said  offices  according  to  law,  said 
territorial  government  is  declared 
to  be  organized  and  established,  and 
all  persons  are  enjoined  to  obey, 
conform  to,  and  respect  the  laws 
thereof  accordingly. 

Given  under  my  hand,  and  the 
r  1  seal  of  said  Territory,  this 
*•*  *  '^  first  day  of  June,  a.  ».  ^849, 
and  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America  the  seventy- 
third. 
By  the  Governor,        Alex.  Kambst. 

Cbas.  K.  Smith,  Secretary. 


604  ;  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA.       i^vm 

in  information,  concerning  the  adaptation  of  the  Red 
River  valley  for  agricultural  purposes. 

Until  the  twenty-sixth  of  June,  Governor  Ramsey 
and  family  had  been  guests  of  Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley,  at 
Mendota.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  they  arrived 
at  St.  Paul,  in  a  birch-bark  canoe,  and  became  perma- 
nent residents  at  the  capital.  The  mansion  first  occu- 
pied as  a  gubernatorial  mansion,  is  the  small  frame 
building,  on  Third,  between  Robert  and  Jackson  streets, 
subsequently  known  as  the  New  England  House. 

A  few  days  after,  the  Hon.  H.  M.  Rice  and  family 
moved  from  Mendota  to  St.  Paul,  and  occupied  the  house 
he  had  erected  on  St.  Anthony  street,  near  the  corner 
of  Market. 

On  the  first  of  July,  a  land  office  was  established  at 
Stillwater,  and  A.  Van  Vorhees,  after  a  few  weeks,  be- 
came the  register.  yj,,),,? 

The  anniversary  of  our  National  Independence,  was 
celebrated  in  a  becoming  manner  at  the  capital.  The 
place  selected  for  the  address,  was  a  grove  that  stood 
on  the  sites  of  the  City  Hall  and  the  Baldwin  School 
Building.       ■     '  '■■-■       :     ^    r  ^ 

In  pursuance  of  a  requirement  in  the  organic  act,  the 
sheriff  of  St.  Croix  was  ordered  to  take  a  census  of  all 
inhabitants.* 

..'■■  ■  '■     ,■■    '  I      I :i -.- r.'-i. ^y *    t •->.),'< (li^^ 

*  The  ref  ult  was  as  follows  : — 

Namea  of  Pisces.  Males.    Females.     Total. 

Stillwater 455  154  609  * 

Uke  St.  Croix 129  82  211 

Marine  Mills 142  31  173 

St.  Piial, 540  300  840 

Little  Canada  and  St.  Anthony 352  219  571 

Crow  Wing  and  Long  Prairie 235  115  350 

Osakis  Rapids 92  41  133 

Falls  of  St.  Croix 15  1  16 


GOVERNOR  RAMSEY  RECOGNISES  A  CHIEF. 


505 


On  the  seventh  of  July,  a  proclamation  was  issued, 
dividing  the  territory  into  seven  council  districts,  and 
ordering  an  election  to  be  held  on  the  first  day  of 
August,  for  one  delegate  to  represent  the  people  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  for  nine 
councillors,  and  eighteen  representatives  to  constitute 
the  Legislative  Assembly  of  Minnesota. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival,  Governor  Ramsey  recognised 
a  new  hereditary  chief  of  the  Wahk-pay-koo-tay  band 
of  Dahkotahs,  named  Wa-min-di-yu-ka-pi,  by  inve»tinjT 
him  with  a  sword  and  a  soldier's  medal.  He  was  a  fine 
looking  youth,  and  a  few  weeks  after  this  honour  he 
and  seventeen  others  were  slaughtered  in  broad  day- 
light, by  a  party  of  Indians  they  met  near  the  head- 
waters of  the  Des  Moines  river.  The  Dahkotahs  took 
four  scalps,  and  the  citizens  of  St.  Paul,  during  the  quiet 
nights  of  that  summer,  could  hear  the  noise  of  the  scalp 
dance  at  Kaposia. 


'■J 


Names  of  Place*.   If ; '        I,;'     ..■(;        ■•      ,                ■•  Males.  Females.  Total. 

Snake  River,      ............  58  24  82 

La  Pointe  County 12  10  22 

Crow  Wing,        103  71  174 

Bifj  Stone  Lake  and  Lac  qui  Parle, 33  35  68 

Little  Rock,        20  15  35 

Piairieville 9  13  22 

Oak  Grove,         14  9  23 

Black  Dog  Village 7  11  18 

Crow  Wing,  east  side 35  35  70 

Mendota,        72  50  122 

Red  Wing  Village, 20  13  3.*? 

W:il)eshnw  nnil  Root  River, 78  36  114 

Fort  Snelling 26  12  38 

Soldiers  and  women  and  children  in  forte,      .     .  267  50  317 

Pembina 295  342  637 

Missouri  River,       49  37  86 

I. >».!.'!;• '.■,'<,-!.            ,1      V';  3067  1713  4680 


506 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


During  the  latter  part  of  July,  a  band  of  Siesetoiui 
Dahkotahs,  near  Big  Stone  Lake,  proceeded  to  a  buffalo 
hunt.  Unsuccessful,  they  were  obliged  to  eat  their  dogs 
and  tipsinna.'  One  day  they  were  startled  by  a  horse- 
man galloping  across  the  plain  in  the  direction  of  their 
camp.  On  his  approach,  they  saw  he  was  a  Red  River 
half-breed,  who  had  formerly  lived  in  their  country.  He 
had  come  to  tell  them  that  the  Ojibways  were  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  contemplated  an  attack.  The  Dah- 
kotahs had  just  hid  their  women  and  children  in  holes, 
and  covered  them  with  brush-wood,  when  the  enemy 
came  in  sight.  A  few  of  the  bravest  Dahkotahs  went 
out  to  meet  the  foe,  and  the  fight  commenced  near  a 
rivulet,  in  the  valley  of  the  Cheyenne.  The  leader, 
after  fighting  bravely,  found  himself  surrounded  by  the 
Ojibways,  who  had  concealed  themselves  in  the  grass. 
While  in  the  act  of  raising  his  head  to  draw  the  stopper 
jfrom  his  powder-horn,  he  was  shot  through  the  brain. 
His  little  son,  not  t^n  years  of  age,  seeing  his  father 
fall,  rushed  to  the  corpse,  and  after  clasping  it,  he  lay 
by  its  side,  and  fired  at  the  enemy  until  aid  came  from 


'  The  Tipsinna,  or  Dahkotah  tur- 
nip, grows  only  in  the  high  and  dry 
prairie.  It  seeks  the  high  points 
and  gravelly  hills,  where  it  continues 
to  grow  in  size  from  year  to  year, 
increasing  with  every  sunimer  that 
passes  over  it.  The  root  is  roundish 
oroval,  and  of  various  sizes,  according 
to  it>8  age.  It  has  a  thick,  hard  rind, 
which  the  Dahkotah  usually  remove 
with  their  teeth.  During  the  months 
of  June  and  July,  when  the  top  can 
be  easily  discovered  in  the  grass, 
the  Indians  of  the  Upper  Minnesota 
depend,  very  much,  for  their  subsist- 


once  on  the  tipsinna.  They  eat  it 
both  raw  and  cooked.  This  root 
has  lately  acquired  a  European 
reputation.  Mr.  Lamare  Picot,  of 
France  has,  within  a  few  years  past, 
introduced  it  into  his  native  country, 
and  the  Savans  of  Paris,  it  is  said, 
have  given  it  the  name  of  "  Picoti- 
anna."  It  has  been  supposed  that 
this  dry  prairie  root  might  yet  take 
an  important  place  among  the 
vegetables  which  are  cultivated  for 
the  support  of  human  life  ;  but  this 
expectation  will  probably  end  in 
disappointment. 


FIRST  ELECTION  IN  MINNESOTA. 


60T 


tlie  Dahkotah  cairip,  and  his  corpse  was  cared  for  by 
friends.  After  skirmishing  till  dusk,  the  Ojibways  re- 
treated with  three  killed.  The  Dahkotahs  lost  thfc 
same  number.' 

In  this  month  the  Hon.  H.  M.  Rice  despatched  a  boat 
laden  with  Indian  goods  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony 
to  Crow  Wing,  which  was  towed  by  horses  after  the 
manner  of  a  canftl  boat.     s[?i>'5''i'vj«-*i-;!f  jvitt^  n-m^. ;?,-;.  ^,s 


The  election  on  the  first  of  August,  passed  oif  with 
little  excitement,  Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley  being  elected 
delegate  to  Congress  without  opposition.*  David  Lam- 
bert, on  what  might,  perhaps,  be  termed  the  old  settlers' 
ticket,  was  defeated  in  St.  Paul,  by  James  McBoal. 
The  latter,  on  the  night  of  the  election,  was  honoured 
with  a  ride  through  town  on  the  axle  and  fore-wheels 
of  an  old  wagon,  which  was  drawn  by  his  admiring, 
but  somewhat  undisciplined  friends. 

J.  L.  Taylor  having  declined  the  office  of  United 
States  Marshal;'  A.  M.  Mitchell,  of  Ohio,  a  graduate  of 


'  Communication  in  Minnesota  Pioneer,  September  19,  1849. 
'  The  vote  in  St.  Paul  was : — 

Delegate  to  Congress, H.  H.  Sibley, 188 

Councillors, "W.  H.  Forbes 187 

J.  McBoal 98 

D.  Lambert, 91 

House  of  Representatives,       .     .     .  B.  Branson, 168 

....  P.  K.  Johnson 104 

....  H.  Jackson 165 

"  ....  J.  J.  Dewey 171 

.    .    .    .  J.  R.  Brown 84 

"  .    .    .    .  A.  O.  Fuller 24 

Unsuccessful  in  Italia. 

■  The  following  exhibits  the  result  under  the  countiei  into  which  th« 

3f  the  first  census,  along  with  the  territory  was   subsequently  divided 

vote  cast  for  the  Delegate  to  Congress  by  the  first  Legislature : — 
on  the  first  August,  1849,  arranged 


808  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

West  Point,  and  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  Ohio  volun- 
teers) in  Mexico,  was  appointed,  and  arrived  at  the  capi- 
tal (?arly  in  August. 

There  were  three  papers  published  in  the  territory 
soon  after  its  organization.  The  first  was  the  Pioneer,' 
issued  on  Api'il  twenty-eighth,  1849,  under  most  dis- 
couraging circumstances.  It  was  at  first  the  intention 
of  the  witty  and  talented  editor  to  ha\^  called  his  paper 
*'  The  Epistle  of  St.  Paul."  About  the  same  time  there  was 
issued,  in  Cincinnati,  under  the  auspices  of  the  late  Dr. 
A.  Randall,  of  California,  the  first  number  of  the  Regis- 
ter. The  second  number  of  the  paper  was  printed  at 
St.  Paul,  in  July,  and  the  office  was  on  St.  Anthony, 
between  Washington  and  Market  Streets.  About  tlio 
first  of  June,  James  Hughes,  now  of  Hudson,  Wisconsin, 
arrived  with  a  press  and  materials,  and  established  the 
Minnesota  Chronicle.  After  an  existence  of  a  few  weeks 
these  papers  were  discontinued ;  and,  in  their  place,  wiis 

Co.  Seats.  Counties.  Malea.  Females.  Tote  for  Del. 

St.  Paul,     .    Ramsey 976  564  273 

Stillwater, .     Washington 821  291  213 

Sauk  Rapids,  Benton 249  108  18 

Mendota,    .    Dahkotah 301  167  75 

Wahnatah 344  182  70 

Wabashaw,     Wabushaw 246  84  33 

Pembina,    .     Pembina 295  342  — 

Itasca 21  9  — 

Mankato, —  —  — 

•    •  '  3253  1687  682 

I'  '  1®87 

Total  population,  June  30,  1849,      .    ,    .    4940 

'  The  press  used  in  printing  the  purchased   in    Cincinnati  in   1836, 

•'  Pioneer"  is  said  to  have  been  the  and  first  used  in  printing  the  Du- 

'tirst  ever  used  north  of  Missouri,  and  buque   Visitor,  published  by  John 

west    of   the   Mississippi.     It  was  King. 


SESSIONS  OF  THE   c'lRST  UOL'UTS. 


509 


issued  the  "  Chronicle  and  Register,"  edited  by  Nathaniel 
McLean  and  John  P,  Owens. 

The  first  courts,  pursuant  to  proclamation  of  the 
governor,  were  held  in  the  month  of  August.  At  Still- 
water, the  court  was  organized  on  the  thirteenth  of  the 
month,  Judge  Goodrich  presiding,  and  Judge  Cooper, 
by  courtesy,  sitting  on  the  bench.  On  the  twentieth, 
the  second  jiidicial  district  held  a  court.  The  room 
used  was  the  old  government  mill  at  Minneapolis.  The 
presiding  judge  was  B.  B.  Meeker;  the  foreman  of  the 
grand  jury,  Franklin  Steele.  On  the  last  Monday  of 
the  month,  the  court  for  the  third  judicial  district  was 
organized  in  the  large  stone  warehouse  of  the  fur  com- 
pany at  Mendota.  The  presiding  judge  was  David 
Cooper.  Governor  Ramsey  sat  on  the  right,  and 
Judge  Goodrich  on  the  left.  Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley  was 
the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury.  As  some  of  the  jurors 
oould  not  speak  the  English  language,  W.  H.  Forbes 
acted  as  interpreter.  The  charge  of  Judge  Cooper  was 
lucid,  scholarly,  and  dignified.  At  the  request  of  the 
grand  jury  it  was  afterwards  published. 

R.  G.  Murphey,  the  United  States'  agent  for  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  used  commendable  diligence  during  this  year  in 
checking  the  whiskey  traffic,  and  in  inducing  the  In- 
dians to  renew  their  temperance  pledges.  Under  the 
intluence  of  a  vile  class  of  whiskey  sellers  that  infested 
the  neighbourhood  of  what  is  now  the  capital  of  Min- 
nesota, the  Dahkotahs,  a  few  years  before  this,  were  a 
nation  of  drunkards.  Men  would  travel  hundreds  of 
miles  to  the  "  place  where  they  sell  Minne-wakan," 
as  they  designated  St.  Paul,  to  traffic  for  a  keg  of 
whiskey.     The  editor  of  the  Dahkotah  Friend  says  : — 

"  Twelve  years  ago  they  bade  fair  soon  to  die,  all  Uy- 


110 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


gether,  in  one  drunken  jumble.  They  must  be  drunk — 
the}"  could  hardly  live  if  they  were  not  drunk.  Many 
of  them  seemed  as  uneasy  when  solder  as  a  fish  does 
M'hen  on  land.  At  some  of  the  villages  they  were  drunk 
months  together.  There  was  no  end  to  it.  They  would 
have  whiskey.  They  would  give  guns,  blanket^,  pork, 
lard,  flour,  corn,  coffee,  sugar,  horses,  furs,  traps,  any- 
thing for  whiskey.  It  was  made  to  drink— it  was  good 
— it  was  wakan.  They  drank  it — they  bit  off  each 
other's  noses — broke  each  other's  ribs  and  heads — they 
knifed  each  other.  They  killed  one  another  with  guns, 
knives,  hatchets,  clubs,  fire-brands — they  fell  into  the 
fire  and  water,  and  were  burned  to  death  and  drowned 
— they  froze  to  death,  and  committed  suicide  so  fre- 
quently that,  for  a  time,  the  death  of  an  Indian,  in 
some  of  the  ways  mentioned,  was  but  little  thought  of 
by  themselves  or  others.  Some  of  the  earlier  settlers  of 
St.  Paul  and  Pig's  Eye  remember  something  about  these 
matters.  Their  eyes  saw  sights  which  are  not  exhibited 
now-a-days."  'A     ,1 -M;)  ivti,i 

The  reform  was  commenced  through  the  influence  of 
the  missionaries,  Mr.  Sibley,  and  Mr.  Murphey's  prede- 
cessor. 

On  one  occasion  Agent  Murphey  met  a  Sissetoan 
Dahkotah,  a  few  miles  above  Mendota,  returning  home 
with  a  supply  of  "  fire  water."'  A  wagon  happening  to 
pass  at  the  time,  he  secured  the  fellow,  and  returned 
with  him  in  the  vehicle  toward  Fort  Snelling ;  but,  in 
passing  a  wooded  ravine,  the  Indian,  a  most  active  and 
athletic  man,  succeeded,  by  a  desperate  exertion,  in 
leaping  from  the  wagon,  and,  dashing  into  the  woods, 
made  his  escape.  During  the  summer  a  steambo.'.t 
landed  in  the  night  at  Raymneecha  (Red  Wing),  and  a 


MEETING  OP  FIRST  LEGISLATURE. 


511 


son  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  told  his  father  that  the  band 
wore  obtaining  whiskey  at  the  boat.  The  chief  was  in- 
dignant, and,  awaking  the  Indian  farmer,  he  went  to 
the  landing,  and  told  the  crew  that  he  would  cut  the 
boat  loose  unless  they  immediately  removed. 

On  Monday,  the  third  of  September,  the  first  Legis- 
lative Assembly  convened  in  the  "Central  House,"  a 
l)iulding  which  answered  the  double  purpose,  of  capitol 
and  hotel.  On  the  first  floor  of  the  main  building  was 
the  secretary's  office  and  Representative  chamber,  and 
in  the  second  story  was  the  library  and  Council  chamber. 
As  the  flag  was  run  up  the  staff"  in  front  of  the  house, 
a  number  of  Indians  sat  on  a  rocky  bluff"  in  the  vicinity, 
and  gazed  at  what  to  them  was  a  novel,  and  perhaps 
.saddening  scene;  for  if  the  tide  of  emigration  sweeps 
in  from  the  Pacific  as  it  has  from  the  Atlantic  coast, 
they  must  diminish. 

The  legislature  having  organized,  elected  the  follow- 
ing permanent  officers:  David  01m.sted,  President  of 
Council;'  Joseph  R.  Brown,  Secretary;  H.  A.  Lambert, 
Assistant.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Joseph  W. 
Furber  was  elected  Speaker;  W.  D.  Phillips,  Clerk;  L. 
B.  Wait,  Assistant. 

On  Tuesday  afternoon,  both  houses  assembled  in  the 


.;:•'•■  ui  ;!>i!> 


,5-1!-;) 


1  Coundllon. 

No.  of  District.       Reddens*. 

Age. 

PUceofNatWty. 

James  S.  Norris,  . 

.     .     1 

.    Cottage  Qrove,    .    . 

38 

Maine. 

Siumiel  Burkleo,  . 

.     2 

Stillwater,  .... 

45 

Delaware. 

William  II.  Forbes, 

.     3 

St.  Paul,     .... 

38 

Montreal,  C. 

Jiimes  MoC.  Boal, 

.     3 

it 

38 

Pennsyhauiik 

David  B.  Loomi-,      . 

.    4 

Marine  Mills,      .     . 

32 

Connecticut. 

John  Rollins,  .     . 

.    5 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 

41 

Maine. 

David  Olmsted,     . 

.    6 

Long  Prairie,      .     . 

27 

Vermont. 

William  Sturgos, 

.    6 

Elk  River 

28 

Up.  Canada. 

Martin  M  Leod.   . 

.    7 

Lac  qui  Parle,     .     . 

30 

Muntveal,  C 

512 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


t.  -•.■» 


^a^ 


dining  hall  of  the  hotel,  and  after  prayer  was  oflfered  by 
Rev.  E.  D.  Neill,  Governor  Ramsey  delivered  his  mes- 
sage. The  message  was  ably  written,  and  its  perusal 
afforded  satisfaction  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  member,-;  of  the  first  legislature  were  generall}? 
acquainted  with  each  other  previous  to  their  election, 
and  there  was  but  little  formality  manifest^ed  in  their 
proceedings.  A  child  of  one  of  th"?  members  having 
died,  the  House  of  Representatives'  adiourned  to  attend 
the  little  one's  funeral.* 


No. 


1  Kepreaentativoa. 

Joseph  W.  Furber,    . 
James  Wo!'      .     .     . 
M.  S.  Wilkinson, .     . 
Syl'anus  Trask,   .     . 
M<    lon  Black,      .    . 
"    jauiin  W.  Brunson, 
Aionry  Jackson,    .    . 
John  J.  Dewey,     .     . 
Parsons  K.  Johnson, 
Henry  F.  Setzer,  . 
William  .1.  Marshall, 
William  liugas,    .     . 
Jeremiah  Russell, 
L.  A.  Babcock,     .     . 
Thomas  A.  Holmes, 
Allen  Morrison,    .     . 
Alexis  Bailly,       .     . 
Gideon  II.  Pond,  .     . 


of  District       ResldtDCe. 

1  .  Cottage  Grove, 

1  .  Lake  Pepin,    . 

2  .  Stillwater,      . 
2  . 

2    . 

3 

3 

3 

3 

4 

5 

5 

6 

6 

(3 

6 

7 

7 


St.  Paul, 


Snake  River,  .     . 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
Little  Canada,     . 
Crow  Wing,    .     . 
Sauk  Rapids, 


Mendota,    . 
Oak  Grove, 


Age. 

36 
46 
30 


25 
42 


25 
37 

29 
44 

50 

39 


Place  of  .\atlTtt7. 

N.  H. 

N.  Jersey. 

New  York. 
({ 

Ohio. 

Michigan. 

Virginia. 

New  York. 

Vermont. 

Missouri. 

L.  Canada. 

Vermont. 
Pennsylvania. 

Michigan. 
Connecticut. 


'  Extract  from  the  Journal  of  the 
House,  October  fourth,  1849  : — 

Mr.  Wilkinson  offered  the  follow- 
ing:— 

"  Whereas,  by  the  sudden  and 
mysterious  dispensatioa  of  Provi- 
dence, one  of  our  brcther  members 
of  tiuH  house,  has  been  painfully 
beroaved  by  the  death  of  a  beluved 
nxMnber  of  his  family,  and  feeling  a 


deep  sympathy  for  our  worthy 
brother  in  his  bereavment,  therefore 
Resolved,  That  when  this  house 
adjourn,  that  it  adjourn  until  to- 
morrow raornuig  a'  ten  o'clock,  and 
tliat  the  members  bo  requested  by 
the  speaker  to  attend  the  funeral  of 
the  .laughter  of  the  Hon.  R.  W. 
Brunson,  at  one  o'clock." 


^^-TiJi^*— — : 


FIRST  COUNTIES— RED  PIPE  STONE. 


513 


The  first  session  of  the  legislature  adjourned  on  the 
first  of  November.  Among  other  proceedings  of  in- 
terest, was  the  creation  of  the  following  counties- 
Itasca,  Waubashaw,  Dahkotah,  Wahnahtah,  Mahkahto, 
Pembina,  Washington,  Ramsey,  and  Benton.  The 
tliree  latter  counties  comprised  the  country  that  up  to 
tliat  time  had  been  ceded  by  the  Indians  on  the  east 
side  of  the  MicisiMsippi.  Stillwater  wa?  declared  the 
r'ounty  seat  of  Washington ;  St.  Paul,  of  Ramsey;  "and 
the  seat  of  justice  of  the  county  of  Be  ton,  was  to  be 
within  one-quarter  of  a  mile  of  a  point  n  the  east  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  directly  opposite  the  mouth  of  Sauk 
river." 

The  day  of  elections  after  the  year  1849,  was  ap- 
pointed to  be  on  the  first  of  t^f^ptember. 

A  warm  interest  was  manifested  in  the  common 
school  system,  and  an  able  report  on  the  subject  was 
mti'^e  to  the  Council  by  the  Hon.  M.  McLeod,  chairman 
of  the  committee. 

A  joint  resolution  was  passed,  ordering  a  slab  of  the 
red  pipe  stone  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Washington 
Monument  Association,' 


'  Mr.  MoLeod  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing communication  from  the  Hon. 
Henry  H.  Sibley,  which 

On  n  ition  of  Mr.  McLeod,  was 
ordered  to  be  read  and  entered  on 
the  minutes  of  tlie  council : — 

Mendota,  Sept.  11,  1849. 
J^  the  Honourable,  the   h't/islative 
Ciiuncil  of  Minnesota  Tei  ritory : 
The  undersigned   having  seen  a 
notice  in  the  public  journals  some 
time  since,  signed   by  the  gene."al 
ftgeut  of  the  Washington  Monumeut 
38 


AsRociatioii,  to  the  e6fect  that  a  por- 
tion of  rock  from  each  state,  would 
be  received  to  be  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  monument,  has 
caused  to  be  procured  from  the 
quarry,  about  two  hundred  miles 
distai.t,  a  specimen  of  the  Red  or 
Pipe  stone,  which  is  peculiar  to  our 
territo  y,  to  be  proffered  for  that 
purpose.  Believing  it  to  be  meet 
and  proper  that  Minnesota  should 
not  be  backward  in  her  contribution 
til  a  work  which  lE  intended  to  per- 
petuate the  memory  of  the  "  Fathei 


514 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Tbi;  stone  for  ages  has  been  used  by  the  Dahkotahs 
and  other  tribes  for  the  manufacture  of  pipes,  and  i« 
esteemed  "  wakan."  In  the  State  Cabinet  of  Albany 
there  is  a  very  ancient  pipe  of  this  material,  which  was 
obtained  in  the  Seneca  country,  and  the  tradition  is 
that  it  was  taken  from  the  Dahkotahs. 

Charlevoix,  in  his  History  of  New  France,  speaking 
of  the  pipe  of  peace,  says  :  "  It  is  ordinarily  made  of  a 
species  of  red  marble,  very  easily  worked,  and  found 
beyond  the  Mississippi  among  the  Aaiouez  (loways). " 
Le  Sueur  speaks  of  the  Yauktons,  as  the  village  of  the 
Dahkotahs  at  the  Red  Stone-quarry.  It  is  asserted  that 
in  days  gone  by  hostile  nations  used  to  assemble  at  this 
quarry,  and  obtain  the  material  for  pipes  without  mo- 


■if  his  Country,"  and  that  the  offer- 
ing should  be  that  of  the  constituted 
authorities  of  the  territory,  rather 
than  the  act  of  a  private  individual, 
I  have  hereby  the  honour  to  present 
the  spooiinen  of  rock  to  your  honour- 
able body,  for  your  acceptance,  to 
'je  disposed  of  in  sucii  manner  as 
y  lur  wisdom  may  suggest. 

The  slab  is  about  two  and  a  half 
feet  in  length,  and  a  little  over  one 
and  a  half  in  breadth,  and  two  inches 
in  thickness.  In  the  last  particular 
it  does  not  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  Association  ;  but,  apart  from  the 
impracticability  of  transporting  a 
huge  mass  of  stcne,  weighing  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  half  a  ton,  if  of  the  di- 
mensions stated,  to  80  remote  a  point 
as  Washington  City,  it  is  known 
that  the  strata  of  pipe  stone  rarely, 
if  evdr,  exceed  three  inches  in  thick- 
ness. In  length  and  breadth,  it  is 
b.,'  eved,  the  specimen  will  come  up 


to  the  standard,  and  can  be  so  Uht'ii 
as  to  face  a  solid  block  of  granite  or 
otcar  material,  and  thus  answer  the 
proposed  end. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  beg  leave 
to  state,  that  a  late  geological  work 
of  high  authority,  by  Dr.  Jackson, 
designates  this  formation  as  Catli- 
nile,  upon  the  erroneous  supposition 
that  Mr.  George  Catlin  was  the  first 
white  man  who  had  ever  visited  that 
region  ;  whereas,  it  is  notorious  thut 
many  whites  had  been  there  ami 
esauiinLil  the  quarry  long  before  he 
came  to  the  country.  This  designa- 
tion is  therefore  clearly  inipmiier 
and  unjust.  The  Sioux  term  for  the 
stone  is  Eyanskah,  by  which,  I  con- 
ceive, it  should  be  known  and  cLassi- 
fied. 

1  have  the  honour  to  be, 
Very  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

H.  H.  SiBLET. 


RED  PIPE  STONE  QUARRY  DESCRIBED. 


516 


lestation.  Whether  facts  will  sustain  the  tradition  may 
be  doubtful. 

The  first  canto  o^  the  "  Song  of  Hiawatha"  gives  an 
impressive  pic'ore  of  the  conclave  of  natives  at  "the 
great  Red  Pipe  Stone  Quarry.'" 

Nicollet,  in  his  admirable  report,  remarks :  "  This 
red  pipe  stone,  not  more  interesting  to  the  Indian  than 
it  is  to  the  man  of  science,  by  its  unique  character,  de- 
serves a  particular  description.  In  the  quarry  of  it 
which  I  had  opened,  the  thickness  of  the  bed  is  one 
foot  and  a  half,  the  upper  portion  of  which  separates  in 
thin  slabs,  whilst  the  lower  ones  are  more  compact.  As 
a  mineralogical  species  it  may  be  described  as  follows : 
compact;  structure,  slaty;  receiving  a  dull  polish;  having 
a  red  streak ;  colour,  blood  red,  with  dots  of  a  fainter 
.shade  of  the  same  colour ;  fracture,  rough ;  sextile,  fat, 
somewhat  greasy ;  hardness,  not  yielding  U)  the  nail 


1 "  Down  the  rlveni,  o'er  the  prairiea, 
Came  the  warriors  of  the  nationa, 
Came  the  Delawarea  anj  .Mnhawka, 
Came  the  ChoiilAwa  and  Camanohes. 
Came  the  ghoshoniea  and  Blackfeet, 
Ciune  the  Pawnees  and  Omahawa, 
Ciimo  the  Mandann  and  Dacotaha, 
Came  the  Iluroc  and  (Ijibways, 
All  the  warriors  drawn  together, 
liy  the  Blgnal  of  the  I'eaco-Pipe, 
To  the  mountains  of  the  prairie,        '  . 
To  the  great  Red  Pipe  Stone  Quarry. 
«  «  «  «  « 

'iitche  Manito,  the  i^'.ghty, 
Tlie  creator  of  the  nations, 
I.ooliiMl  upon  Ihem  with  rompasaion, 
Witli  paternal  love  and  pity ; 

4  «  *  *  * 

Sprite  to  Ihem  with  voice  majeatlo 
As  the  sound  of  far  r)ff  waters, 
•  *  •  •  • 

0  my  children!  my  poor  children  I 
Listen  to  the  words  of  wisdom, 
Listen  to  the  worvis  of  warning, 
From  the  lips  of  tlie  Oreat  Hpirit, 

From  the  Master  nf  Lift ,  who  made  yotl ; 

1  have  giren  you  lands  ^J  hunt  in. 


1  have  given  you  streams  to  flah  In, 
I  have  given  you  bear  and  bison, 
1  have  given  you  roe  and  reindeer, 
I  have  given  you  brant  and  beaver. 
Fining  the  marshes  full  of  wild  fowl. 
Filled  the  rivers  full  of  fishes; 
Why  then  are  you  not  contented  f 
Why  then  will  you  hunt  each  other? 
I  «i;,  wearj  of  your  quarrels. 
Weary  of  y  lur  war*  and  bloodshed. 
Weary  of  your  prayers  for  vengeance, 
Of  your  wrangllnga  and  dlisensloni; 
All  your  strength  is  In  your  union, 
All  your  danger  Is  in  discord ; 
Therefore  be  at  peace  ^  ^nceforward, 
And  aa  brothers  live  together. 
Bathe  now  in  the  atream  before  you, 
Waah  the  war  paint  from  your  faces, 
Wash  the  blood  stains  froir  your  flngem, 
Uury  your  war  clubs  and  your  weapons, 
Breal(  the  red  stone  from  thi<  quarry. 
.Mould  and  make  It  into  pnacu-pipea, 
Take  the  reeds  thst  [rrow  hvsid,.  you, 
Deck  them  .vith  your  brightest  feathers, 
Smoke  the  calumet  toci-llhT, 
And  ai  brothera  live  henreforwird  I* 


'0-'^'    < 


m 


W 


WW 


6i6 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


not  scratched  by  selenite,  but  easily  by  calcareous  spar; 
specific  gravity,  2.90.  The  acids  have  no  action  upon 
it;  before  the  blow-pipe  it  is  infusible, joer  se;  but  with 
borax  gives  a  green  glass." 

The  committee  on  seal  recommended  as  a  device  an 
Indian  family,  with  lodge  and  canoe,  encamped,  a  single 
white  man  visiting  them,  and  receiving  from  them  the 
calumet  of  peace.  The  report  was  accepted,  and  the 
committee  discharged.  During  the  following  winter, 
Governor  Ramsey  and  the  delegate  to  Congress  devised 
at  Washington  the  ^'^mtorial  seal.  The  design  was: 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony  in  the  distance ;  an  emigrant 
ploughing  the  land  on  the  borders  of  the  Indian  coun- 
try, full  of  hope,  and  looking  forward  to  the  possession 
of  the  hunting-grounds  beyond.  An  Indian,  amazed 
at  the  sight  of  the  plough,  and  fleeing  on  horseback 
towards  the  setting  sun. 

The  motto  of  the  Earl  of  Dnnraven,  "  Quse  sursum 
volo  videre,"  "  I  wish  to  see  what  is  above,"  was  most 
appropriately  selected  by  Mr.  Sibley,  then  delegate  iu 
Congress,  but  by  the  blunder  of  an  engraver  it  appeared 
on  the  Territorial  seal  "  Quo  sursum  velo  videre,"  which 
no  scholar  could  translate.  At  length  was  substituted 
"  L'Etoile  du  Nord,"  "Star  of  the  North,"  while  the  de- 
vice of  the  seUing  sun  remained,  and  this  is  objection- 
able, as  Maine  had  already  placed  the  North  Star  on 
her  escutcheon,  with  the  motto  "  Dirigo,"  "  I  guide." 
Perhaps  soma  future  Legislature  may  direct  the  first 
motto  to  be  restored,  and  correctly  engraved. 

The  wife  of  Captain  S.  Eastman,  who  was  fonuerly 
hi  connnand  of  Fort  Snt-lliiig,  a  lady  of  iiuc  literary 
qualifications,  who,  with  her  husband,  has  done  iikho 
than  uuy  one  to  illustrate   Dahkotah-land  and  Diihko- 


EFFORT  TO  EXTINGUISH  INDIAN  TITLE. 


517 


tah-life,  prepared  a  poem  on  the  "  Seal  of  Minnesota," 
about  the  time  it  was  designed.' 

When  the  Territory  of  Minnesota  was  organized,  the 
Indian  title  had  been  extinguished  of  but  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  country.  The  ceded  region  was  chiefly  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  being  bounded  on  the  north  by  a 
line  extending  east  from  the  mouth  of  the  Crow  Wing 
river  to  the  western  boundary  line  of  Wisconsin.  The 
lands  above  were  occupied  by  the  Ojibways. 

It  therefore  seemed  very  desirable  to  make  room  for 
the  rushing  emigration  to  procure  the  right  of  occu- 
pancy to  the  lands  in  possession  of  the  Dahkotahs  west 


'  (live  way.  give  way,  young  warrior, 

Thou  and  thy  steed  ffi\e  way— 
K.'flt  not.  though  liiit^i^ra  on  the  billi 

The  red  sun's  parting  ray. 
The  rocky  blul'aud  prairie  land 

The  white  man  claims  them  now, 
Tlie  AvDihoU  of  bis  eourse  are  herSf 

The  rifle,  axe,  and  plough. 

Not  thine,  the  waterx  bright  wtaoae  laugh 

Ix  ringing  In  thy  ear; 
Not  thine  the  otter  and  the  !yni, 

The  wolf  and  llmid  deer. 
The  forest  tree,  the  fairy  ring. 

The  nacred  Isle  and  mound 
Hare  passed  Into  another's  handc  — 

Another  claimant  found. 

Olve  way,  give  w^y,  young  warrior— 

Our  title  would  you  seek? 
Tis  "  the  rich  against  the  poor, 

And  the  strong  against  the  w-ut." 
W>'  need  thy  noble  rivers, 

Thy  prairies  ^reen  and  wide, 
And  thy  dark  and  frowning  foresta 

That  skirt  the  valley's  side. 

The  red  man's  course  Is  ouward — 

Nnr  Jtayed  his  fnotstops  be, 
Till  by  his  rugged  hunting  ground 

ticAtn  the  relentle»is  seal 
We  rlaitti  his  noble  heritage. 

Anil  ^linneaMla'fl  land 
^lu«t  pass  with  all  lis  untold  wealth 

To  the  white  man's  grasping  hand. 


OlTe  way,  give  way,  young  warrior. 

Thy  father's  bones  may  rest 
No  longer  here,  where  ejirth  lias  clwped 

Thorn,  closely  to  her  br"n«t— 
Here,  were  thy  fiercest  Imttles  fouuht — 

Here,  through  the  valleys  rung 
The  voices  of  the  vjpf  )r.H  bni^e. 

As  they  their  triniiiph  "un? 

Here,  too,  willi  long  and  braided  hair, 

Thy  maidens  In  the  dance 
Rivalled  the  wild  deer's  tieeteat  itcp. 

The  wild  deer's  brightest  glance. 
And  here  they  gathered  utt  at  eve 

From  aged  lips  to  hear 
Mow  flowed  the  warrior's  heart's  best  blood. 

How  fell  the  maiden's  tear. 

Give  way— I  know  t  thousand  ties 

Moat  lovingly  muit  cling. 
I  know  a  gush  of  sorrow  deep 

Such  memories  must  bring. 
Thou  and  thy  noble  race  from  earth 

Must  BiHui  be  pasaed  away, 
Ai  echoes  die  upon  the  bills. 

Or  darkness  follows  .lay. 

Yet  bear  me  still,  young  warrior, 

Thon  and  thy  steed  give  way- 
Best  not.  though  lingers  on  the  hltls 

The  red  sun's  parting  /ay. 
The  rocky  bluff  and  praltle  land 

The  white  u>an  claims  them  now. 
The  symbols  of  his  course  are  her^ 

Th*  riHe,  axe,  and  plough. 


518 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


m 


i" 


of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota, 
Governor  Ramsey  and  Ex-Governor  Chambers  of  Iowa 
were  appointed  Commissioners  to  treat  with  the  Dahko- 
tahs.  They  repaired  to  Mondota  during  the  session  of 
the  legislature ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of 
many  Indians  on  their  fall  hunt,  and  other  circum- 
stances, they  did  not  wholly  comply  with  their  instruc- 
ticHis.  They  however  made  a  treaty  for  the  purchase 
of  what  is  known  as  the  half-breed  tract  of  Lake  Pepin. 
Previous  to  the  session  of  the  legislature,  there  had 
been  no  organization  of  any  political  party  in  the  ter- 
ritory. On  the  evening  of  September  twenty-fourth,  a 
r*'  aocratic  caucus  was  held  at  the  house  of  H.  M.  Rice, 
at  St.  Paul,  on  St.  Anthony  near  Market  street,  and  it 
was  determined  to  call  a  mass  meeting  of  Democrats. 
On  October  twentieth,'  the  first  party  convention  assem- 
bled in  the  ball-room  of  the  American  House.  Henry 
Jackson  was  Chairman,  pro  tem.,  and  as  permanent 
officers  were  chosen  James  S.  Norris,  President ;  John 

A.  Ford,    S.   Trask,  W.   Dugas,  H.  N,  Setzer,  James 
Wells,  John  Rollins,  and  A.  Morrison,  Vice-Presidents ; 

B.  W.  Lett,  A.  Larpenteur,  H.  A.  Lambert,  and  John 
Morgan,  Secretaries.     The  Minnesota  Pioneer  was  de- 


'  "  At  a  Democratic  caucus  held  at 
the  house  of  Henry  M.  Rice,  on  Mon- 
day evening,  September  twenty- 
fourth,  1849,  the  undersigned  were 
appointed  a  committee  tu  call  a  Mass 
Meeting  of  the  Democracy  of  the 
Territory  of  Minnesota. 

"  Believing  that  the  safety  and  inte- 
grity of  our  party,  and  the  perma- 
nent interests  of  our  infant  territory, 
demand  that  the  party  lines  be  hence- 
forth drawn,  we  extend  a  cordial  in- 
vitation to  our  Democratic  brethren 


in  all  parts  of  the  territory,  to  as- 
semble in  mass  meeting  at  St.  Paul, 
on  Saturday,  the  twentieth  day  uf 
October,  to  take  measures  to  secure 
a  permanent  and  thorough  organize^ 
tion. 

W.  D.  Phillips,  3d  Dist. 
.John  Rollins.    f)th   " 
J.  S.  NoRRis,       1st    " 
S.  Trask,  2d    " 

H.  N.  Setzer,     4th   " 
T.  A.  Hoi,MES,     6th  "   " 


DEATH  OF  DAVID  LAMBERT. 


51» 


dared  to  be  the  organ  of  the  party,  and  from  that  period 
there  was  manifest  a  different  spirit  in  the  conduct  of 
public  affairs. 

On  Friday  evening,  David  Lambert,  Esq.,  who  had  been 
l)rominent  in  the  meetings  that  led  to  the  organization 
of  the  territory,  under  the  influence  of  that  mania,  which 
hurries  so  many  of  our  public  men  to  the  grave,  jumped 
fi'om  a  steamer,  on  which  he  was  returning  from  Galena, 
and  was  drowned.'  -  ;■  • 

During  the  session  of  the  legislature,  considerable  dis- 
cussion arose  in  relation  to  the  right  of  the  territory,  to 
.'.vpend  the  twenty  thousand  dollars  appropriated  in  the 
organic  act  for  a  capitol,  at  the  temporary  seat  of  go\  ern- 
ment.  Joseph  R.  Brown,  desiring  information,  wrote  to 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  who  decided  that  the 
money  could  only  be  appropriated  at  the  permanent 
seat  of  government.*  ,; 


'  His  friend,  the  editor  of  the 
Pioneer,  in  his  paper  of  Novembbr 
I'ighth  says : 

"iVr.  Lambert  was  about  thin. 
years  of  age,  was  prosperous  in 
business,  and  acknowledged  to  he  i 
man  of  superior  abilities.  He  had 
suffered  some  wounds  in  h's  doniei-i  ■ 
iil.u-ions,  which  made  him  miHan- 
I  liropic,  reckless,  and  miserable.  We 
should  characterize  him  as  a  man 
of  very  remarkable  conversational 
tiiliMit,  and  when  he  devoted  himself 
til  literarypursuita  he  was  considered 
ii  very  promising  writer.  Mr.  L. 
graduated  at  Washington  (Trinity) 
<^ollcn;e,  Hartford,  Ct.  He  published 
;i  newspaper  at  Little  Rock,  Ark., 
and,  afterwards  published  the  Wis- 
consin Inquirer  at  Madison." 


■■'  TRBAsr«v  TH;PARTiiENT, 

Oct.  .30,  1849. 

Sir : — Your  letm-  of  tb*  eleventh 
inst.,  is  TeceiveU.  inquriog  whether 
"  the  tTiPwity  thnwsand  dollars  appri>- 
nriatec  for  the  wection  of  pulilic 
buiildin^s  in  Minnesota  ean  tie  ex- 
pended previous  to  the  locaticw  «f 
the  permanent  seat  of  gnvemaMMt 
ym  a  vote  of  the  people  ?" 

It  is  provided  by  the  tftirt««Billfc 
ii«i«cion  oi  the  act  u<  establish  lltm 
territorial  govertinn»nt  *>f  Minne^  .i, 
approved  third  "♦'  March.  '^4''  -hut 
the  Governor  and  LegiMlarive  Asserri- 
bly  shall,  at  such  time  un  ihev-  shall 
see  proper,  prescribe  by  law,  the 
manner  of  locating  the  permanent 
seat  of  government  of  said  territory 
by  a  vote  of  the  people.    ' '  And  the 


'     /' 


b20 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


loir 


On  the  fourth  Monday  of  November,  the  elections  for 
the  officers  of  the  new  counties  took  phice.'     .>,,<>>-  ,«^iii 

In  the  month  of  November,  the  first  meeting  in  rela- 
tion to  the  establishment  of  public  schools,  was  held  in 
the  small  school-house  that  stood  on  St.  Anthony  street, 
near  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  Previous  to  this, 
the  English  schools,  in  the  white  settlements,  had  chiefly 
been  taught  by  teachers  who  had  been  sent  out  by  the 
National  Society  of  Popular  Education  :  Misses  Bishop 
and  Scofield  having  taught  at  St.  Paul,  Miss  A.  Hos- 
ford*  at  Stillwater,  and  Miss  Backus  at  St.  Anthony. 


sum  of  twenty  tkousand  dollars  out 
of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not 
Otherwise  appropriated,  is  hereby 
appropriated  and  granted  to  said 
Territory  of  Minnesota,  to  be  applied 
by  the  Governor  and  Legislative 
Assembly  to  the  erection  of  suitable 
public  buildings  at  the  seat  of  go- 
vernment." 

In  view  of  the  antecedent,  and 
the  object  of  this  appropriation,  the 
Department  cannot  doubt  that  the 
public    buildings   in    question,   can 

'  The  vote  in  Ramsey  county  was  as  follows : — 


only  be  erected  at  the  permanent 
seat  of  governnien;,  located  as  pre- 
scribed. Of  course  the  reply  to 
your  inquiry  must  be,  that  nothing 
can  be  expended  from  this  appropri- 
ation until  after  the  location  shall 
be  duly  made. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

W.  M.  Meredith, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
JosEFR  R.  Brown, 
St.  Paul,  M.  T. 


Register, 
Siwriff,  . 


Treasurer, . 
Commissioners, 


Judge  nf  Probate. 


*Jlro.  H.  L.  M«MS. 


D»y.      . 

Phillips, 

Lull,      . 

Irvine,  . 

Brisette, 

Simpson, 

Roberts, 

Godfrey, 

Gervsis, 

BantiH, 

Hussell, 

Lambert, 

Lott, 


tbonj 

St.  Paul. 

ToUL 

39 

172 

211 

30 

69 

99 

17 

172 

189 

33 

60 

93 

19 

2 

21 

69 

240 

309 

57 

202 

259 

19 

123 

142 

31 

167 

198 

37 

70 

107 

54 

108 

162 

34 

149 

183 

33 

93 

126 

ST.  ANTHONY  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION. 


(Oi 


In  the  month  of  December,  the  St.  Antliony  Librarj- 
Association,  which  had  been  incorporated  by  the  legis- 
lature, commenced  a  series  of  lectures.  The  intro- 
ductory was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Neill,  and  part 
of  it  was  published,  as  a  supplement,  in  the  annals  of 
the  Historical  Society  for  1850.  Among  other  lecturers, 
were  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gear,  Chaplain  of  Fort  Snelling,  and 
Wni.  R.  Marshall,  Esq.  The  association  was  the  first 
institution  of  the  kind,  excepting  the  Historical  Society, 
in  Minnesota;  and  had  a  small  library  of  valuable 
standard  works. 


■:-y1 


'41 


.,'1f»»i* 


;i:P'^. 


t 


i 


ill 

k 


522 


HI8T0KV  OF  MINNEtiOTA. 


'n 


l'>   A     ^ 


',       I 


■      •        ,    .     .,   'n-.'M,,  ,  ',  -,       ",   Mill    /,fif    '•    'ti, 


•    I'       lu'-'  ;  '  I.'    "       1'    •  '■    :.!'         .''. 


I  >"■■  . 


CHAPTER  XXIII.   '  '^'"<«tif'^'J^ti' 


Bt  the  active  exertions  of  the  secretary  of  the  terri- 
tory, C.  K.  Smith,  Esq.,  the  Historical  Society  of  Min- 
nesota '  was  incorporated  at  the  first  session  of  the  legis- 


'  The  Chronicle  and  Register  of 
January  fifth,  1850,  has  tlie  following 
editorial : — 

"  The  first  public  exercises  of  the 
Minnesota  Historical  Society,  took 
place  at  the  Methodist  Church,  St. 
Paul,  on  the  first  inst.,  and  passed 
off  highly  creditably  to  all  concerned. 
The  day  was  pleasant,  and  the  at- 
tendance large.  At  the  appointed 
hour, — the  President  and  both  Vice- 
Presidents  of  the  society  being  ab- 
sent; on  motion  of  Hon.  C.  K.  Smith, 
Hon.  Chief  Justice  Goodrich  was 
called  to  the  chair.  The  same  gen- 
tleman then  moved  that  a  committee, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Parsons  K. 
Johnson,  John  A.  Wnketield,  and 
B.  W.  Brunson,  be  appointed  to 
wait  upon  the  Orator  of  the  day, 
Kev.  Mr.  Neill,  and  inform  him  that 
the  audience  was  in  waiting  to  hear 
Ills  address. 

"  Mr.  Neill  was  shortly  conducted 
to  the  pulpit ;  and  after  an  eloquent 
and  appropriate  prayer  by  the  Rev. 


Mr.  Parsons,  and  music  by  the  band, 
he  proceeded  to  deliver  his  discourse 
upon  the  early  French  Missionaries 
and  voyageurs  into  Minnesota.  It 
was  a  highly  creditable  production ; 
and  we  hope  the  society  will  provide 
for  its  publication  at  an  early  day. 
In  truthfulness  to  history— candour 
and  liberality  of  sentiment — and 
strength,  and  beauty  of  composition, 
it  commended  itself  to  all  present. 

"After  some  brief  remarks  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Ilobart,  upon  the  objects 
and  ends  of  history,  the  ceremonies 
were  concluded  with  a  prayer  by 
that  gentleman.  The  audience  dis- 
persed highly  delighted  with  all  that 
occurred. 

"  The  occasion  owed  much  of  its 
interest  to  the  presence  of  the  fnr- 
famed  'Sixth  Infantry  Band,'  nov7 
stationed  at  Fort  Snelling.  They 
'  discoursed  most  eloquent  music'  at 
appropriate  intervals  throughout  the 
exercises.  We  have  never  heard  a 
band  anywhere  that  appeared  more 


NEWSPAPER  CARRIERS    ADDRKflS. 


525 


latino.  The  oiJeiiing  aiuiiial  addrt'Bs  wan  deliveretl  in 
tlic  MethcxliHt  ohurcli  at  St.  Paul,  on  the  first  of  Janu- 
iiry,  1850. 

At  this  early  period  the  Minnesota  Pioneer  iesuod  a 
Carrier's  New  Year's  Address,  which  was  anuising  dog- 
gerel. The  reference  to  the  future  greatness  and  igno- 
ble origin  of  the  capital  of  Minnesota  is  as  follows : — 


Tlio  rltluii  on  thifi  rlT«r  miirit  bo  three. 
Two  IbAt  are  built  and  one  that  Is  to  be. 
Oif,  Ik  the  mart  of  all  the  trnplca  yielil ; 
Tbu  Cftiiu,  the  orange,  and  Ibe  cottoii-fleld ; 
And  Mndt  her  ablpa  abrmul  Hnd  boaata 
ller  trade  exteLjed  to  a  tho-iund  coaata; 
Tho  flthrr,  central  (lir  the  *<»inp«rato  «')ne, 
Onrnera  the  atorea  that  on  the  plain*  are  Krown ; 
A  pitu'o  where  atfambouta  from  all  quartera, 

rant(e, 
To  uiiH't  and  aper        i\  aa  'twere  on  'change. 
Thi>  third  will  be, «      rn  rlvera  confluent  flow 
From  the  wide  aprvading  north  through  plains 

of  unow; 
Tl]t>  mart  of  all  that  boundless  Ibrisis  give 
To  ninko  mankind  more  comfortably  live, 
Tlio  land  of  manufacturing  Industry, 


The  workuhop  nf  the  nation  It  fliall  bo. 
Propelled  by  this  wide  stream,  .tou'II  tot 
A  thniiaand  flictorloa  at  flt.  Anthony  : 
And  ii.     ^'  Croix  «  hundred  mills  shall  drtfa, 
And  all  if   <nitling  tIIIokim  shall  thrive  ; 
But  tben  my  niwn — remember  that  hlxh  bench 
With  cabins  ■tcattered  over  It,  <>f  French  / 
A  aiau  named  Henry  Jaokson  's  llTlng  than, 
Akn  a  man — why  every  one  k»o*»  L.  Kotair; 
Below  Kort  8nelllnir,  seven  mllrs  or  so, 
And  three  above  the  village  if  ul<i  Urow? 
Pig's  Kye'     Ves;  PIg'a  Eyel     That's  the  s;.    >' 
A  very  fum  '  name:  is'tnott 
Pig's  Kye  's  <ht  spot,  to  plant  my  city  on, 
To  be  reniemii*>*d  by,  when  I  am  gone. 
Pig's  Kye.  coiivrtod  thou  shaltlie.  like  Saul! 
Thy  name  henceforth  shall  be  St.  Paul 


On  the  evening  of  New  Year's  day,  at  Fort  Snelliw^, 
there  was  an  assemblage  which  is  only  seen  on  the  out- 
posts of  civilization.  In  one  of  the  stone  edifices 
belonging  to  the  United  States  there  resided  an  unas- 
suming gentleman  of  integrity  who  had  dwelt  in  Min- 
nesota since  the  year  1819,  and  for  raanv  years  had 
been  in  the  employ  of  the  government  a-,  youth  he 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Columbia  Fui'  (''(jr.ipany,  and 
conforming  to  the  habits  of  traders,  ha'i  |  iU'chased  a 
Dahkotah  wife  who  was  wholly  ignorant  of  the  English 


complete  masters  of  their  profeeaion, 
t.ie  celebrated  Styermarkieh  not 
excepted. 

"  The   Society  has  made  a  most 
siiispioiou^   onmmencenient.     Let   it 


be  carric  forward  onergeticnlly,  and 
its  good  results  will  be  felt  and 
appreciated  by  generations  that  will 
occupy  our  place  centuries  to  eome."^ 


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Photographic 

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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


524 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


language.  Ah  a  family  of  children  gathei-ed  around 
him  he  recognised  the  relation  of  husband  and  father, 
and  conpcientiously  discharged  his  duties  as  a  parent. 
His  daughter  at  a  proper  age  was  sent  to  a  boarding- 
school  of  some  celebrity,  and  on  the  night  referred  to 
was  married  to  an  intelligent  young  American  farmer. 
Among  the  guests  present  were  the  officers  of  the  garri- 
son in  full  uniform,  with  their  wives,  the  United  States 
Agent  for  the  Dahkotahs,  and  family,  the  bois  bruits  of 
the  neighbourhood,  and  the  Indian  relatives  of  the 
mother.  The  mother  did  not  make  her  appearance, 
but,  as  the  minister  proceeded  with  the  ceremony,  the 
Dahkotah  relatives,  wrapped  in  their  blankets,  gathered 
in  the  hall  and  looked  in  through  the  door. 

The  marriage  feast  was  worthy  of  the  occasion.  In 
consequence  of  the  numbers,  the  officers  and  those  of 
European  extraction  partook  first;  then  the  bois  bruits 
of  Ojibway  and  Dahkotah  descent;  and,  finally,  the 
native  Americans,  who  did  ample  justice  to  the  plenti- 
ful supply  spread  before  them. 

The  union  has  been  blessed,  and  the  bride,  now  a 
mother,  in  the  fear  of  God,  is  training  up  her  little  ones, 
who  bid  fair  to  be  useful  and  industrious  citizena. 

Until  the  close  of  the  year  1849  the  only  roadway 
in  winter  to  the  settlements  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa 
was  the  ice  of  the  Mississippi.  Late  in  December,  after 
five  weeks'  work,  a  road  was  marked  out  from  Prairie  du 
Chien  to  Hudson,  Wisconsin,  and  the  hauling  of  supplies 
by  land  was  commenced.     The  nail  service'  during  the 


•  Proposals  for  carrying  mail  in  By  Lake  St.  Croix,  Nelson's  Land- 
Minnesota,  1850  : —  ing.  La  Cross,  Wis.,  and  Lansint;: 
From  St.  Paul  at  6  a.  h.,  onoe  a  To  Prairie  du  Chien  by  6  p.  h.  next 

week,  Monday  :  Sunday,  270  miles ; 


FIRST  TRIAL  FOR  MURDER. 


625 


jear  1850  was  very  meagre.  The  first  murder  case  was 
brought  before  Judge  Cooper,  at  the  February  term  of 
the  court,  at  Stillwater. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  twelfth  of  September,  a  num- 
ber of  boys  were  playing  on  the  bluff  in  St.  Paul,  near 
the  corner  of  St.  Anthony  and  Franklin  streets,  oppo- 
site the  stone  block,  now  occupied  by  the  carpet  rooms 
of  0.  King.  One  of  the  number,  Isaiah  McMillan,  see- 
ing another,  by  the  name  of  Heman  Snow,  approaching 
with  a  press-board  before  his  fpce,  said  he  would  shoot 
hiui,  and  taking  aim  with  a  gun,  he  had  in  his  hands, 
(ired.  The  shot  entered  the  right  eye  and  left  cheek 
t)f  Snow,  who  was  a  lad  about  twelve  years  of  age,  and 
after  a  few  hours  he  expired.  The  counsel  for  the  prose- 
cution were  Messrs.  Bishop  and  Wilkinson,  and  for  the 
(lefendent  Messrs.  Ames  and  Moss.  From  the  testi- 
mony adduced,  it  was  not  clear  that  there  was  malice 
[)repense,  and  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  man- 
slaughter, with  a  recommendation  that  the  court  would 
inflict  the  least  possible  penalty  under  the  law.  The 
boy  was  sentenced  to  one  year's  imprisonment.  As 
there  was  no  prison  in  which  to  confine  him,  he  was 
sent  up  to  Fort  Snelling,  and  subsisted  at  the  expense 
of  the  soldiers,  and  by  pennission  of  the  colonel,  was 


And  back  between  6  a.  m.  Monday 

and  8  p.  h.  next  Sunday. 
Propooala  for  more  frequent  supply 

will  be  oongidered. 
From  St.  Paul  at  6  a.  m.,  once  a 

week,  Monday ; 
To  Fort  Snelling  by  8  a.  m.,  6  miles ; 
And   back    between    10   a.  m.  and 

12  k. 
I'ropoHaU  for  more  frequent  supply, 

stating  the  number  of  tripi^,  times 


of  departure  and  arrival,  will  be 

considered. 
From  St.  Paul  at  6  a.  h.,  once  a 

week,  Monday  ; 
By  Stillwater  and  Marine  Mills  ; 
To  Falls  of  St.  Croix  by  12  m.  next 

day,  49  miles ; 
And  back  between  2  p.  u.  Tuesday 

and  6  p.  II.  next  day  ; 
With    one    additional    weekly  trip 

from  St.  Paul  to  Stillwater. 


«2G 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


occasionally  allowed  to  make  himself  useful  by  sawing 
wood. 

In  the  month  of  April,  there  was  a  renewal  of  hostili- 
ties between  the  Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways,  on  lands  that 
had  been  ceded  to  the  United  States.  A  war  prophet 
at  Red  Wing,  dreamed  that  he  ought  to  raise  a  war 
party.  Announcing  the  fact,  a  number  expressed  their 
willingness  to  go  on  such  an  expedition.  Several  from 
the  Kaposia  village  also  joined  the  party,  under  the 
leadership  of  a  worthless  Indian,  who  had  been  confined 
in  the  guard-house  at  Fort  Snelling,  the  year  previous, 
for  scalping  his  wife. 

Passing  up  the  valley  of  the  St.  Croix,  a  few  miles 
above  Stillwater,  the  party  discovered  on  the  snow  the 
marks  of  a  keg  and  foot>prints.  These  told  them  that 
a  man  and  woman  of  the  Ojibways  had  been  to  some 
whiskey  dealer's,  and  were  returning.  Following  their 
trail,  they  found  on  Apple  river,  about  twenty  miles 
from  Stillwater,  a  band  of  Ojibways  encamped  in  one 
lodge.  Waiting  till  daybreak  of  Wednesday,  April 
second,  the  Dahkotahs  commenced  firing  on  the  unsus- 
pecting inmates,  some  of  whom  were  drinking  from  the 
contents  of  the  whiskey  keg.  The  camp  was  composed 
of  fifteen,  and  all  were  murdered  and  scalped,  with  the 
exception  of  a  lad,  who  was  made  a  captive. 

On  Thursday,  the  victors  came  to  Stillwater,  and 
danced  the  scalp  dance  around  the  captive  boy,  in  the 
heat  of  excitement,  striking  him  in  the  face  with  the 
scarcely  cold  and  reeking  scalps  of  his  relatives.  The 
child  was  then  taken  to  Kapoaia,  and  adopted  by  the 
chief  Governor  Ramsey  immediately  took  measures 
to  send  the  boy  to  his  friends.  At  a  conference  held  at 
the  governor's  mansion,  the  boy  was  delivered  up,  and 


Pi 


FRIGHT  OF  THE  CAPTIVB  BOY  AT  THE  GOVERNOR'S.       i>'£/ 

on  being  led  out  to  the  kitchen,  by  a  little  son  of  the 
governor,  since  deceased,  to  receive  refreshments,  he 
cried  bitterly,  seemingly  more  alarmed  at  being  left 
with  the  whites  than  he  had  been  while  a  captive  at 
Kaposia. 

From  the  first  of  April  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
began  to  rise,  and  on  the  thirteenth,  the  lower  floor  of 
the  warehouse,  ouce  occupied  by  William  Constans,  at 
the  foot  of  Jackson  street,  St.  Paul,  was  submerged. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  freshet,  the  steamboat  Anthony 
Wayne,  for  a  purse  of  two  hundred  dollars,  ventured 
through  the  swift  current  above  Fort  Snelling,  and 
reached  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  The  boat  left  the 
fort  after  dinner,  with  Governor  Ramsey  and  other 
quests,  also  the  band  of  the  sixth  regiment  on  board,  and 
reached  the  falls  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  The  whole  town,  men,  women,  and  children, 
lined  the  shore  as  the  boat  approached,  and  welcomed 
this  first  arrival,  with  shouts  and  waving  handkerchiefs. 

On  the  afternoon  of  May  fifteenth,  there  might  have 
been  seen,  hurrying  through  the  streets  of  St.  Paul,  a 
number  of  naked  and  painted  braves  of  the  Kaposia 
band  of  Dahkotahs,  ornamented  with  all  the  attire  of 
war,  and  panting  for  the  scalp  of  their  enemies.  A  few 
hours  before,  the  youthful  and  warlike  head  chief  of  the 
Ojibways,  "  Hole  in  the  Day,"  having  secreted  his  canoe 
in  the  retired  gorge  which  leads  to  the  cave  in  the 
upper  suburbs,  with  two  or  three  associates  had  crossed 
the  river,  and,  almost  in  sight  of  the  citizens  of  the 
town,  had  attacked  a  small  party  of  Dahkotahs,  and 
murdered  and  scalped  one  man.  On  the  receipt  of  the 
news,  Governor  Ramsey  granted  a  parole  to  the  thirteen 
Dahkotahs  confined  in  Fort  Snelling,  for  participating 


fi28 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


in  the  Apple  river  massacre.  On  the  morning  of  the 
sixteenth  of  May,  the  first  Protestant  church  edifice 
completed  in  the  white  settlements,  a  small  frame 
building,  built  for  the  Presbyterian  Church,  at  St.  Paul, 
was  destroyed  by  fire,  it  being  the  first  conflagration 
that  had  occurred  since  the  organization  of  the  territory. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  events  of  the  year  1850, 
was  the  Indian  council,  at  Fort  Snelling.  Governor 
Ramsey  had  sent  runners  to  the  different  bands  of  the 
Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs,  to  meet  him  at  the  fort,  for 
the  purpose  of  endeavouring  to  adjust  their  diflSculties. 
We  give  the  account  of  the  proceedings,  as  reported  in 
the  Minnesota  Pioneer : — 

"  Tuesday  morning,  June  eleventh,  was  one  of  the 
sweetx^st  days  of  the  month.  By  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  a  large  concourse  of  persons  had  assembled  at 
Fort  Snelling,  from  various  quarters,  and  especially 
from  St.  Paul,  to  witness  the  council.  Fort  Snelling  is 
at  the  extreme  angle  of  a  high  table  land,  between  the 
Mississippi  and  the  St.  Peter's — a  beautiful  elevated 
plain,  covered  with  grass  as  far  as  the  eye  can  extend. 
Near  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  distant  from  the 
fort  a  few  hundred  yards,  are  the  stables  of  the  garri- 
son, and  on  the  open  space  between  the  garrison  and  the 
stables  were  the  encampments  of  the  Chippewas,  and 
there  was  the  council  ground.  Captain  Monroe  was 
present  with  a  small  detachment  of  infantry,  and  a  few 
troops  were  ready  for  service  in  the  fort,  as  well  as 
artillery.  The  Chippewas  were  lying  about  their  tents, 
seeming  quite  contented,  laughing,  talking,  playmg 
together,  and  some  gambling  in  various  ways.  Th'ire 
seemed  nothing  surly  or  stoical  in  their  countenances. 
A  message  was  at  length  sent  by  the  governor  to  notify 


DAHK0TAH8  ADVANCING  TO  THE  COUNCIL. 


529 


the  Sioux  that  they  would  be  expected  in  half  an  hour, 
if  at  all. 

"  At  length  they  made  their  appearance  a  mile  distant, 
upon  a  brow  of  the  hill  across  the  St.  Peter's.  The  few 
infantry  present,  on  the  approach  of  the  Sioux,  were 
e.\  tended  in  an  open  line,  nearly  from  the  Fort  to  the 
Htiil)los,  so  as  to  form  a  separation  between  the  Chippe- 
was  in  their  rear  and  the  advancing  band  of  the  Sioux, 
numbering  perhaps  three  hundred,  a  large  portion  on 
horseback,  armed  and  painted,  who  by  this  time  were 
rushing  up  on  the  plateau,  screaming  and  whooping 
horribly,  themselves  loaded  with  jingling  arms  and  oma> 
ments,  and  their  horses  with  bells  on,  the  whole  of  them 
rushing  on  at  full  speed  and  making  a  feint  as  if  they 
would  pass  around  the  stable,  turn  the  right  flank  of 
the  infantr}',  and  attack  the  Chippewas ;  but  they  were 
only  showing  off;  having,  in  fact,  all  due  respect  for 
those  ugly  cast  irca  orators  of  Uncle  Sam's.  The  line 
of  Chippewas  remained  where  it  was  at  the  time  of 
the  grand  entree  (for  we  can  compare  it  to  nothing  it 
80  nmch  resembled  as  a  grand  entree  into  a  stupendous 
circus),  they  continuing  to  dance  and  shout,  and  bran- 
dish their  weapons  as  if  aching  for  an  onslaught. 
Among  them,  conspicuous  as  Achilles  in  the  battle  of 
Troy,  stood  the  young  Pillager  chief,  Sitting-in-a-row, 
standing  six  and  a  half  feet  in  his  moccasins,  well  pro- 
portioned, and  weighing  two  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds,  who  takes  his  name,  perhaps,  from  the  fact  that 
Ik'  is  equal  to  a  man  or  two  beside  himself  The  Sioux 
w)on  fell  back  and  formed  a  line;  they  discharged  their 
pieces  in  a  scattering  fire  aldng  the  line.  The  Chippe- 
■>va  line  returned  their  salute ;  after  which  Uncle  Sam 
replied  by  the  mo\ith  of  one  of  his  cast  iron  orators. 

:I4 


530 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


who  wei-e  so  persuasive  in  Mexico.  The  representation 
of  a  white  flag  then  appearing  between  the  two  oppos- 
ing lines,  the  Chippewas  first  and  next  the  Sioux, 
marched  away  and  stacked  their  arms.  Then  return- 
ing, the  two  lines  advanced  until  they  reached  the  file 
of  infantry  which  separated  them,  when  the  chiefs  and 
braves  met  at  the  centre  between  the  lines,  and,  advanc- 
ing, went  through  the  ceremony  of  shaking  hands.  The 
governor  then  took  his  seat  in  a  marquee,  with  Captain 
Todd,  iJaptain  Monroe,  Mr.  McLean,  Mr.  Prescott, 
Sioux  Interpreter,  Mr.  "Warren,  Chippewa  Interpreter, 
W.  B.  "White,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Council,  and  the 
Sioux  chiefs  occupying  one  side,  while  the  Chippewas 
occupied  the  other  side  of  the  marquee ;  besides  which 
some  small  space  was  occupied  by  several  ladies  who 
were  present,  just  in  front  of  the  Sioux. 

"  His  excellency,  the  governor,  having  given  notice 
that  the  council  was  now  open,  then  made  substantially 
the  following  speech,  through  the  interpreters,  who  both 
seemed  very  prompt  and  accurate  in  translating.  Mr. 
Prescott  speaking  the  harsh,  guttural,  clucking  language 
of  the  Sioux,  and  Mr.  Warren,  an  educated  half-breed 
Chippewa,  rolling  off  the  euphonious  sentences  in  the 
Chippewa  tongue,  with  the  utmost  fluency : — 

"Chiefs,  braves,  and  head  men  of  the  Chippewa 
nation,  and  chiefs,  braves,  and  head  men  of  the  Sioux 
nation :  You  are  here,  under  the  flag  of  our  Great 
Father,  the  president,  to  see  if  you  can  settle  your  diffi- 
culties and  bury  the  hatchet.  I  hope  this  will  be  done, 
and  that  peace  will  be  made,  for  the  sake  of  your  poor 
bleeding  wives  and  children.  Long  ago,  the  white 
Ciiildren  of  your  Great  Father,  lived  far  oflf  and  only 
heard  of  the  outrages  you  committed  upon  each  other; 


;,?  .:^'/*Jt,'f''\^: 


OOV.  RAMSEY'S  SPEECH  IN  COUNCIL. 


Ml 


but  now  they  live  amongst  you,  and  all  around  you. 
They  see  the  reeking  scalps  of  your  victims.  Things 
are  now  changed.  The  whites  are  upon  the  Mississippi, 
tiie  Missouri,  the  St.  Peter's,  every  where.  They  witness 
what  you  do.  They  will  not  suflfer  these  atrocities ;  if 
they  did,  the  Great  Spirit  would  not  smile  upon  them. 
To  many  of  you,  this  may  seem  harsh.  If  we  only 
wanted  your  lands,  we  would  give  you  firearms  and  let 
you  kill  each  other.  You  know  at  what  trouble  and 
expense  your  Great  Father  has  been  to  keep  ardent 
spirits  away  from  you,  which  would,  if  not  thus  pre- 
vented, soon  destroy  you,  if  we  wanted  only  your  lands. 
You  well  know  the  power  of  your  Great  Father ;  that 
he  has  ten  thousand  villages,  each  larger  than  all  the 
villages  together  of  either  of  your  tribes;  and  that  his 
people  not  only  live  upon  the  land,  but  upon  the  ocean, 
sailing  upon  long  voyages;  that  all  you  see  here  of  the 
Great  Father's  villages,  are  few  and  small,  but  that  it  is 
not  so  elsewhere.  Your  white  brethren  are  proud  to  be 
the  children  of  so  great  a  Father,  and  no  doubt,  you,  his 
red  children,  are  proud  of  it.  Your  Father  is  not  only 
great,  but  good.  He  loves  his  red  children  as  well  as 
his  white,  or  he  would  let  them  go  to  war.  He  regards 
both  of  your  tribes  with  equal  favour.  Under  his  flag 
he  has  red,  white,  and  black  children,  all  whose  differ- 
ent interests  he  protects.  Numerous  as  you  are,  yet 
when  compared  to  all  the  tribes  under  his  protection, 
you  are  but  as  a  single  blade  of  grass  to  a  whole  prairie. 
[Here  some  interruption  occurred  by  the  Sioux  outside, 
riding  about  on  horseback.  They  were  required  to  dis- 
mount.] I  do  not  say  these  things  by  way  of  boast, 
but  to  let  you  know  that  your  Great  Father  is  able  to 
entbrce  any  treaty  j'ou  may  make.     I  am  aware  that 


682 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


complaints  are  mode  on  both  sides,  that  the  treaty  lia« 
not  been  enforced;  but  as  I  told  you,  his  business  ex- 
tends so  far  that  he  has  to  do  it  by  agents  and  officers, 
who  sometimes  neglect  to  do  their  duty;  that  the  Great 
Father  has  now  sent  an  agent,  wlio  thinks  as  I  do.  tiiat 
it  is  right  that  your  old  troubles  should  be  buried.  A 
treaty  between  you,  made  in  1843,  is  now  in  full  force, 
but  it  has  been  so  long  neglected,  that  we  do  not  like 
to  make  it  a  rule  of  redress.  Your  Great  Father  prefers 
that  you  settle  these  troubles  yourselves.  If  you  say 
you  are  hereditary  foes  and  cannot  make  a  permanent 
peace,  it  is  not  true.  The  two  nations  next  in  power 
to  this,  France  and  Great  Britain,  were  foes  for  many 
hundreds  of  years,  but  are  now  friends,  peaceful  and 
happy,  without  wars.  You  should  leave  ofl"  wars  and 
learn  that  a  bushel  of  potatoes  is  worth  more  to  one 
who  is  hungry  than  a  pile  of  eagle  plumes.  Long  ago 
the  white  race  had  your  notions  about  labour,  but  now 
they  are  changed.  Your  Great  Father  knows  that  when 
you  strike,  you  often  kill  those  who  have  treated  you 
as  friends;  that  three-fourths  of  the  scalps  you  take  are 
those  of  women  and  children,  who  could  not  and  would 
not  hurt  you.  Amongst  the  whites,  he  who  should  kill 
a  woman  or  a  child  would  be  considered  less  than  a  dog. 
Your  Great  Father  is  determined  that  you  shall  not 
scalp  women  and  children.  You  have  a  treaty  in  force, 
but  your  Groat  Father  prefers  that  you  settle  matters 
and  make  a  new  treaty.  I  should  be  glad  to  send  him 
word  that  you  had  buried  the  hatchet.  There  are  many 
bleeding  hearts  here,  but  you  must  forgive  and  forget. 
To  assist  in  shaping  a  treaty,  I  recommend  that  each 
nation   appoint  a  committee  of  three  or  five   men  to 


DAliKOT.VIIS  RUDE.— HOLE-IN-THE-DAY'S  GALLANTRY.      533 


assist — submitting  it  afterwards  to  yourselves  to  decide 
upon. 

'^  Hole-in-the-day. — All  men  that  live  have  minds  of 
their  own,  and  had  better  settle  their  own  affairs. 

"  After  some  explanation,  the  committee  Avas  agreed 
to.  The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed :  On  the 
part  of  the  Sioux,  W.  H.  Forbes,  0.  Faribault,  and 
Captain  Monroe,  United  States  Army;  on  the  part  o'' 
the  Chippewas,  Mr.  Warren,  Mr.  Beaulieu,  and  Captain 
Todd.  Bad-Hail,  a  saucy-looking  Sioux  orator,  then 
.stepped  up  and  asked  that  another  commissioner,  Mr. 
Alexander  Faribault,  might  be  appointed  on  their  part. 
The  governor  replied,  that  he  would  submit  their  pro- 
position to  the  magnanimity  of  the  Chippewas.  At 
this  time  the  Sioux  arose,  with  a  great  deal  of  talk,  and 
left  the  council  en  masse.  Upon  inquiry,  it  seems  that 
their  highnesses  had  taken  offence  at  the  presence  of  the 
ladies  in  council;  and  word  came  in  that  'they  thought 
they  were  to  meet  Chippewas  in  council,  not  women.' 
Hole-in-the-day  adroitly  turned  the  matter  to  his  own 
advantage,  saying  very  politely,  iliat  he  was  happy  to  see 
m  many  sweet  women  there,  and  that  they  were  all  wel- 
come with  their  angelic  smiles,  to  a  seat  oti  his  side  of  the 
coioicil.  The  ladies,  however,  chose  to  withdraw,  the 
young  Chippewa  chief  shaking  each  one  cordially  by 
the  hand.  The  Sioux  having  returned,  the  governor 
ivbuked  them  sharply  for  their  act  of  disrespect  to  the 
<'i>nncil,  saying,  that  if  they  withdrew  again  in  that 
manner,  he  would  enforce  the  treaty  of  184;},  Ijad- 
II ail  said  they  wanted  time  to  consider,  and  that  a 
tioaty  could  not  be  made  in  a  day.  After  this  little 
interlude,  the  council  proceeded,  the  Chippewas  con- 
Bi'nting  to  the  appointment  of  the  fourth  commissioner 


584 


HISTORY  OF  MINMSMUTA. 


on  each  side.  Rev.  Mr.  Gear  was  appointed  on  the 
part  of  the  Chippewea;  for  the  Sioux,  A.  Faribault. 
The  council  then  adjourned  to  meet  at  ten  o'clock  on 
Wednesday  morning." 

On  Wednesday,  after  much  talking,  as  is  customary 
lit  Indian  councils,  the  two  tribes  agreed  as  they  had 
frequently  done  before,  to  be  friendly,  and  Governor 
Ramsey  presenting  to  each  party  an  ox,  the  council  was 
dissolved. 

On  Thursday,  the  Ojibways  visited  St.  Paul  for  the 
first  time,  Hole-in-the-Day  being  dressed  in  a  coat  of 
a  captain  of  United  States  infantry,  which  had  been 
presented  to  him  at  the  fort.  On  Friday,  they  left  in 
the  steamer  Governor  Ramsey,  which  had  been  built  at 
St.  Anthony,  and  just  commenced  running  between 
that  point  and  Sauk  Rapids,  for  their  homes  in  the  wil* 
derness  of  the  Upper  Mississippi. 

The  summer  of  1850  was  the  commencement  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Minnesota  river  by  steamboats.  With 
the  exception  of  a  steamer  that  made  a  pleasure  excur- 
sion as  far  as  Shokpay,  in  1842,  no  large  vessels  had 
ever  disturbed  the  waters  of  this  stream.  In  June,  the 
"Anthony  Wayne,"  which  a  month  previous  had  ascended 
to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  made  a  trip.  On  the 
eighteenth  of  July  she  made  a  second  trip,  going  almost 
to  Mahkahto.  The  "  Nominee"  also  navigated  the 
stream  for  some  distance. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  July  the  officers  of  the 
""Xankee,"  taking  advantage  of  the  high  water,  deter- 
mined to  navigate  the  stream  as  far  as  the  size  of  the 
boat  would  allow.  The  author  was  one  of  the  numer- 
ous party  of  exploration,  and  he  here  inserts  impressions 
in  the  form  they  were  written  at  that  time,  when  tlip 


FJB8T  8TBAMD0AT  ABUVK  MAHKAHTO. 


585 


whole  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  in  pc^oession 
of  the  barbarians. 

As  there  was  some  danger  in  navigating  a  stream, 
whose  waters  had  never  been  disturbed  for  any  distance 
by  the  paddles  of  the  "  fire  canoe,"  we  did  not  ascend 
on  the  first  evening  more  than  twenty-five  tuiles  n'wve 
the  fort.  At  early  dawn  on  Tuesday,  the  steamer  was 
again  in  motion,  and  curved  around  the  numerous  short 
bends  of  this  zig-zag  stream,  with  wonderful  ease.  The 
scenery,  the  farther  we  advanced,  became  more  varied 
and  beautiful.  Here  there  wa«  an  extensive  prairie, 
"  stretching  in  graceful  undulations  far  away ;"  there  a 
wide  amphitheatre  encircled  by  cone-shaped  hills,  and 
inviting  the  agriculturist  to  seek  shelter  for  himself  and 
his  cattle ;  owing  to  the  high  tide  of  water,  we  passed 
quite  early  in  the  morning  some  rapids  without  any 
difficulty.  During  the  day  we  met  with  little  to  excite 
UH.  Now  and  then,  we  would  pass  an  Indian  in  his 
canoe,  who,  frightened  by  the  puffing  and  novel  appear- 
ance of  the  boat,  had  crouched  behind  the  overhanging 
boughs  of  the  weeping  willow.  Upon  the  south  bank 
of  the  river,  eighty-five  miles  from  Fort  Snelling,  within 
a  few  yards  of  some  ledges  of  fawn-coloured  limestone, 
there  enters  a  little  stream  of  clear  and  pure  water, 
which  Feather8tt)tdiaugh,  who  explored  the  country  some 
yoars  ago,  named  "  Abert's  Run."  In  the  afternoon, 
we  passed  a  bluff  of  sand  and  limestone,  similar  to 
those  so  frequent  on  the  Upijer  Mississippi,  w^hich  is 
called  White  Rock.  About  twelve  milri  beyond  this, 
wt!  came  to  Traverse  des  Sioux,  where  we  did  not  stor^, 
as  we  were  anxious  to  ascend  as  far  as  possible  by  sun- 
set. The  wood  we  had  taken  with  us  began  to  grow 
Hcarcc,  and  a  little  distance  above  this  point  the  boat 


5^6 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 


i 


stopped,  and  the  crew  and  many  of  the  passengers  began 
to  chop  wo(:»d. 

While  engaged  in  this  occupation,  some  two  or  three 
Dahkotah  Indians,  painted  and  plumed,  and  covered 
with  perspiration,  galloped  up  on  their  Indian  ponies. 
To  pacify  them,  and  pay  for  the  wood  which  it  was 
necessary  to  take  from  their  lands,  the  party  presented 
them  with  some  sacks  of  corn,  and  treated  them  to  a 
glass  of  fire  water,  which  was  entirely  unnecessary. 
At  dusk  the  boat  tied  up,  in  front  of  a  beautiful  prairie, 
elevated  some  seventy  feet  above  the  river ;  and  there 
those  whose  tastes  and  princi|)les  permitted,  danced 
until  the  heat  and  the  mosquitoes  forced  them  back  to 
the  boat.  The  viuw  from  this  prairie  was  exceedingly 
interesting.  It  was  bounded  by  a  belt  of  woodland, 
and  upon  the  opposite  side,  were  slopes  most  beautifully 
rounded.  U,  >n  its  surfa<;e,  jutting  from  the  green 
sward,  were  u*  -iMti""  of  every  size  and  shape,  looking 
in  the  dai'k  as  if  the  cattle  had  come  down  from  a 
thousand  hills,  and  were  in  repose. 

As  the  writer  sat  upon  the  deck,  he  could  but  be 
interested  in  looking  over  the  party  and  seeing  how 
well  they  harmonized,  born,  as  they  had  been,  in  va- 
rious Darts  of  the  continent,  and  educated  under  diverse 
influences.  Among  the  party  was  one  who  had  been 
an  aid  of  General  Harrison,  and  at  a  later  day  our  am- 
bassador at  the  court  of  Russia ;  another  who  had  grad- 
uated at  West  Point  and  the  Yale  Law  School,  and  who 
had  been  wounded  while  in  command  of  a  regiment  at 
Monterey. 

Among  the  half-breeds  was  one  who  had  been  the 
guide  and  interpreter  of  Nicollet,  while  engaged  in  sci- 
entific explorations  in   the  valley  of  the    Minnesota; 


SUPP08fci»  BUFFALOES —MOSQUITOES 


68t 


also  one  by  the  name  of  Renville,  the  son  of  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  benevolent  half-natives  who  ever 
dwelt  in  the  Dahkotah  countrv. 

Before  sunrise  on  Wednesday  morning,  the  boat  had 
left  her  moorings,  and  was  proceeding  onward.  At 
breakfast  time  we  had  reached  the  highest  point  to 
which  a  steamboat  had  ever  ascended,  a  feat  that  was 
accomplished  the  week  previous  by  the  "  Anthon}' 
Wayne." 

About  nine  and-a-half,  A.  M.,  we  passed  the  Blue 
Earth  river.  The  latitude  of  this  point  is  about  forty- 
four  degrees,  being  nearly  one  degree  lower  than  the 
mouth  of  the  Minnesota.  Our  course  until  now  was 
south-westerly,  but  henceforward  it  is  north-westerly. 
After  passing  the  Blue  Earth,  the.  Minnesota  is  much 
)iarrower,  and  the  bends  so  numerous  that  the  boat  did 
not  go  in  one  direction  at  any  one  time  for  more  than 
five  minutes.  During  the  morning,  the  re|)ort  was 
raised  that  some  buffaloes  were  grazing  in  the  distance, 
and.  for  a  time,  there  was  quite  an  excitement ;  but  the 
Hearing  of  the  boat,  and  the  use  of  the  spy-glass,  dis- 
pelled our  hopes,  and  exhibited  in  their  stead  huge 
honlders  scattered  among  the  prairie  grass.  At  night, 
we  nrrived  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cotton  Wood  river, 
about  two  hundred  miles  from  Fort  Snelling.  The  day 
had  been  intensely  hot,  the  thermometer  having  been 
at  one  hundred  and  lour  degrees  in  the  shade ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  sun  had  set  a  cloud  of  mosquitoes  enveloped 
us.  The  cabins  were  smoked,  and  the  mosquitoes  beat 
with  green  boughs,  but  they  coidd  not  be  forced  to  re- 
treat. They  looked  upon  us  as  intruders,  and  seemed 
determined  to  make  us  smart,  and  leave  their  impres- 
sion. ??««••<    ■ 


in 


588 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


The  ice,  too,  had  failed,  and  the  ladies  of  the  party 
hegan  to  feel  that  there  was  more  reality  than  poetry 
in  an  exploring  expedition  into  an  uncivilized  country. 
A  meeting  was  called  to  see  if  the  captain  should  turn 
back,  but  the  majority  decided  to  go  on.  That  night 
few  of  the  male  members  of  the  party  entered  theii 
state-rooms,  but  nearly  all  wrapped  in  mosquito-bar 
were  stretched  upon  the  hurricane  deck,  vainly  endea- 
vouring to  sleep.  When  Thursday's  sun  arose,  the 
boat  was  not  in  motion.  The  crew  were  worn  out  by 
their  extra  labours,  and  even  those  of  the  passengers 
who  had  been  anxious  to  navigate  farther,  ha^  been 
brought  to  tenns  by  the  severe  wounds  that  had  been, 
inflicted  upon  them  by  the  mosquito. 

It  is  quite  a  coincidence  that  Major  Long  and  his 
party,  twenty-seven  years  before,  suffered  the  same  in- 
convenience, near  the  same  place,  by  the  same  insect. 
Says  his  narrative  :  "  We  never  were  tormented  at  any 
period  of  our  journey,  more  than  when  travelling  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  St.  Peter's.  The  mosquitoes  rose  all 
of  a  sudden.  We  have  been  frequently  so  much  an- 
noyed by  these  insects,  as  to  be  obliged  to  relinquish  an 
unfinished  supper,  or  to  throw  away  a  cup  of  tea  which 
we  could  not  enjoy.  To  protect  our  feet  and  legs  we 
were  obliged  to  lie  with  our  boots  on." 

While  at  breakfast,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties 
concerned,  the  prow  of  the  boat  turned  once  more  to- 
wards the  land  of  civilization  and  comfort.  At  dinner 
time  we  turned  into  the  Blue  Earth  river.  This  is  a 
rapid  stream,  with  pebbly  banks,  and  the  principal 
tributary  of  the  Minnesota.  The  scenery  around  it  is 
picturesque,  and  it  will  always  be  viewed  with  interest 
because  of  a  French  fort  or  trading-post  having  been 


TRAVERSE  DES  SIOUX. 


539 


built  here  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  Upon  the 
banks  of  the  Blue  Earth,  the  party  gathered  some  tol- 
erable specimens  of  agate  and  carnelian,  and  a  dark 
substance  resembling  cannel  coal,  but  probably  lignite. 
It  was  the  discovery  of  this  mineral,  no  doubt,  that  led 
some  of  the  old  travellers  to  mark  on  their  maps  a  coal 
mine  on  the  Minnesota,  a  few  miles  above  Fort  Snelling. 

Just  at  dark,  the  boat  reached  Traverse  des  Sioux. 
This  is  one  of  those  spots  which  nature  has  marked  out 
for  a  town  of  some  importance.  It  derives  its  name 
frr>m  the  fact,  that  for  a  long  period  it  has  been  a  cross- 
ing-place of  the  Sioux  or  Dahkotahs.  The  landing  here 
is  easy,  the  soil  is  fertile,  woodland  is  convenient,  and 
from  a  ridge  of  two  hundred  feet  in  elevation,  there  is 
a  creek  affording  a  great  amount  of  water  power,  and 
easily  accessible  from  the  rivor.  The  spot  is  now  occu- 
pied by  an  Indian  village  of  a  portion  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs, a  trading-house,  and  three  neat  and  plain  white 
buildings  occupied  for  mission  purposes  by  the  mission- 
aries. There  are  many  acres  of  land  in  cultivation, 
presenting  quite  an  air  of  comfort  and  of  civilization. 
As  it  hdjA  been  some  time  since  we  had  any  ice,  most 
of  the  passengers  left  the  boat,  and  walked  to  the  mis- 
sion premises,  where  they  found  a  well  of  clear  and 
cool  wattr,  and  to  which  they  did  ample  justice. 

Instead  of  returning  to  the  boat,  the  writer  passed 
the  evening  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins,  the  missionary 
of  the  American  Board  in  charge  of  this  station.  His 
wife,  in  the  course  of  conversation,  mentioned  that  the 
Indians  could  not  conceive  of  the  object  that  led  the 
white  men  to  navigate  a  strc^vm  which  was  not  theirs; 
and  that  the  children  had  tteen  in  through  the  day,  to 
tell  her  how  terribly  frightened  they  had  been  by  the 


540 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


steam-whistle;  and  to  inquire  whether  it  was  a  human 
being  or  the  boat  that  made  such  an  unearthly  noise. 

Leaving  Traverse  des  Sioux  early  on  Friday  morning, 
we  passed  during  the  day  some  ancient  mounds  of  the 
same  kind  as  those  scattered  through  Wisconsin  and 
Illinois.  Inasmuch  as  the  Smithsonian  Institution  has 
volunteered  to  publish  a  description  of  the  earth-works 
near  Lake  Pepin,  and  mounds  in  other  parts  of  Minne- 
sota, it  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  gentleman  of  leisure 
will  sketch  and  prepare  descriptions  of  them. 

In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  we  stopped  at  Six 
Village,  the  largest  village  of  the  Dahkotahs.  About 
three  hundred  warriors,  squaws,  and  children  were  on 
the  bank,  eager  to  see  the  wonder.  As  the  steam-whis- 
tle screeched  it  was  amusing  to  see  the  boys  and  girls 
tumbling  over  each  other  in  their  haste  to  escape.  The 
chief  soon  stepped  on  board  and  demanded  a  present, 
for  the  privilege  of  navigating  the  river.  He  also  con- 
tended that  a  canoe  had  been  broken;  but  as  he  did  not 
give  the  company  ocular  evidence  of  the  fact,  they  did 
not  pay  him ;  but  presented  him  with  some  pieces  of 
calico,  provisions,  and  a  box  of  Spanish  green.  Since 
1847,  the  American  Board  has  had  a  missionary  resid- 
ing here,  the  Rev.  S.  W.  Pond.  The  population  around 
him,  within  four  or  five  miles,  is  about  six  hundred; 
and  at  a  little  distance  i.)  another  band  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty.  Sixteen  miles  below  this  is  a  fourth  mission 
station.  The  missionary  in  charge  is  the  Rev.  G.  Pond 
He  has  resided  with  the  Lidians  for  many  years,  and  is 
one  of  the  best  speakers  of  their  language. 

Though  there  are  four  stations  on  the  Minnesota 
river,  and  two  on  the  Mississippi  below  St.  Paul,  the 
prospects  of  the  Dalikotah  mission  are  not  bnght.    1  lie 


OPPOSITION  TO  MISSIONARIES. 


541 


male  portion  of  the  nation,  witli  but  few  exceptions, 
have  an  inveterate  hatred  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
look  upon  the  missionaries  as  intruders  who  drink  their 
water  and  plough  their  soil,  but  give  nothing  in  return. 
The  few  that  would  gladly  listen  to  instruction  are  de 
terred  from  the  fear  of  ridicule  and  persecution. 

After  a  rapid  run  of  nine  miles  from  the  village  at 
which  the  Rev,  Gideon  Pond  resides,  we  came  once 
more  in  sight  of  the  stars  and  stripes  floating  from  the 
walls  of  Fort  Snelling. 

At  an  early  bed  hour,  on  Friday  night,  the  steamboat 
was  moored  at  the  landing  of  St.  Paul. 

It  had  been  demonstrated  that  steamboats  of  light 
draught  could  navigate  the  Minnesota,  by  the  removal 
of  a  few  obstructions,  at  all  Ltages  of  water,  to  Traverse 
des  Sioux,  and  even  to  the  Blue  Earth  river.  In  a  yeai' 
or  more  the  Dahkotahs  will  make  a  treaty  and  leave 
the  land  of  their  ancestors,  and  then,  in  an  incredibly- 
short  period,  the  war  whoop,  the  scalp  dance,  the  skin 
lodge,  and  the  canoe,  of  the  red  man,  will  give  place  to 
the  lowing  of  cattle,  the  hum  of  children  conning  their 
lessons  in  the  school-house,  the  neat  village  church,  with 
its  spire  pointing  heavenward,  and  a  frugal  and  indus- 
trious American  husbandry.  The  foreign  missionary 
will  soon  give  way  to  the  home  missionary,  and  what  a 
Held  is  the  Territory  of  Minnesota  for  the  latter  to  work 
in  !  Like  thv^  people  of  the  northern  latitudes  of  Europe, 
the  future  population  of  Minnesota  will  be  hardy  and 
intelligent.  They  will  crave  a  learned  and  zealous 
ministry.  The  towns  now  settled  are  like  what  Stock- 
bridge,  Massachusetts,  was  a  century  ago,  tilled  with 
Indians  and  white  land  speculators,  and  a  few  chuich 
members.     We  would  have  labour  here  in  the  h<»nie 


■H 


542 


HISTORY  Of  MINNESOTA. 


field,  just  such  missionaries  as  Jonathan  Edwards  and 
his  wife,  the  beautiful  and  holy  Sarah  Pierpont,  who 
was  such  a  valuable  helpmeet  in  spiritual  as  well  a» 
temporal  things,  Whitfield  is  said  to  have  oflfered  up  a 
prayer  that  God  would  send  him  just  such  a  daughter 
of  Abraham  to  be  his  wife.  Minnesota  does  not  desire 
ministers  that  will  leave  the  East,  because  they  possess 
narcotic  properties;  she  does  not  want  men  who  will 
love  New  England  or  any  other  section  so  as  to  be  un- 
fitted to  construct  society  out  of  the  "  rude  and  jostling 
materials"  whicli  will  here  abound ;  she  does  not  want 
heralds  of  salvation  to  come  here  and  sow  wheat  upon 
a  quarter-section,  but  to  sow  the  seed  of  God  beside  all 
waters ;  she  does  not  want  firm  partisans  of  any  school 
or  ism,  but  men  who  will  advocate  a  broad  and  com- 
prehensive Christianity ;  she  does  not  want  young  men 
to  come  within  her  borders,  because  they  think  that 
to  their  friends  they  will  appear  more  comely  and  bril- 
liant, upon  the  principle  that  "  distance  lends  enchants 
ment  to  the  view ;"  but  she  desires,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  Indian  claims  will  be  soon  extinguished,  scholars 
who  have  bathed  themselves  in  the  learning  of  the  in- 
spired writings ;  gentlemen  like  Paul  who  will  be  high- 
minded,  willing  to  work  with  their  own  hands  rather 
than  cringe,  glorying  in  being  able  to  visit  some  rude 
cabin,  to  whisper  consolation,  and  thinking  themselves 
happy  when  they  can  gain  the  ear  of  an  Agrippa,  Felix, 
Drusilla,  or  Bernice.  In  fine,  Minnesota  desires  for  her 
future  population  a  ministry  who,  in  the  true  sense,  can 
be  •'  all  things  to  all  men." 

As  the  time  for  the  general  election  in  September 
approached,  considerable  excitement  was  manifested. 
As  there  were  no  political  issues  before  the  people, 


wmmt 


ULUCTION  FOH  DELEGATE— MISS  BREMER. 


54S 


parties  were  formed  based  on  personal  preferences. 
Among  those  nominated  for  delegate  to  Congress,  by 
various  meetings,  were  H,  H.  Sibley,  the  former  dele- 
gate to  Congress,  David  Olmsted,  at  that  time  engaged 
in  the  Indian  trade,  and  A.  M.  Mitchell,  the  United 
States'  marshal.  Mr,  Olmsted  withdrew  his  name  be- 
fore election  day,  and  the  contest  was  between  those 
interested  in  Sibley  and  Mitchell.  The  friends  of  each 
betrayed  the  greatest  zeal,  and  neither  pains  nor  money 
were  spared  to  insure  success.  Mr.  Sibley  was  elected 
by  a  small  majority.'  For  the  first  time  in  the  terri- 
tory, soldiers  at  the  garrisons  voted  at  this  election,  and 
there  was  considerable  discussion  as  to  the  propriety  of 
such  a  course. 

Miss  Fredrika  Bremer,  the  well  known  Swedish 
novelist,  visited  Minnesota  in  the  month  of  October, 
and  was  the  guest  of  Governor  Ramsey.* 


'  The  following  are  the  returns  of 
the  late  election  for  Delegate,  as  filed 
in  the  oflSce  of  the  Secretary : — 

Precineti.                   eiVtj.  Mltrbell. 

St.  Paul,     .    .    .    l&i  153 

St.  Anthony,  .    .      64  110 

Little  Canada,     .      44  8 

Stillwater,  ...    117  59 

Marine,       ...      17  4 

Falls  St.  Croix,    .      17  0 

Snake  Rivur,  .     .      10  0 

Prairie 54  24 

Suuk  Rapids,  .     .        3  60 

Swan  River,    .     .      22  56 

Crow  Wing,    .     .        8  48 

Elk  River,  ...      16  8 

Nokaseppi,      .     .      36  26 

Lttc  qui  Pai'le,     .       12  0 

Mendotn,    ...      78  3 

049  559 


'  St.  Paul,  as  described  by  the 
novelist  of  Swodeii  in  1850,  and  St. 
Paul  in  1858,  with  its  gas  lamps 
and  public  edifices,  are  very  differ- 
ent places : — 

"Scarcely  had  we  touched  the 
shore,  when  the  governor  of  Minne- 
sota, and  his  pretty  young  wife, 
came  on  board  and  invited  me  to 
take  up  my  quarters  at  their  house. 
And  there  I  am  now ;  happy  with 
these  kind  people,  and  with  them  I 
make  excursions  into  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  town  is  one  of  the 
youngest  infants  of  the  Great  West, 
scarcely  eighteen  months  old ;  and 
yet  it  has  in  a  short  time  increased 
to  a  population  of  two  thousand 
persons,  and  in  a  very  few  years  it 
will  certainly  be  possessed  of  twen- 
ty-two thousand ;  for  itsi  situation  i« 


51i 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


During  November,  the  Dahkotah  Tawaxitku  Kin,  ot 
the  Dahkotah  Friend,  a  monthly  paper,  was  commenced, 
one-half  in  the  Dahkotah  and  one-half  in  the  PJnglish 
language.  Its  editor  was  the  Rev.  Gideon  H.  Pond,  and 
its  place  of  publication  at  St.  Paul.  It  waa  published 
for  nearly  two  years,  and,  though  it  failed  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  Indian  mind,  it  conveyed  to  the  English 
reader  much  correct  information  in  relation  to  the  habits, 
the  belief,  and  superstitions,  of  the  Dahkotahs. 

On  the  tenth  of  December,  a  new  paper,  owned  and 
edited  by  Daniel  A.  Robertson,  late  United  States'  mar- 
shal, of  Ohio,  and  called  the  Minnesota  Democrat,  made 
its  appearance. 


as  remarkable  for  it«  beauty  and 
healtliiiiess,  as  it  is  advautagoous 
for  trade. 

"As  yet,  however,  the  town  is 
but  in  its  infancy,  and  people  ma- 
nage with  each  dwellings  p•^  they 
can  get.  The  drawing-room  at  Go- 
vernor Ramsey's  house  is  also  his 
.  IBce,  and  Indians  and  workpeople, 
iind  ladies  and  gentlemen,  are  all 
alike  admitted.  In  the  mean  time, 
Mr.  Ramsey  is  building  a  handsome, 
spacious  house  upon  a  hill,  a  little 
mil  of  the  city  [now  in  the  middle 
of  the  west  end  of  the  city],  with 
beautiful  trees  around  it,  and  com- 
manding a  grand  view  of  the  river. 
If  I  were  to  live  on  the  Mississippi, 
I  would  live  here.  It  is  a  hilly  re- 
gion, and  on  all  sides  extend  beauti- 
ful and  varying  landscapes. 

"The  city  is  thronged  with  In- 
dians. The  men,  for  the  most  part, 
go  about  grandly  ornamented,  with 
naked  hatchets,  the  shafts  of  which 
'Crve   them   as  pipes.     They  paint 


themselves  so  utterly  without  any 
taste,  that  it  is  incredible.  Here 
comes  an  Indian  who  has  painted 
a  great  red  spot  in  the  middle  of 
his  nose;  here  another  who  has 
painted  the  whole  of  his  forehead 
in  lines  of  black  and  yellow ;  there 
a  third  with  coal  black  rings  round 
his  eyes.  *  *  »  *  The  women 
are  less  painted,  with  better  taste 
than  the  men,  generally  with  merely 
one  deep  red  little  spot  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  cheeks ;  and  the  parting 
of  the  hair  on  the  forehead  is  dyed 
purple.  There  goes  an  Indian  with 
his  proud  step,  bearing  aloft  his 
plumed  head.  He  carries  only  his 
pipe,  and  when  ho  is  on  a  journey, 
perhaps  a  long  staff  in  his  hand. 
After  him,  with  bowed  head  and 
stooping  shoulders,  follows  his  wife, 
bending  under  the  burden  which 
she  bears.  Above  the  burden  peeps 
forth  a  little  mund-faced  child,  with 
beautiful  dark  eyes." 


FII^T  THANKSGIVLNG  DAY. 


M6 


During  the  summer  there  had  been  changes  in  the 
editorial  supervision  of  the  "  Chronicle  and  Register." 
For  a  brief  period  it  was  edited  by  L.  A.  Babcock,  Esq., 
who  was  succeeded  by  W.  G.  Le  Due. 

About  the  time  of  the  issuing  of  the  Democrat,  C.  J. 
Ilenniss,  formerly  reporter  for  the  United  States  Gazette, 
Pliiladelphia,  became  the  editor  of  the  Chronicle. 

The  first  proclamation  for  a  thanksgiving  day  was 
issued  in  1850  by  the  governor,  and  the  twenty-sixth  of 
D<»pemher  was  the  time  appointed,  and  it  was  generally 
observed. 


>^  f 


86 


546 


HI8TUKY  UF  UlUHSJK/lA. 


I?  1 


.      .  f...  .  ■      ■  St  </      *       -    -,  ■  '        -'t  .-       ■   -   ' 

■         ■    ".  I.I 


/  V  I;--' 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 


On  Wednesday,  January  first,  1851,  the  second  Legi»- 
lative  Assembly '  assembled  in  a  three-story  brick  build- 


'  The  following  persons  composed  the  second  Legislative  Assembly  : — 


Conixlllon. 

No.  of  Dlitrict.        Realdence. 

Age. 

Place  of  .Nativity 

James  S.  Norris,  . 

.      .      1 

.    Cottage  Grove 

,      .      .      39 

Maine. 

Samuel  Burkleo,  . 

.    2 

Stillwater,  . 

.     .    .    46 

Delaware. 

William  H.  Forbes, 

.    3 

St.  Paul,    . 

.     .    .    35 

Montreal,  C. 

James  McC.  Boal, 

.    3 

ii 

.    .    .    39 

Pennsylvania 

David  B.  Loomis, 

.    4 

Marine  Mills, 

.    .    33 

Connecticut. 

John  Rollins,  .     . 

.    5 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony,   42 

Maine. 

David  Olmsted,     . 

.    6 

Long  Prairie, 

.    .    .    28 

Vermont. 

William  Sturges, 

.    6 

Elk  River,  . 

.    .    .    32 

Up.  Canada. 

Martin  McLeod,  . 

.    7 

Lao  qui  Parle, 

.    .    36 

Montreal,  0. 

RepreaentatlTM. 

" 

James  Wells,  .    . 

.     1 

Lake  Pepin, 

.    .    47 

N.  Jersey. 

John  A.  Ford,  .    . 

.    1 

Red  Rock,  . 

.    .    .    38 

New  York. 

M.  £.  Atnes,    .    . 

.    2 

Stillwater,  . 

.    .    .    30 

Vermont. 

Sylvanus  Trask,  .     . 

.    2 

<( 

.    .    .    30 

New  York, 

Jesse  Taylor,   .     .     . 

.    2 

(1 

• 

.    .    46 

Kentucky. 

Benjamin  W.  Brunsc 

n,     3    . 

St.  Paul,     .    . 

.    .    26 

Michigan. 

J.  C.  Ramsey, .     .     . 

.    3 

<( 

.    .    29 

Pennsylvania. 

Edmund  Rice,      .     . 

.    3    . 

(t 

.    .    30 

Vermont. 

H.  L.  Tilden,  .    .    . 

.    3    . 

f( 

.    .    32 

Connecticut. 

John  D.  Ludden,  .     . 

.    4 

Marine  Mills, 

.    .    32 

Massachusettx. 

John  W.  North,   .     . 

.    5    . 

Falls  of  St.  Ai 

ithony,   35 

New  York. 

Edward  Patch,     .     . 

.    5    . 

II 

27 

<i 

S.  B.  Olmstead,     .     . 

.    6 

Belle  Prairie, 

.    .    36 

It 

W.W.Warren,    .     . 

.    6    . 

Oull  Lake,      . 

.    .    26 

L.  Superior. 

BITTER  PARTY  FKKLINQ. 


547 


ing,  since  destroyed  by  fire,  that  stood  on  St.  Anthony 
street,  between  Washington  and  Franklin.  D.  B. 
Loomis  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  Council,  and  M.  E. 
Aines  speaker  of  the  House.'  This  assembly  was  cha- 
racterized by  more  bitterness  of  feeling  than  any  that 
has  since  convened.  The  previous  delegate  election  had 
been  based  on  personal  preferences,  and  cliques  and  fac- 
tions manifested  themselves  at  an  early  period  of  the 
session. 

On  the  morning  of  January  sixteenth,  an  editorial 
appeared  in  the  Pioneer  grossly  attacking  the  character 
of  one  of  the  judges  of  the  territory.  Every  word 
was  barbed,  and  naturally  irritated  the  brother  of  the 
judge,  who  was  then  absent  at  Washington.  Meeting 
the  editor  near  the  building  used  as  the  capitol,  a  ren- 
contre took  place  in  which  Mr.  Goodhue  was  severely 
stabbed  in  the  abdomen,  and  the  other  party  was  shot. 
Among  other  exciting  topics  was  the  election  of  public 
printer.  The  candidates  were  the  editors  of  the  Pioneer, 
Democrat,  and  the  Chronicle  and  Regisster;  the  Whig 
members  coalescing  with  the  friends  of  Mr.  Sibley,  the 
editor  of  the  Pioneer  was  elected. 

The  locating  of  the  penitentiary  at  Stillwater,  and 
the  capitol  building  at  St.  Paul  gave  some  dissatisfac- 
tion. By  the  efforts  of  J.  W.  North,  Esq.,  a  bill  creat- 
ing the  University  of  Minnesota  at  or  near  the  Fall? 
of  St.  Anthony  was  passed  and  signed  by  the  governor. 
This  institution,  by  the  constitution  afterwards  adopted 


K«prei«i.  tatlTOK. 

D.  T.  Sloan,      . 
David  Gilmnn, 
Alex.  Faribault, 
B.  H.  Randall. 


No.  ofDIttrlct        Rnldenc*. 

.    .    6    .    Little  Rock, 


6  .    Watab  .    .    . 

7  .     Mendota,    .    . 
7     .     Fort  Snelling, 


Age.  Place  of  Natlrlty. 

36  New  York. 

39 

46  Minnesota. 

27  Vermont. 


648 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


by  the  vote  of  the  people,  is  now  the  state  university, 
and  has  obtained  the  two  townships  of  land  granted  for 
that  purpose. 

The  apportionment  bill,  based  on  the  census  of  1850, 
led  to  a  bitter  personal  discussion,  but  was  passed  on 
Saturday,  March  twenty-ninth.  The  opponents  of  the 
bill  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  seven  in  number, 
on  the  same  day  resigned  their  seats.  Th(jy  contended 
that  the  census  was  incorrect ;  that  Benton  county,  with 
four  thousand  acres  under  cultivation,  by  the  bill  had 
but  one  half  the  representation  that  Pembina  county 
had,  where  there  were  but  seventy  acres  under  cultiva- 
tion, and  more  than  one-half  of  that  belonging  to  one 
individual.  They  also  urged  the  fact  that,  excepting 
soldiers,  at  least  seven-eighths  of  the  population  were 
Indians,  and  that  the  legislature  had  no  authority  over 
the  unceded  lands.' 


'■>>i  •    *,:-'illi 


'  Correspondence    in   relation    to 
points  in  dispute : — 

"IIousKOF  IIepbesentatives, 
"  Washington,  Feb.  27,  1851. 
"Hon.  Jbhios  Tliompson,  Chairman 
of  the  Judiciary  Committee: 
"Dear  Sih: — There  ore  questions 
mooted  among  the  people  of  Minne- 
sota, as  to  the  extent  of  the  authority 
conferred  by  the  Organic  Act,  upon 
the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  ter- 
ritory, and  other  matters  connected 
with  the  exercise  of  that  jurisdic- 
tion on  the  Indian  country,  which 
comprises  all  the  region  west  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  distinguished  po- 
sition you  occupy  as  the  head  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee,  and  your  ac- 
knowledged eminence  as  a  lawyer, 
will  invest  your  opinion  with  great 


weight  in  the  settlement  of  the 
points  referred  to.  I  have  the  honour, 
therefore,  to  request  that  you  will 
reply  to  the  following  queries,  to 
wit: — 

"First:  Does,  or  does  not  the  or- 
ganic act  of  Minnesota,  grant  to  the 
Legislative  Assembly  full  jurisdic- 
tion over  all  the  country  embraced 
within  the  limits  of  the  territory, 
restricted  solely  by  provisionB  of 
Indian  treaties  conflicting  with  it, 
should  such  exist? 

"  Second  :  Does,  or  does  not  the 
organic  act  secure  to  nil  the  peo- 
ple, living  as  well  on  the  unceded  a.s 
the  ceded  lands,  the  right  of  repre- 
sentation in  the  A«8embly,  and  of 
voting  ut  all  elections,  subject  rnily 
to  the  restriction!    of  the  laws  to 


SUFFERING  AND  SICKNESS  OF  OJIBWAYS. 


548 


The  Ojibways  of  Red,  Cass,  Leech,  and  Sandy  Lakes 
rtuflored  much  during  the  winter  of  1860-51.  About 
tho  iiVHi  of  October,  1800,  the  Indians  collected  at  the 
new  agency  at  Sandy  Lake,  to  receive  their  annuities. 


rci;iilate  the  qualificntionB  of  voters, 
ami  are  not  elections  held  on  the 
iiiiceded  lands  made  equally  valid 
iukI  legal  by  the  provisions  of  the 
iirgauic  law,  with  those  held  on  the 
coilod  country  ? 

"  An  early  reply  to  the  questions 
will  he  (gratefully  acknowledged  by, 
"  Yours,  very  respectfully, 

"  H.  U.  Sibley." 

"  Washington,  Feb.  28,  1851. 
"  Hon.  H.  II.  Sibley,  Delegate  from 
the  Territory  of  Minnesota: 
"Dear  Sir:— I  have  examined, 
thoiip;h  briefly,  the  law  organising 
the  Territory  of  Minnesota,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  questions  you  propound 
in  your  note  of  yesterdoy.  I  was 
Hurprised  that  any  question  of  the 
kind  could  arise  in  the  mind  of  any 
one.  I  had  been  one  of  the  com- 
mittee that  framed  the  law  in  ques- 
tion, and  I  presume  that  no  one  of 
thnt  committee  eve*  doubted  that 
the  legislative  power  of  the  terri- 
tciry  extended  to  the  entire  limitit  of 
till!  territory,  restricted  only  to 
'  rightful  subjects  of  legislation,  con- 
sistent with  thfi  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  provisions  of 
tills  act,'  and  subject  to  the  approval 
(if  Congress.  Nothing  of  course 
I'lmld  be  done  by  the  legislature  of 
tlie  territory  in  regard  to  the  Indian 
tribes,  as  this  subject  belongs  ex- 
clusively to  Congress,  but  that  the 
territory,  in  all  its  parts,  was  devoted 


to  the  sarie  legislative  control,  if 
proved  by  the  provision  that  everj 
free  wh'.te  citizen  of  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  who  shall  have 
been  a  resident  of  the  territory  at 
tue  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act, 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  the  first 
election.  All  could  vote;  the  conse- 
quence of  which  is  apparent — thAt 
all,  in  coutoniplatiou  of  law,  were 
to  be  represented.  Subsequent  legis- 
latures could  regulate  the  qualifica- 
tions of  voters,  but  in  the  territory, 
and  in  any  part  of  it,  the  right  of 
voting  would  remain,  and  of  course 
the  right  of  representation. 

"This  short  view  of  the  subject 
answers  the  points  made  in  your 
note.  The  organic  law  of  the  terri- 
tory regarded  the  entire  territory  in 
precisely  the  same  light — all  parte 
of  it  entitled  to  representation — all 
male  citizens  of  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  being  free,  no  matter  where 
situated  or  living,  being  entitled  to 
vote.  The  legislation  over  the  whole 
territory  is  a  complete  right  in  the 
territorial  legislature,  subject  only 
to  the  restrictions  implied  in  the  ex- 
clusive right  of  Congress  to  regulate 
the  intercourse  between  the  Indian 
tribes.  Excutie  the  imperfections  of 
this  note,  written  in  the  midst  of  a 
boisterous  debate. 

"  With  great  respect, 
"  I  am  truly  yours, 
"James  Thohpson." 


550 


*f  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


supposing  that  they  would  be  immediately  paid.  To 
their  disappointment  they  were  kept  waiting  for  seven 
or  eight  weeks,  and  while  there  measles  and  dysentery 
carried  off  hundreds.  Some  of  the  provisions  received 
at  the  payment  appear  in  some  way  to  have  been 
damaged,  and  this  increased  the  mortality.  The  wife 
of  a  missionary,  writing  from  Red  Lake,  on  the  first  of 
February,  says  : —  •      . , 

"Many  of  the  Indians  who  attended  the  payment 
last  fall  at  Sandy  Lake,  will  remember  the  place  for  a 
long  time  as  the  burying-place  of  their  friends.  The 
Indians  gathe'ed  there  to  receive  their  annuities  about 
the  first  of  October,  expecting  payment  to  take  place  in 
a  few  days ;  but  they  were  put  off  f  m  time  to  time  for 
two  long  months,  and  then  were  obliged  to  leave,  hav- 
ing received  but  a  part  ^f  their  dues.  During  their  stay 
there,  the  dysentery  ai  \  measles  prevailed,  and  carried 
off  great  numbers  of  ihem;  many  others  were  attacked, 
a,nd  in  this  state  were  obliged  to  start  for  their  respec- 
tive homes.  Provisions  were  so  scarce  that  they  could 
not  procure  food  for  their  journey  home,  and  many  of 
them  died  on  the  way.  It  is  reported  that  more  than 
five  hundred  have  died  since  the  sickness  commenced. 

"  To  give  you  an  idea  of  their  suffering,  I  will  furnish 
you  with  an  account  of  one  family,  near  neighbours  of 
ours. 

•  "  This  family  consisting  of  a  man  and  his  wife,  two 
children,  and  his  wife's  brother,  started  from  Sandy 
Lake  in  health,  with  food  enough  for  their  journey,  if 
they  had  not  been  detained  on  their  way.  About  half- 
way from  Sandy  Lake  to  Leech  Lake,  the  wife's  brother 
was  taken  sick,  and  detained  them  several  days,  when 
he  died;  they  buried  him  and  came  on.     I'hree  days' 


MORTALITY  AMONG  OJIBWAYS. 


551 


march  from  Leech  Lake,  the  two  children  were  taken 
sick,  the  oldest  a  boy  of  twelve  years  old  (who,  by  the 
way,  was  the  best  boy  we  have  known  in  the  country, 
a  member  of  our  school,  one  we  had  hoped  to  educate), 
the  other  a  girl  two  years  old.  At  this  time  their  food 
was  all  gone.  The  father  was  obliged  to  carry  his  sick 
.son,  and  the  mother  the  daughter,  until  the  last  night 
before  they  reached  Leech  Lake,  when  the  boy  died. 
The  next  morning  they  set  off  again,  the  father  carry- 
ing the  corpse  of  his  son,  and  the  mother  a  sick  child. 
About  noon  the  girl  died,  but  they  came  on  until  they 
reached  Leech  Lake,  bringing  the  dead  bodies  of  their 
children  on  their  backs.  ,   •  ,  s.-n;  ; 

"Another  man  started  from  Sandy  Lake  for  Cass 
Lake  with  his  sister,  in  company  with  another  family. 
He  was  taken  sick  soon  after  he  left  Sandy  Lake,  but 
travelleii  on  until  about  half-way  to  Leech  Lake,  and 
died.  The  next  morning  the  family  went  on.  The 
sister  ramained  by  the  body  alone,  one  night  and  two 
days,  when  some  Indians  came  along  and  buried  it. 

"  There  are  more  Indians  about  us  this  winter  than 
there  have  Iwjen  any  winter  before,  since  I  have  been  in 
the  country.  Many  have  come  here  from  Leech  Lake, 
Cass  Lake,  and  Lake  Winnepec,  to  live  by  begging, 
having  nothing  to  eat  at  home.  Probably  not  less  than 
fox'ty  families  are  wintering  here  from  other  bands. 
Many  of  them  were  intending  to  go  to  the  plains,  but 
so  ^nany  are  sick,  and  the  snow  so  deep,  that  they  dare 
not  start  out.  This  band  last  fall,  had  provision  enough 
to  make  them  comfortable  for  the  year,  but  having  so 
many  beggars  to  live  upon  them,  they  will  all  be  out  by 
t^ugar-making." 

Hole-in-the-day.   the   Ojibway   chief,    addressed   the 


552 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


legislature  in  relation  to  the  wants  of  his  people.  The 
speech  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  attracted  a 
great  crowd.  He  in  true  Indian  style  narrated  the  suf- 
fering of  his  people,  and  begged  in  the  inimitable  manner 
of  his  race;  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  solicit 
subscriptions  for  their  relief.  During  the  winter,  hunger 
is  said  to  have  driven  some  to  cannibalism.' 


'  Extract  from  Minnesota  Demo- 
crat, July  29,  1851  :— 

"  Last  winter  an  old  man  and  wo- 
man of  the  Pillager  Band  of  Chip- 
pewa Indians,  with  two  married 
daughters,  went  from  Leech  Lake  to 
Lake  Itasca,  to  spend  the  winter. 
The  husbands  of  the  daughters  were 
not  with  them — one  had  four  and 
the  other  five  children,  varying  in 
age  from  one  to  eighteen  years. 

"  They  were  reduced  to  a  starving 
condition,  and  the  mothers  com- 
menced killing  and  eating  their 
children  I  They  fed  voraciously  upon 
the  flesh  of  their  children,  and  be- 
came j,a  -sionately  fond  of  it.  All 
of  ;he  children  were  despatched  and 
eaten,  but  one,  a  boy  about  eighteen 
years  of  age. 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  winter  his 
mother  called  him  to  her,  and  re- 
quested him  to  put  his  head  in  her 
lap,  under  pretence  of  desiring  to 
look  for  vermin,  as  is  the  custom 
among  the  Indians.  The  boy  com- 
plird.  The  mother  had  some  molten 
lead  at  hand,  which  she  poured  into 
his  ear,  and  killed  him.  His  cries 
of  agony  a  rmed  the  old  people. 
The  old  man  told  his  wife  to  go  and 
Bee  what  was  the  matter.  She  went 
and  looked  into  U~e  door  of  the  lodge. 


and  there  saw  the  woman  with  the 
body  of  the  boy  on  the  fire,  singeing 
his  hair  off.  She  said  to  her,  '  Come 
in,  and  get  some — it  is  good ;'  and 
narrated  to  her  mother  how  she  had 
killed  the  boy. 

"  The  old  woman  returned,  and 
informed  the  old  man  what  had  taken 
place.  He  went  to  the  lodge  with 
his  gun,  and  shot  her.  He  did  not 
kill  her  immediately,  but  despatched 
her  with  an  ixe.  Before  this  hap- 
pened, there  were  two  men  with 
their  wives  encamped  in  the  same 
vicinity.  One  of  the  men  was  led 
to  mistrust  that  they  were  eating  the 
children,  from  the  fact  of  their  being 
missed,  and  also  from  the  signs  of 
plenty  indicated  by  the  personal  ap- 
pearance of  the  women.  He  told 
the  other  what  he  suspected,  and 
expressed  a  desire  to  go  to  some 
other  place,  and  asked  him  to  raise 
camp,  and  leave  with  him. 

"  He  agreed  to  leave,  and  request- 
ed the  other  to  go  and  encamp  at  a 
spot  named,  saying  that  he  would 
join  him  next  day.  He  waited  at 
the  place  appointed  several  days, 
and  ultimately  moved  on  without 
him.  The  man  and  wife,  who  re- 
mained, have  never  been  heard  from. 

"  A  blanket,  recognised  as  belong;" 


DEBATE  ON  SCHOOL  LANDS. 


558 


A  spirited  debate  occurred  on  February  sixth,  1851, 
in  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  of  the  United  States, 
previous  to  the  passage  of  the  bill  granting  two  town- 
ships of  land  for  the  use  and  support  of  a  University  in 
Oregon  and  Minnesota,  and  authorizing  the  legislatures 
of  those  territories  to  make  necessary  laws  to  protect 
the  school  sections. 

The  bill  before  the  House  also  granted  to  Oregon  and 
Minnesota  the  privilege  of  leasing  their  school  lands  for 
four  years  before  they  were  sold. 

Mr.  Bowlin,  of  Missouri,  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  public  lands,  moved  that  all  relating  to  the  leasing 
of  the  lands  should  be  stricken  out.  Mr.  Siblev,  in 
reply,  contended  that  the  provision  in  the  bill  was 
almost  an  exact  transcript  of  acts  that  had  been  passed 
in  relation  to  Michigan  and  Wisconsin. 

The  second  section  of  the  bill  provided,  that  when  a 
bo7id  fide  settlement  was  made  on  any  school  sections 
previous  to  survey,  that  the  settler  should  have  the 
right  to  enter  the  land. 

Mr.  Wentworth,  of  Illinois,  was  opposed  to  touching 
the  school  lands.     He  remarked : — 

"When  a  man  squats  upon  the  school  lands,  there 
is  a  higher  law  that  takes  him  off.  So  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned, whenever  a  territorial  bill  coraes  up  here  con- 
taining a  provision  in  relation  to  school  lands  similar  to 
that  contained  in  this,  I  shall  feel  compelled  to  oppose 
it.     I  would  leave  the  matter  to  the   townships.     If 


ing  to  them,  was  found  near  the 
place.  It  is  supposed  that  they  met 
Hie  same  fate  as  the  children. 

"The  hushand  of  the  surviviig 
woman  returned  to  his  lodge,  &t 
ItaBoa  Lake,  in  the  latter  part  of 


winter,  and  finding  out  what  had 
been  done  with  his  children,  killed 
his  wife  with  his  knife  and  toma- 
hawk. The  old  people,  and  the  man 
who  killed  his  wife,  returned  to 
Leech  Lake,  where  they  now  are." 


654 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA, 


when  the  townships  are  organized  they  choose  to  let 
men  squat  on  their  school  lands,  it  is  their  business,  not 
the  business  of  Congress.  I  remember  well,  that  in 
order  to  encourage  education  in  the  Territory  of  Min- 
nesota, we  gave  them  another  section,  twice  as  much  as 
other  states  have  received;  and  now  they  come  here 
and  ask  us  to  give  settlers  the  privilege  of  squatting  on 
those  lands.  I  should  have  been  willing  to  have  given 
them  twice  as  much  land  as  they  have  received  for 
school  purposes;  but  I  would  not  have  voted  to  give 
them  any,  if  I  had  thought  squatters  should  settle  on 
the  lands  before  they  were  surveyed." 

Mr.  Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania,  moved  to  strike  out 
the  word  "Minnesota"  from  the  section.    He  said: — 

"  I  make  this  motion,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
the  section.  I  understand  the  law  to  be,  that  any  man 
who  squats  upon  the  public  land,  in  any  of  the  new 
states  or  territories,  before  it  is  surveyed,  is  entitled  to 
no  pre-emption  right.  He  is  a  wrongdoer,  a  trespasser. 
But  if  he  settles  down  after  the  land  is  surveved,  he 
gets  his  pre-emption  right.  This  section  proposes  to 
give  to  this  wrongdoer  a  right  to  take  possession  of  the 
lands  devoted  to  sacred  charity,  if  I  may  call  it  charity, 
for  school  purposes.  *  *  *  *  j  believe  there  is  no 
law  which  gives  a  right  of  pre-emption  to  settlers  upon 
unsurveyed  lands.    I  may  be  wrong  in   'lis." 

Mr.  Fitch — "  You  are  decidedly  wrong." 

Mr.  Stevens — "I  am  informed  by  a  gentleman  be- 
hind me,  who,  I  believe,  is  right,  that  there  is  no  law 
which  gives  a  right  to  unsurveyed  land  but  the  *  higher 
law,'  which  the  gentleman  from  Minnesota  speaks  of, 
the  law  of  the  bowie-knife.  Now,  I  think  that  we 
ought  not  to  recognise  ihat  kind  of  higher  law  at  any 


MR.  3IBLEY  QN  TflE  lilGUB^  LAW. 


&55 


rate.  If  we  are  to  recognise  a  higher  law  above,  we 
are  not  at  any  rate  to  recognise  a  higher  law  below.  I 
cannot  go  for  that.    I  hope  the  whole  bill  will  be  killed." 

Mr.  Sibley,  in  reply,  said : — 

"  That  the  '  higher  law'  to  which  he  had  referred  was 
not  any  law  of  violence,  nor  that  of  the  bowie  knife,  as 
stated  by  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania,  nor  a  law 
from  below,  but  the  law  of  public  opinion,  of  public 
sentiment ;  a  higher  law  which  he  believed  existed  else- 
where in  this  country  as  well  as  in  Minnesota." 

Mr.  Stevens's  motion  prevailed.  Mr.  Bowlin  of  Mis- 
souri moved  to  strike  out  all  in  the  bill  relative  to  the 
leasing  of  the  lands,  which  was  agreed  to,  and  the  bill 
passed  in  a  modified  form. 

In  the  winter  of  1851,  the  publication  of  the  "  Chroni- 
cle and  Register  "  ceased. 

About  the  middle  of  May  a  war  party  of  Dahkotahs 
discovered  near  Swan  river  an  Ojibway  with  a  keg  of 
whiskey.  The  latter  escaped  with  the  loss  of  his  keg. 
The  war  party,  drinking  the  contents,  became  intoxi- 
cated, and,  firing  upon  some  teamsters  they  met  driving 
their  wagons  with  goods  to  the  Indian  Agency,  killed 
one  of  them,  Andrew  Swartz,  a  resident  of  St.  Paul, 
The  news  was  conveyed  to  Fort  Ripley,  and  a  party 
of  soldiers,  with  Hole-in-the-Day  as  a  guide,  started  in 
pursuit  of  the  murderers,  but  did  not  succeed  in  ca  ptur- 
ing  them.  Through  the  influence  of  Little  Six,  the  Dah- 
kotah  chief,  whose  village  was  at,  and  named  after  him, 
Shokpay,  five  of  the  offenders  were  arrested  and  placed 
in  the  guard-house  at  Fort  Snelling.  On  Monday,  June 
ninth,  they  left  the  fort  in  a  wagon  guarded  by  twenty- 
tive  dragoons,  destined  for  Sauk  Rapids  for  trial.  Ae 
they  departed  they  all  sung  their  death  song,  and  thfr 


556 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


coarse  soldiers  amused  themselves  by  making  signs  that 
they  were  going  to  be  hung.  On  the  first  evening  of 
the  journey  the  five  culprits  encamped  with  the  twenty- 
five  dragoons.  Handcuffed',  they  were  placed  in  the 
tent,  and  yet  at  midnight  they  all  escaped,  only  one 
being  wounded  by  the  guard.  What  was  more  remark- 
able, the  wounded  man  was  the  first  to  bring  the  news 
to  St.  Paul.  Proceeding  to  Kaposia,  his  wound  was 
examined  by  Dr.  Williamson,  and  then  fearing  an 
arrest,  he  took  a  canoe  and  paddled  up  the  Minnesota. 
The  excuse  offered  by  the  dragoons  was,  that  all  the 
guard  but  one  fell  asleep.  Had  they  lived  in  ancient 
Rome  they  would  all  have  slept  the  sleep  of  death  for 
their  negligence. 

The  first  paper  published  in  Minnesota,  beyond  the 
capital,  was  the  St.  Anthony  Express,  which  made  its 
appearance  during  the  last  week  of  May. 

The  most  important  event  of  the  year  1 851  was  the 
treaty  with  the  Dahkotahs,  by  which  the  west  side  of 
the  Mississippi  and  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota  river 
were  opened  to  the  enterprise  of  the  hardy  emigrant. 
The  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
were  Luke  Lea,  Commissioner  of  Indian  AjQfairs,  and 
Governor  Ramsey.  The  place  of  meeting  for  the 
upper  bands  was  Traverse  des  Sioux.  The  commis- 
sion arrived  there  on  the  last  of  June,  but  were  obliged 
to  wait  many  days  for  the  assembling  of  the  various 
bands  of  Dahkotahs. 

Steps  had  been  taken  for  the  observance  of  the  fourth 
of  July,  by  those  associated  with  the  commissioners,  but 
that  day  proved  to  be  one  of  sadness.  Mr.^  Goodhue, 
who  was  on  the  spot,  writes  to  the  "  Pioneer,""  of  which 
he  was  the  editor : — 


REV.  MR.  HOPKINS'  DEATH  BY  DROWNING. 


557 


"  Instead  of  the  joyous  festivities  we  had  this  day 
anticipated,  the  sudden  death,  by  drowning,  this  morn- 
ing, before  bicakfast,  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins,  resident 
missionary  here,  has  thrown  over  our  whole  encampment 
a  shadow  of  gloom.  A  multitude  of  men  and  women 
of  both  races  ran  to  the  spot  to  search  the  water  for  his 
body.  His  clothes  were  found  upon  the  bank  of  the 
river,  or,  rather,  the  bank  of  a  slough,  near  the  bed  of 
a  pretty  strong  current  of  water.  A  little  Indian  girl 
says  she  saw  him  wading  breast  deep  toward  shore,  and 
tiiat  lookmg  again,  after  filling  her  pail  with  water,  she 
saw  only  his  hands  above  water.  As  he  could  not  swim, 
he  was,  doubtless,  drowned  by  wading  into  a  deep  hole. 
Search  has  been  made  all  day  with  nets  and  hooks,  and 
by  Indians  diving,  but,  as  yet,  in  vain.  Mr.  Hopkins  wa.s 
a  good  man,  and  left  a  most  amiable  wife,  and  four 
children."  Under  date  of  July  seventh,  he  writes : — 
"  Suddenly,  news  arrives  in  camp  that  the  body  of  the 
lamented  Mr.  Hopkins  is  caught  in  a  drag-net;  and, 
instantly,  the  most  of  our  company,  and  hundreds  of 
Indians,  are  running  from  all  directions  to  the  spot. 
The  body  being  washed  was  removed  to  the  mission- 
house,  amid  much  silent  grief,  while  a  very  aged  squaw 
indulged  in  piteous  lamentations,  which  afiected  every 
listener,  saying,  '  He  was  my  son ;  he  was  very  kind  to 
me ;  he  provided  for  me  when  I  was  hungry  and  needy.' 
This  afternoon  we  are  engaged  in  the  mournful  duty  of 
burying  this  good  man,  who,  buried  in  the  seclusion  of 
savage  life,  spent  the  flower  of  his  days  in  a  work  as 
disinterested  as  that  which  made  Howard  immortal." 

For  several  days  there  had  been  violent  rains  and 
thunderstorms,  and  the  Dahkotahs  supposed  that  the 
Great  Thunder  Bird  had  dashed  his  wing  upon  the  head 


HH 


558 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


of  the  Blue  Earth  river,  and  broken  up  fountains  which 
had  caused  the  rise  in  the  waters.  One  day  there 
was  a  propitiatory  dance  to  Wahkeenyan,  the  God  of 
Thunder. 

On  the  afternoon  of  July  twelfth  the  dance  was  com- 
menced. The  spot  selected  was  nearly  a  half  mile  from 
the  river  bank.  The  commissioners  and  their  party, 
and  perhaps  one  thousand  Dahkotahs,  were  present. 
The  dance  was  performed  within  a  circular  enclosure 
made  of  the  limbs  of  the  aspen  stuck  in  the  ground, 
interwoven  with  four  arched  gateways,  forming  an  area 
like  a  large  circus.  A  pole  was  planted  in  the  middle 
of  the  area,  with  an  image  cut  out  of  bark,  designed  to 
represent  the  Thunder  Bird,  suspended  by  a  string  at  the 
top.  At  each  of  the  arched  gateways  stood  another 
pole  and  image  of  the  same  description,  but  smaller 
than  the  one  in  the  centre.  Near  the  foot  of  the  cen- 
tral* pole  was  a  little  arbour  of  aspen  bushes,  in  which 
sat  an  ugly-looking  Indian  with  his  face  blackened,  and 
a  wig  of  green  grass  over  his  head,  who  acted  as  sorcerer, 
and  uttered  incantations  with  fervent  unction,  and  beat 
the  drum,  and  played  on  the  Indian  flute,  and  sung  by 
turns,  to  regulate  the  various  evolutions  of  the  dance. 
Before  this  arbour,  at  the  foot  of  the  central  pole,  were 
various  mystical  emblems ;  the  ima^  of  a  running  buf- 
falo cut  out  of  bark,  with  his  legs  stuck  in  the  ground, 
also  a  pipe  and  a  red  stone  shaped  something  like  a  head, 
with  some  coloured  down.  At  a  given  signal  by  the 
conjurer,  the  young  men  sprang  in  through  the  gate- 
ways, and  commenced  a  circular  dance  in  procession 
around  the  conjurer,  who  continued  to  sing  and  beat 
his  drum.  After  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  the  dancers 
ran  out  of  the  ring,  returning  after  a  short  respite.   The 


THl/NDER  BIRD  CEREMONIES. 


66» 


third  time  a  few  horsemen,  in  very  gay  fantastic  costume, 
accompanied  the  procession  of  dancers  who  were  within, 
by  riding  outside  of  the  enclosure.  The  last  time  a 
multitude  of  boys  and  girls  joined  the  band  of  dancers 
in  the  area,  and  many  more  horsemen  joined  the  caval- 
cade that  rode  around  the  area,  some  dressed  in  blue 
embroidered  blankets,  others  in  white.  Suddenly  seve- 
ral rifles  were  discharged  at  the  poles  upon  which  th( 
Thunder  Birds  were  suspended,  knocking  them  down, 
and  the  sacred  dance  ended. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  July,  all  those  expected  having 
arrived,  the  Sissetoans  and  Wahpaytoail  Dahkotahs  as- 
sembled in  grand  council  with  the  United  States  com- 
missioners. After  the  usual  feastings  and  speeches,  a 
treaty  was  concluded  on  Wednesday,  July  twenty-third. 
The  pipe  having  been  smoked  by  the  commissioners, 
Lea  and  Ramsey,  it  was  passed   to  the  chiefs.     The 


'  The  treaty  is  in  substance  as 
follows : — 

Perpetual  peace. 

The  cession  of  all  the  Sioux  lands 
east  of  Sioux  river  and  Lac  Traverse. 
The  line  then  runs  up  the  head 
waters  of  Otter  Tail  Lake,  thence 
down  from  the  head  of  Watab  river 
to  the  Mississippi. 

The  cession  embraces  the  entire 
valley  of  the  Minnesota,  and  the 
eastern  tributaries  of  the  Sioux 
rivbr,  and  is  estimated  to  contain 
21,000,000  acres. 

The  Indians  reserve  a  tract  on 
the  Minnesota,  about  one  hundred 
miles  in  length,  and  twenty  in 
breadth.  This  reserve  commences 
at  the  mouth  of  Yellow  Medicine 
river,  and  extends  up  the  Minnesota 


ten  miles  on  each  side  to  Lac  Tra- 
verse. 

The  Indians  are  to  receive 
$1,665,000,  as  follows: 

To  be  paid  after  their  removal  to 
the  reservation,  $275,000,  and 

To  be  expended  in  breaking  land, 
erecting  mills,  and  establishing 
manual  labour  schools,  $30,000, 
amounting  to  $305,000. 

The  balance  of  $1,360,000  to  be  in- 
vested at  five  per  cent.  f»r  fifty  years, 
which  will  give  an  annual  ineome 
of  $68,000,  to  be  paid  as  follows : 
In  cash,  annually  $40,000 

Goods  and  provisions,       10,000 
Civilization  fund,  12,000 

Education,  6,000 


68,000 


'>60 


HISTORY  Oh'  MI1)N£80TA. 


paper  containing  the  treaty  *  was  then  read  in  English, 
and  translated  into  the  Dahkotah  by  the  Rev.  S.  R. 
Riggs.  This  finished,  the  chiefs  came  up  to  the  secre- 
tary's table  and  touched  the  pen ;  the  white  men  pre- 
sent then  witnessed  the  document,  and  nothing  remained 
but  the  ratification  of  the  United  Statues  Senate  to  open 
that  vast  country  for  the  residence  of  the  hardy  emi- 
grant. 

During  the  first  week  in  August,  a  treaty  was  also 
concluded  beneath  an  oak  bower,  on  Pilot  Knob,  Men- 
dota,  with  the  M'dewakantonwan  and  Wahpaykootay 
bands  of  Dahkotahs.  About  sixty  of  the  chiefs  and 
principal  men  touched  the  pen,  and  Little  Crow,  who 
had  been  in  the  mission-school  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  signed 
his  own  name.  Before  they  separated,  Colonel  Lea  and 
Governor  Ramsej'  gave  them  a  few  words  of  advice  on. 
various  subjects  connected  with  their  future  well-being, 
but  particularly  on  the  subject  of  education  and  tempe- 
rance. The  treaty  was  interpreted  to  them  by  the  Rev. 
G.  H.  Pond,  a  gentleman  universally  conceded  to  be  the 
most  correct  speaker  of  the  Dahkotah  tongue  of  any 
who  are  not  natives. 

The  day  after  the  treaty  these  lower  bands  received 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  which,  by  the  treaty  of  1837, 
was  set  apart  for  education ;  but,  by  the  misrepresenta- 
tions of  interested  half-breeds,  the  Indians  were  made 
to  believe  that  it  ought  to  be  given  to  them  to  be  em- 
ployed as  they  pleased. 

The  next  week,  with  their  sacks  filled  with  money, 


After  fifty  years  all  payments  to  relates  to  the  introduction  and  sale 

cease,  and  the  principal  of  $1,360,000  of  ardent  spirits,  shall  be  continued 

to  revert  to  the  government.  in  full  force,  until  changed  by  legal 

The  intercourse  laws,  so  far  as  authority. 


INDIANS  AT  THE  HORSE  MARKET. 


501 


they  thronged  the  streets  of  St.  Paul,  purchasing  what- 
ever pleased  their  fancy.  Many  desired  horses.  Now 
an  Indian  always  purchases  a  horse  on  a  different  prin- 
ciple from  a  white  man.  If  he  desires  a  white  horse, 
all  other  considerations  are  secondary.  He  may  be 
awkwanl  in  gait,  or  slow  in  motion ;  these  are  all  out- 
weighed by  the  colour  that  he  desires.  Another  one 
will  want  a  long-tailed  horse,  and,  if  such  an  animal 
can  be  found,  but  few  questions  are  asked  in  relation  to 
his  age  or  freedom  from  trick.  The  week  subsequent  to 
the  treaty  there  was  a  general  clearing  out  of  worn-out 
nags  from  the  livery  stables  of  the  capital ;  and,  when 
the  cavalcade  started  for  the  Indian  country,  in  John 
Gilpin  style,  it  was  a  scene  to  excite  the  laughter  of  a 
stoic.  Many  departed  empty-handed,  and,  if  they  had 
not  given  a  kingdom,  had  given  their  all  for  a  horse  that 
would  die,  under  Indian  treatment  and  grooming,  in  a 
few  months.' 


'  By  the  treaty  signed  at  Mendota, 
August  fifth,  the  above-named  bands 
ceded  to  the  United  States  all  their 
lauds  in  Minnesota  and  Iowa. 

A  reserve  is  granted  them  on  the 
Minnesota  river,  commencing  at 
Little  Rook,  which  is  about  fifty 
miles  by  land  from  Traverse  des 
Sioux,  and  extending  up  the  river 
ten  miles  wide  on  each  side  to  Yel- 
low Medicine  and  Chatanba  rivers, 
to  which  they  are  to  remove  within 
one  year  after  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty. 

On  the  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
ttic  chiefs  were  paid  the  sum  of  two 
nundred  and  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars, to  be  used  by  them  in  the  pur- 
chase of  provisions,  to  defray  the 
36 


expenses  of  their  removal,  and  settle 
their  affairs  generally. 

In  opening  farms,  erecting  mills, 

smith-shops,  and  school-houses,  is  to 

be  expended  thirty  thousand  dollars. 

In  annuities  to  be  continued  fifty 

years : 

In  agricultural  fund      .    $12,0<K> 

In  goods  and  provisions       10,000 

In  education    ....        6,000 

In  cash 30,000 

By  the  two  treaties  concluded  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  four 
divisions  of  the  Dahkotah  tribe, 
about  thirty  millions  of  acres  of 
land  have  been  added  to  the  posses- 
sions of  the  United  States,  and  most 
of  it  is  in  Minnesota.  Much  of  it  is 
of  an   excellent  quality,   well   tim- 


6«2 


HI8T0RV  OF  MINNESOTA. 


A  few  days  before  the  treaties,  one  of  the  Dahkoiab 
missionaries  at  Shokpay's  village,  now  a  flourishing 
town,  the  county  seat  of  Scott  county,  writes  : — 

"  Our  situation  is  in  many  respects  unpleasant.  We 
have  no  persons  residing  with  us,  and  no  white  neigh- 
bours within  sixteen  miles.  This  is  much  the  largest 
band  of  the  Dahkotahs,  on  the  Minnesota  or  Mississippi, 
and  they  all  dwell  within  a  hundred  rods  of  our  door, 
some  of  them  much  nearer.  We  have  great  reason  to 
be  thankful  for  the  degree  of  peace  and  security  we 
enjoy  whilst  living  in  the  midst  of  so  many  savages ; 
but  we  are  continually  annoyed  in  a  thousand  ways. 
They  are  almost  universally  thieves  and  beggars ;  and, 
though  we  endeavour  to  have  as  little  property  exposed 
as  possible,  we  are  obliged  to  be  continually  on  the 
watch.  My  wife  has  been  only  a  mile  from  home  in 
three  years,  and,  when  the  Indians  are  here,  I  seldom 
go  out  of  sight  of  the  house,  unless  I  am  obliged  to  do 
so.  Few  days  pa 'S  in  which  they  do  not  commit  some 
depredation.  I  do  not  mention  these  things  by  way  of 
complaint.  We  are  annoyed  much  less  than  we  might 
reasonably  expect  in  such  circumstances;  and  we  should 
feel  contented  and  cheerful  in  our  situation,  if  the  In- 
dians would  only  listen  to  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ." 

On  the  seventeenth  of  September,  a  new  paper  was 
commenced  in  St.  Paul,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
"Whigs,"  and  John  P.  Owens  became  editor,  which 
relation  he  sustained  until  the  fall  of  1857. 

The  election   for  members  of  the  legislature  and 


bered  and  well  watered.  It  is  an  the  rooks  and  hills.  Here  is  room 
inviting  country  to  cramped-up  New  enough,  a  rich  soil,  and  healthy 
England  farmers,  who  dig  among    climate. 


FIRST  DEMOCRATIC  TICKET. 


fM 


county  officers  occurred  on  the  fourteenth  of  October; 
and,  for  the  first  time,  a  regular  Democratic  ticket  was 
placed  before  the  people.  The  parties  called  themselves 
Democratic  and  Anti-organization,  or  Coalition. 

In  the  month  of  November  Jerome  Fuller  arrived, 
and  took  the  place  of  Judge  Goodrich  as  Chief  Justice 
of  Minnesota;  and,  about  the  same  time,  Alexander 
Wilkin  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  territory  in  place 
of  C.  K.  Smith. 

The  eighteenth  of  December,  pursuant  to  proclama" 
tion,  was  observed  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving.' 


'i4  Proclamation,  fcy  Alexander  Ram- 
tet/.  Governor  of  the  Territory  of 
Miunetota. 

"  The  Ilai'vest  is  paot,  the  Sum- 
mer ia  ended ;"  the  corn  and  the 
'wheat  that  stood  thick '  upon  our 
fruitful  soil,  have  been  "gathered 
into  the  garner."  Once  more,  "cold 
out  of  the  North"  has  come ;  "  frost 
is  given,  and  the  breadth  of  the  wa- 
ters is  straitened."  Before  the  year 
closes,  it  seems  a  becoming  act  for 
the  people  of  Minnesota,  by  public 
agaenibly  and  solemn  observance,  to 
unite  in  giving  thanks  to  Him  "  who 
crowneth  the  year  with  goodness," 
and  whose  blessings  "  arc  more  in 
number  than  the  sand." 


Id  .'accordance,  therefore,  with  a 
tin.'*-".',  joured,  and  now  general  cus- 
tom of  the  states  of  the  Republic,  I 
respectfully  recommend  to  the  peo- 
ple of  this  territory  the  observ- 
ance, in  the  way  that  to  them  is 
most  appropriate,  of  Thursday,  the 
eighteenth  day  of  December,  as  a 
day  of  Praise  and  Thanksgiving. 

Oiven  under  my  hand,  and  the 
r  -,  great  seal  of  the  Territory, 
'-  '^  at  St.  Paul,  this  third  day  of 
December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
fifty-one. 

Alex.  Ramsit. 
By  the  Oovernor: 

Alezandkr  Wilkin,  Secretary. 


564 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CTIAPTER  XXV. 

The  third  Legislative  Assembly  commenced  its  ses- 
sions in  one  of  the  edifices  on  Third  below  Jackson 
street,  which  now  fonns  a  portion  of  the  Merchants* 
Hotel,  on  the  seventh  of  January,  1852.' 


I  CounclUora. 

No.  of  District        Rnsidence. 

Occupation. 

Elam  Greeley, ,     . 

.      .      1      . 

Near  Stillwater. 

D.  B.  Loomis,  .     . 

.     .      1      . 

Marine 

Lumber  Merchant. 

G.  W.  Farrington, 

.    .    2    . 

St.  Paul,    .... 

Merchant. 

William  H.  Forbes, 

.    2    . 

<• 

•        •        •        • 

Indian  Trader. 

W.  L.  Lamed, 

.    .    3    . 

St.  t  nthony. 

L.  A.  Babcock,     . 

.    4    . 

St.  Paul 

Lawyer. 

S.  B.  Lowry,    .     . 

.    6    . 

Watab 

Indian  Trader. 

Mitrtin  McLeod,  .    . 

.    6    . 

Opk  Grove,      .     .     . 

Indian  Trader. 

K.  W.  Kittson,     . 

.    7    . 

Pembina 

Indian  Trader. 

RcpreeentatlTM. 

' 

Mahlon  Leavitt,    . 

.    1    . 

Stillwuter 

Lumber  Dealer. 

Mahlon  Black, 

.    1    . 

.    •    •    . 

Lumber  Dealer. 

Jesse  Taylor,   , 

.    1    . 

11 

John  D.  Ludden,  . 

.    1    . 

Marine,      .... 

Lumber  Dealer. 

Charles  S.  Cave,  . 

.    2    . 

3t.  Paul,    .... 

Saloon  Keeper. 

W.  P  Murray,     . 

.    2    . 

f( 

Lawyer. 

S.  D.  Findlay, .     . 

.    2    . 

Near  Fort  Snelling, 

Indian  Trader. 

J.  W.  Selby,    .    . 

.    2    . 

St.  Paul 

Farmer. 

J,  E.  Fullerton,     . 

.    2    . 

«• 

Merchant. 

S.  W.  Farnham,   . 

.    3    . 

St.  Anthony,        .    . 

Lumberman. 

J.  H.  Murphy, 

.    .    3    . 

i( 

Physician. 

F.  S.  Richards,     . 

.    .    4    . 

Lake  Pepin,    .     .    . 

Trader. 

ST.  PETER'S  DISCONTINUED  IN  PUBLIC  DOCUMENTS.        565 

This  session,  compared  with  the  previous,  formed  a 
contrast  as  great  as  that  between  a  boisterous  day  in 
March  and  a  calm  June  morning.  The  minds  of  the 
population  were  more  deeply  interested  in  tne  ratifica- 
tion of  the  treaties  made  with  the  Dahkotahs,  than  in 
political  diseussions.  Among  other  legislation  of  interest 
was  the  creatio  i  of  Hennepin  county,  the  passage  of  an 
act  punishing  trespassers  on  school  lands,  and  the  post- 
ponement of  the  election  of  delegate  to  Congress  until 
October,  1853.  An  important  liquor  law  was  also 
passed,  subject  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  similar  in  its 
provisions  to  ■'vhat  is  known  as  the  Maine  Liquor  Law. 
The  election  was  ordered  to  be  held  on  the  first  Monday 
of  April,  and  if  the  majority  of  citizens  were  in  favour, 
it  was  to  be  in  force  after  the  first  of  May. 

Among  the  memorials  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  was  one  relative  to  the  name  of  the  Minnesofcti 
river.  Ever  since  the  acquisition  of  this  country  by 
the  United  States,  it  had  been  called  the  St.  Pierre  by 
the  French  voyageurs,  and  Anglicized  by  the  Americans 
into  St.  Peter's,  The  memorial  states  that  the  stream 
was  named  after  Mons.  St.  Pierre,  who  was  never  in 
this  country,  which  is  incorrect.  It  then  asserts  "  that 
Minnesota  is  the  true  name  of  this  stream,  as  given  to 
it  in  ages  past,  by  the  strong  and  powerful  tribes  of 


RtpreaenUtiTM. 

Jnmes  Beattj, 
David  Day,  .  . 
James  McBoal, 
B.  H.  Randall, 
Joseph  Rolette, 
Antoine  Qin(i;ra8, 


No.  of  Oiitrlot       RMldeno*. 


Itasca,    .     .    . 
Long  Prairie, 
Mendota,    .     . 
Fort  Snelling, 
Pembina,    .     ■ 


Ooonpatlon. 

Farmer. 

Physician. 

Painter. 

Clerk. 

Clerk. 

Hunter. 


566 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


aborigines,  the  Dahkotahs,  who  dwelt  upon  its  banks^. 
and,  that  not  only  to  assimilate  the  name  of  the  river 
with  that  of  the  territory  and  future  state  of  Minnesota, 
but  to  follow  what  we  conceive  to  be  the  dictates  of  a 
correct  taste,  and  to  show  a  proper  regard  for  tie 
memory  of  the  great  nation  whose  homes  and  co,  ntr; 
our  people  are  soon  to  possess,  we  desire  that  it  sh  I] 
be  so  designated."  The  memorial  was  considered  by  the 
Senate,  and  a  law  passed  ordering  the  word  St.  Peter's 
to  be  discontinued  in  public  documents,  and  Minnesota 
employed  in  its  place. 

The  first  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  was  presented  at  this  session.  As  a  portion 
of  it  may  be  interesting  to  the  future  educators  of  the 
state,  we  insert  extracts, 

"  Owing  to  the  rapid  increase  of  population  in  dis- 
tricts Nos.  2  and  3,  in  the  county  of  Ramsey,  the  pre- 
sent school  accommodations  have  proved  wholly  inade- 
quate. About  the  close  of  the  past  year,  it  became 
necessary  for  the  trustees  of  each  district  to  rent  a 
room  and  employ  a  female  assistant  teacher  to  instruct 
the  less  advanced  pupils. 

"  Before  another  year  elapses,  it  may  be  found  that 
the  present  school-houses  in  Stillwater,  St.  Anthony, 
and  St.  Paul,  are  too  contracted ;  but  it  is  hoped  that 
there  will  be  no  unnecessary  multiplication  of  school 
districts  in  these  towns.  The  money  necessary  to  build 
two  small  school-houses  in  diflferent  parts  of  a  town,  can 
be  much  more  advantageously  employed  in  erecting  a 
single  edifice  upon  some  central  and  commanding  site, 
containing  several  rooms. 

"  In  this  way,  a  town  not  only  secures  a  building 


BJSPORT  OF  SUPBRINTBNDBNT  OF  INSTRUCTION. 


567 


'^ 


that  is  attractive  to  the  sight,  but,  by  employing  a  male 
principal,  with  a  female  assistant  or  assistants,  consi- 
derably reduces  the  expenseb  v/f  education. 

"  As  there  are  already  towns  that  have  more  than 
one  district,  your  attention  is  called  to  the  propriety 
of  introducing  a  section  in  the  school  law,  allowing  pri- 
mary school  districts  in  the  same  town,  the  privilege  of 
establishing  a  grammar  school  for  the  older  and  more 
advanced  children  of  their  several  districts. 

"  And  in  this  connexion  it  may  be  well  to  suggest  the 
repeal  of  all  laws  granting  to  school  districts  the  power 
of  conferring  degrees  or  granting  diplomas.  To  grant 
such  high  powers  to  the  trustees  of  a  common  school 
district,  who  are  elected  annually,  not  by  those  who  feel 
a  lively  interest  in  education,  but  '  by  every  inhabitant 
over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  who  shall  have  resided 
in  any  school  district  for  three  months  immediately  pre- 
ceding any  district  meeting,  and  who  shall  have  paid, 
or  shall  be  liable  to  pay,  any  taxes,  except  road  taxes,' 
is  to  degrade  education,  and  burlesque  the  University 
oi  Minnesota,  to  whose  regents  such  powers  more  pro- 
perly belong. 

"  The  buildings  that  have  been  erected  for  school  pur- 
poses are  far  in  advance  of  the  log  huts  that  were  for- 
merly erected  by  pioneer  settlers,  as  school-rooms  for 
their  '  little  ones,'  and  which  even  the  cows  of  the 
farmer  might  blush  to  own  as  their  resting  place. 

"  In  saying  this,  however,  it  is  not  to  be  understood 
tliat  they  can  receive  no  improvement.  Nearly  all,  like 
the  barns,  remain  unpainted,  and  are  destitute  of  all 
those  surrounding  conveniences  which  are  so  necessary 
to  cultivate  neat  and  modest  habits   in  youth.     The 


668 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


trustees  have,  in  almost  every  instance,  neglected  to 
plant  shade  and  ornamental  trees,  and,  unless  some  care 
is  shown,  it  will  not  be  long  before  the  school-houses 

1'  ^T^k  as  dilapidated  as  the  drunkard's  dwelUng. 

■  strange  that  *  fathers  who  know  how  to  give 
good  tj.i'ts  to  their  children/  almost  invariably  neglect 
to  furnish  their  offspring  with  a  school-house  that  is  cal- 
culated to  make  the  associations  with  their  studies  plear 
sant,  or  to  teach  them  the  principles  of  correct  architec- 
ture, or  give  them  a  single  idea  of  beauty. 

"  *  Barnard's  School  Architecture'  is  a  book  that  a 
trifling  sum  will  purchase,  and,  in  the  orection  of  school- 
houses  in  our  new  settlements  and  villages,  it  is  desir- 
able that  the  trustees  should  follow  some  of  the  plans 
there  detailed.  It  is,  therefore,  suggested  that  the  trus- 
tees of  each  school  district  purchase  a  copy  for  the 
school  library.  Before  we  pass  from  the  subject  of 
school  architecture,  it  is  proper  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  importance  of  trustees  securing  larger  lots  for 
school  buildings. 

"  One  of  the  largest  school  lots  in  the  territory  is  that 
of  district  No.  5,  in  Ramsey  county,  and  yet  the  build- 
ing appears  to  be  squeezed  into  the  back  ground  by  the 
pressure  of  a  building  on  each  side. 

"  To  make  a  full  man,  the  boy  must  be  developed 
physically  as  well  as  intellectually;  and  the  village 
which  would  have  its  youth  prosper  most  in  school 
hours,  should  take  care  in  this  new  country,  where  land 
is  not  held  at  an  exorbitant  price,  that  the  school-house 
be  situated  in  the  centre  of  at  least  an  acre  lot.  No- 
thing raises  a  population  so  much  in  the  estimation  of  a 
traveller  or  emigrant,  as  to  see  a  crowd  of  boys  issuing 


SCHOOL  TEACHERS.— SCHOOL-HOUSES. 


509 


from  a  pleasant  school-house,  to  play  during  the  recess 
upon  a  capacious  lawn.' 

"  The  vocation  of  teacher  is  a  noble  one.  He  is  far 
from  being  a  drone  in  society,  but  is  eminently  one  of 
the  class  of  producers.  His  duties  are  such  as  often  to 
require  *  an  angel's  wisdom ;' 

"  For  he  does  the  work 
Deputed  by  the  parent,  still  uncheered 
By  that  rich  filial  love,  whose  magio  makes 
All  burdens  light." 

"  In  many  states  he  is  forbidden  the  social  position  to 
which,  if  competent,  he  is  entitled,  and  looked  upon  as 
a  servant,  rather  than  an  equal,  and  therefore  receives 
but  a  servant's  wages. 

*  Table  representing  the  condition  of  School  Districts  in  the  Territory  of 
Minnesota,  January,  1852. 


School-House— b,v 
whom  owned. 

When  built 

Cost. 

Dimensions. 

Sise  of  Lot. 

Washinoton  Co. 

Point  Douglai, 
Cottage  Qrove, 

Priv.  property 

16  by  18  ft. 

[No    8chool    butldlDK 
erected,    or    ■cbool 
kept.] 

Stillwater, 
Marine  Milll, 

Diitriot 
do. 

1848 
now  building 

20  by  30  ft. 
20  by  30  ft. 

50  by  160  ft. 
76  by  150  ft. 

Bbstow  Coonty. 

[No  return!  received.] 

Ramsrt  Codhtt. 

District,         No.  1. 
St.  Paul,         "    2. 

do.             "    3. 

do.             "    4. 

District 

Priv.  individual 

[No  returns.] 

1850 
1848 

$600 
$400 

18  by  3Bft. 
20  by  24  ft. 

50  by  10ft. 

St.  Anthony,  "    6. 

do.          "    fl. 

District           "    7. 

do.               "    8. 

District 
None 

[No  returns.] 

1840 

$600 

24  by  34  ft. 

l-4th  aor*. 

1 

670 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


"Immediately  after  the  organization  of  our  school  dis- 
tricts, the  ground  was  taken  by  the  friends  of  education, 
that  so  valuable  a  member  of  society  as  the  faithful 
teacher  should  receive  at  least  the  wages  of  an  ordinary 
day  labourer." 

On  Saturday,  the  fourteenth  of  February,  a  dog-train 
arrived  at  St.  Paul  from  the  north,  with  the  dis- 
tinguished Arctic  explorer.  Dr.  Ray.  He  had  been  in 
search  of  the  long-missing  Sir  John  Franklin,  by  way 
of  the  Mackenzie  river,  and  was  now  on  his  way  to 
England. 

During  the  same  month.  Captain  Simpson,  of  the 
Corps  of  Topographical  Engineers,  United  States  Army, 
made  the  first  reconnoissance  of  the  country  between 
Watab  and  the  Winnebago  Agency  at  I-ong  Prairie. 
One  of  the  party  gives  a  sketch  of  the  exploration  in 
the  Minnesota  Pioneer : — 

"  Securing  for  guides  the  noted  old  Ojibway,  of  Crow 
Wing,  White  Fisher,  and  a  half-breed,  Johnson,  the 
party  and  guides  started  from  Sauk  Rapids,  on  Monday, 
February  second.  On  the  next  Thursday  evening  they 
camped  on  a  little  branch  of  Two  Rivers.  The  next 
Friday,  the  fifth  day  out,  came  into  a  high  maple  region, 
and  one  large  marsh,  which  they  crossed  on  the  ice; 
but  on  examination,  discovered  where  two  points  of 
high  timber  ground  approximated  each  other;  and  here 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  log-way  might  be  neces- 
sary. After  this,  it  was  all  maple  high  land  until  they 
camped. 

"  The  next  day,  Saturday,  they  only  proceeded  three 
miles,  crossing  one  little  stream,  and  encamped  at  the 
Birch  Bark  Fort  Lake,  on  a  singular  neck  of  land  be- 
tween the  lake  and  a  succession  of  marshes  extending 


COUNTRY  BETWEEN  WATAB  AND  LONG  PRAIRIE. 


571 


far  to  the  northward.  Here  they  remained  until  Tues- 
day, one  of  the  number  returning  to  Sauk  Bapids  with 
the  team  for  further  supplies.  They  found  here  a  camp 
of  ten  lodges  of  Chippewas,  who  were  living  fat  on 
plenty  of  white  fish,  and  a  bear  they  had  just  killed. 
The  country  on  this  part  of  the  route  seemed  alive  with 
game — deer  tracks  and  other  tracks  in  every  direction. 
So  far  from  the  Winnebago  country  being  destitute  of 
game,  it  is  full  of  it;  but  the  tribe  are  too  indolent  U> 
hunt  it.  Birch  Bark  Fort  they  calculated  was  from 
twenty  to  twenty-four  miles  from  the  Rapids;  while  it 
was  about  fifteen  miles  further  to  the  Agency.  It  is  a 
noted  Indian  pass — the  remains  of  two  war  forts  con- 
structed of  birch  trees  being  seen  in  the  vicinity.  One 
was  erected  a  great  many  years  ago  by  the  Sioux ;  and 
the  other  more  recently  by  Strong  Ground,  the  brother 
of  old  Hole-in-the-Day. 

*'  Starting  again  on  Tuesday,  their  route  that  day  was 
over  high  rolling  dry  land,  all  the  way,  with  occasion- 
ally a  little  run  to  cross ;  they  made  but  six  miles  and 
camped.  The  next  day,  Wednesday,  the  route  con- 
tinued good — only  meeting  one  place,  where  log-waying, 
about  one  hundred  feet,  will  be  required.  They  now 
came  to  a  magnificent  and  beautiful  sheet  of  water, 
some  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and  five  or  six  wide,  the 
northern  shore  rising  almost  into  mountainous  height; 
the  water  clear  and  transparent,  and  abounding  in 
luscious  white-fish;  and  beautified  by  several  islands 
with  bluff"  shores,  one  of  them  booming  mountain-like 
out  of  the  water  more  than  one  hundred  feet ;  and  all 
wooded  to  the  tops  with  red  cedar.  The  only  name  the 
Chippewas  have  for  this  fine  lake,  is  *  The  Lake  where 
there  is  Red  Cedar ;'  but  there  being  a  dozen  lakes  of  this 


572 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


name,  besides  the  great  Red  Cedar  Lake  up  the  Missis- 
sippi, this  amounts  to  no  distinctive  name  at  all ;  and 
we  have,  therefore,  called  it  Neill's  Lake,  in  honour  of 
the  Rev.  Edward  D.  Neill,  of  St.  Paul,  Territorial 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  A  large  unnamed 
lake,  with  islands  in  it,  which  is,  perhaps,  intended  to 
represent  Neill's  Lake,  is  set  down  in  Nicollet's  map 
(from  reports  of  Indians  merely — he  never  was  there), 
as  discharging  its  water  into  the  Watab  river.  This  is 
discovered  to  be  an  error.  It  really  empties  into  Sauk 
river. 

"  The  party  passed  to  the  northward  of  Neill's  Lake. 
The  next  day,  Thursday,  they  found  small,  open,  dry 
prairies,  for  four  miles  before  reaching  the  south-east 
corner  of  Round  Prairie,  and  thence  continuing  north- 
ward, they  arrived  without  further  difficulty  at  the 
Agency." 

The  election  on  the  first  Monday  in  April  for  the 
approval  or  rejection  of  the  Liquor  Law  interested  all 
classes  of  citizens.  It  was  a  theme  of  conversation  with 
mothers  and  daughters,  and  the  subject  of  discourses  in 
the  pulpits  of  both  the  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic 
clergy,  all  heartily  co-operating.  When  it  was  disco- 
vered that  Ramsey  county  had  voted  in  favour  of  the 
law,  all  the  church  bells  at  the  capital  about  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  rang  a  simultaneous  peal  '^f  joy.' 

Before  the  ratification  of  the  treaties  with  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  impatient  pioneers  had  gone  in  and  possessed 
the  land.     Among  the  earlier  settlements  commenced 


*  The  Vote  on  the  Liquor  Law : — 

CountlM.                       For.         Amlnai. 

OonntiM. 

For. 

A|t*ln8t 

Ramsey,    ....    528        496 

Chisago,    .    .     . 

13 

3 

Washington,  ...     218          68 

Benton  and  Cass, 

62 

91 

Dahkotah,      ...      32           4 

— 

853        662 


ROLLING  STONE  COLONY— LAND  SLIDE. 


578 


on  the  Minnesota,  were  those  of  Mahkahto,  Traverse 
des  Sioux,  Kasota,  Louisville,  and  Shokpay.  A  pioneer, 
by  the  name  of  Mackenzie,  had  a  claim  on  Eden  Prairie, 
and  near  by,  on  a  lake  in  the  woods,  were  other  claim- 
ants. The  first  settlement  of  any  magnitude,  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  was  made  on  Rolling  Stone  Creek, 
just  above  Winona.  The  colony  was  from  New  York 
city  and  vicinity.  Inexperienced  in  frontier  life,  with 
theoretical  rather  than  practical  views,  many  of  them 
shrunk  from  the  hardships  which  every  pioneer  must 
endure,  others  sickened  and  died,  and  what  was  begun 
in  so  much  hope  soon  dwindled  away.  The  place  for 
the  town  was  not  judiciously  selected,  though  the  name, 
"  Rolling  Stone,"  in  view  of  the  results,  was  not  wholly 
insignificant. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  May,  an  interesting  lusus  naturae 
occurred  at  Stillwater.  On  the. prairies,  beyond  the  ele- 
vated bluffs  which  encircle  the  business  portion  qf  the 
town,  there  is  a  lake  which  discharges  its  waters  through 
a  ravine,  and  supplies  McKusick's  Mill.  Owing  to  heavy 
rains  the  hills  became  saturated  with  water,  and  the 
lake  very  full.  Before  daylight  the  citizens  heard  the 
"  voice  of  many  waters,"  and  looking  out,  saw  rushing 
down  through  the  ravine,  trees,  gravel,  and  diluvium. 
Nothing  impeded  its  course,  and  as  it  issued  from  the 
ravine  it  spread  over  the  town  site,  covering  up  barns 
and  small  tenements,  and  continuing  to  the  lake  shore,  it 
materially  improved  the  landing,  by  a  deposit  of  many 
tons  of  earth.  One  of  the  editors  of  the  day,  alluding 
to  the  fact,  quaintly  remarked,  that  "it  was  a  very 
extraordinary  movement  of  real  estate." 

During  the  summer,  Elijah  Terry,  a  young  man  who 
haxi   left   St.  Paul   the  previous  March,  and  gone  to 


«74 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


Pembina,  to  act  as  teacher  to  the  mixed  bloods  in  that 
vicinity,  was  murdered  under  distressing  circumstances. 
With  a  bois  brul^  he  had  started  to  the  woods  on  the 
morning  of  his  death,  to  hew  timber.  While  there  he 
was  fired  upon  by  a  small  party  of  Dahkotahs ;  a  ball 
broke  his  arm,  and  he  was  pierced  with  arrows.  His 
«calp  was  wrenched  from  his  head,  and  was  afterwards 
seen  among  Sissetoan  Dahkotahs,  near  Big  Stone  Lake. 

About  the  last  of  August,  the  pioneer  editor  of 
Minnesota,  James  M.  Goodhue,  died.  The  deceased 
was  born  in  Hebron,  N.  H.,  March  thirty-first,  1810. 
His  parents  possessed  the  strong  faith  and  stern  virtue 
of  the  Puritans,  and  felt  that  an  education  was  the 
'greatest  treasure  they  could  give  their  children.  After 
passing  through  preparatory  studies,  he  entered  Amherst 
College,  where  he  listened  to  the  lectures  of  the  distin- 
guished geologist,  Hitchcock,  and  other  devout  men  of 
science.  In  the  year  1832,  he  received  a  diploma  from 
that  institution.  It  was  his  desire  to  have  attended  a 
meeting  of  his  surviving  classmates  in  the  halls  of  his 
"  Alma  Mater ;"  but  another  summons  came  to  take 
"  his  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death." 

Having  studied  law,  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of 
the  profession.  He  became  an  editor  unexpectedly  to 
himself.  Having  been  invited  to  take  the  oversight  of 
a  press,  in  the  lead  region  of  Wisconsin,  during  the 
temporary  absence  of  its  conductor,  he  discovered  that 
he  increased  the  interest  of  the  readers  in  the  paper. 
From  that  time  he  began  to  pay  less  attention  to  the 
legal  profession,  and  was  soon  known  among  the  citizens 
of  the  mines  as  the  editor  of  the  Grant  County  Herald, 
published  at  Iiancaster,  Wisconsin.  While  residing  at 
this  place,  he  became  interested  in  the  territory  "of 


SKETCH  OP  JAMES  M.  GOODHUE. 


675 


sky-tinted  waters"  (Minnesota).  With  the  independ- 
ence and  temerity  of  one  Benjamin  Franklin,  he  left 
Lancaster  as  suddenly  as  the  ostensible  editor  of  the 
New  England  Courant  left  Boston,  and  he  arrived  at 
the  landing  of  what  is  now  the  capital  of  Minnesota, 
with  little  more  money  and  few  more  friends  than  the 
young  printer  who  landed  at  Market  street  wharf,  in 
the  capital  of  the  then  youthful  territory  of  Penn 
sylvania. 

In  April,  1849,  he  found  St.  Paul  nothing  more  than 
a  frontier  Indian  tvading  settlement,  known  by  the 
savages  as  the  place  where  they  could  obtain  Minne 
Wakan,  or  whiskey,  and  wholly  unknown  to  the  civil- 
ized world.  When  he  died,  with  the  sword  of  his  pen 
he  had  carved  a  name  and  reputation  for  St.  Paul,  and 
he  lived  long  enough  to  hear  men  think  aloud  and  say, 
that  the  day  was  coming  when  school-boys  would  learn 
from  their  geography  that  the  third  city  in  commercial 
importance,  on  the  banks  of  the  mighty  Mississippi,  was 
St.  Paul.  His  most  bitter  opponents  were  convinced, 
whatever  might  be  his  course  towards  them,  that  he 
loved  Minnesota  with  all  his  heart,  all  his  mind,  and 
all  his  might. 

When,  in  the  heat  of  partisan  warfare,  all  the  quali- 
ties of  his  mind  were  combined  to  defeat  certain  mea- 
sures, the  columns  of  his  paper  were  Uke  a  terrific  storm 
in  midsummer  amid  the  Alps.  One  sentence  would  be 
like  the  dazzling  arrowy  lightning,  peeling  in  a  moment 
the  mountain  oak,  and  riving  from  the  topmost  branch 
to  the  deepest  root;  the  next  like  a  crash  of  awful 
thunder ;  and  the  next  like  the  stunning  roar  of  a  tor- 
rent of  many  waters. 

The  contrarieties  of  his  character  often  increased  hirt 


76 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


force.  Imagining  his  foes  to  be  Cossacks,  he  often  dspshed 
among  them  with  all  the  recklessness  of  Murat.  The 
fantastic  magnificence  of  his  pen,  when  in  those  moods, 
was  as  appalling  in  its  temerity  as  the  white  ostrich 
feather  and  glittering  gold  band  of  Napoleon's  famed 
marshal. 

His  prejudice  was  inveterate  against  sham  and  clap- 
trap. He  refused  to  publish  many  of  the  miserable 
advertisements  of  those  quacks,  who  seek  to  palm  •  '*' 
their  nostrums  upon  young  men,  diseased  through  t 

own  vices.     When  a  "stroller"  for  a  living,  or  a  , 

dubbed  professor,  came  to  town,  he  sported  with  him  as 
the  Philistines  with  blind  Samson.  By  sarcasm  and 
ridicule,  "  Jarley,  with  his  wax  works,"  was  made  to 
decamp.* 


'  His  love  for  a  ,oke  frequently 
led  him  to  sacrifice  truth.  In  hia 
paper  of  February  twentieth,  1850, 
with  all  gravity  he  has  a  paragraph, 
headed  Singular  Petrifaction,  and 
adds,  that  "  at  the  mouth  of  Crow 
River  there  are  several  petrifactions 
in  the  shape  of  men  and  horses."  A 
man  in  St.  Louis  about  establishing 
a  museum,  saw  the  paragraph,  and 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  editor.  The 
letter  appeared  in  the  paper  of  May 
16th,  with  an  editorial,  entitled 
"  Stone  Cavalry  Wanted." 

"  We  have  received  the  following 
letter  from  a  gentleman  in  St. 
Louis.  In  answer  to  it,  we  can  only 
say,  that  it  is  generally  understood 
here  in  St.  Paul,  that  the  secre- 
tary of  the  territory  had  all  the 
petrifactions  in  question  (four  horses 
and  riders,  beside  a  few  fragments), 
raised  at  the  expense  of  the  trea- 


sury, and  put  in  a  small  new  stable, 
ereoted  for  the  purpose,  in  the  rear 
of  the  Central  House,  St.  Paul, 
at  an  expense  of  four  hundred  and 
thirty -one  dollars  to  the  government, 
which  has  been  duly  audited  and 
allowed  in  his  accounts.  Secretary 
0.  K.  Smith,  who  is  also  hecretiiry 
of  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society, 
is  now  absent.  On  his  return,  a  few 
weeks  hence,  a  letter  addressed  to 
him  on  the  subject,  will  no  doubt  re- 
ceive prompt  attention.  Crow  Wing 
river  is  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  miles  above  Saint  Paul.  To 
prompt  further  search  for  similar 
petrifactions  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Crow  Wing,  we  will  now  make  an 
offer  of  fifty  dollars  for  each  sound 
petrified  horse,  mare,  or  gelding,  the 
same  for  each  perfect  petrified  man 
or  woman,  and  half  that  price  for 
ponies    and  children,   delivered  in 


8T0RT  OF  THE  PETRIFIED  HORSES. 


lii 


li  When  untrammelled  by  self-interest  or  party  ties,  hid 
sentiments  proved  that  he  was  a  man  that  was  often 
ready  to  exclaim  :— 

"  Video  meliora  proboque ; 
Deteriora  isequor." 

At  the  November  Term  of  the  United  States  District 
Court,  for  Ramse}'  county,  a  Dahkotali   immed  Yu-ha^ 


boxes  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  ready 
to  be  nhipped  down  to  St.  Anthony, 
on  the  steamboat  Governor  Ramsey, 
in  good  condition. 

"  St.  Lonis,  April  27, 1850. 

"  Sir : — You  will,  I  hope,  exouso  the 
liberty  I  take  of  addressing  this  let- 
ter to  you,  being  an  entire  stranger 
to  you.  My  object  in  writing  it  is  to 
inquire  of  you  some  particulars  with 
respect  to  a  notice  I  observed  in  the 
St.  Louis  Union  of  the  twenty-ninth 
ingt.,  copied  from  your  paper,  of  a 
number  of  petrifactions,  in  the  shape 
of  men  and  horses,  which  are  said 
to  be  at  the  bottom  of  Crow  river, 
near  its  mouth.  If  not  too  much 
trouble,  will  you  be  good  enough  to 
let  me  know,  at  your  earliest  con- 
venience, more  about  the  matter, 
ftnd  if  there  is  any  possibility  of 
getting  at  them  ? 

"  I  am  about  establishing  a  museum 
in  this  city,  and  am  desirous  of  col- 
lecting all  the  natural  curiosities  I 
cnn  get  for  the  same.  If  there  are 
any  specimens  of  fossils,  minerals, 
or  in  fact  anything  in  the  way  of 
curiositier;  in  your  neighbourhood, 
Unit  could  be  sent  to  this  city,  I 
would  pay  liberally  for  them. 
87 


"Trusting  that  I  may,  at  some 
future  time,  have  it  in  my  power  to 
reciprocate  tba  favour, 
I  remain,  dear  air, 
Tours  most  respectfully." 

The  Philadelphia  North  Ameri- 
can, receiving  the  hoax,  writes : —    . 

"  The  Crow  River  Petr\faction». — 
The  petrified  men  and  horses,  re- 
cently discovered  at  the  bottom  of 
Crow  river,  Minnesota,  near  its 
mouth,  have  been  housed  in  a  build- 
ing near  St.  Paul,  erected  for  the 
purpose,  and  are  under  the  care  of 
the  territorial  officers.  There  are 
four  horses  with  their  riders." 

Goodhue,  feeling  that  he  had  car- 
ried his  joke  far  enough,  publishes 
the  above  paragraph  in  his  paper  of 
June  twentieth,  and  adds : — 

"Yes ;  but  as  oats  in  St.  Paul  are 
scarce  at  one  dollar  per  bushel,  the 
secretary  enlisted  them  in  the  new 
company  of  dragoons,  and  they  were 
shipped  down  on  the  Dr.  Franklin, 
No.  2,  last  week,  under  command  of 
Captain  Garland,  U.  S.  A.,  to  hunt 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes  out  of  Iowa." 

And  thus  ended  the  Horse  Marine 
Story. 


m 


878 


HISTORY" OP  MINNESOTA. 


m^:^% 


.'^f*^: 


zee,  was  tried  for  the  murder  of  a  Gerrjan  woman.  With 
others  she  was  travelling  above  Shokpay,  when  a  party 
of  Indians,  of  which  the  prisoner  was  one,  met  them; 
and,  gathering  about  the  wagon,  were  much  excited. 
The  prisoner  punched  the  woman  first  with  his  gun, 
and,  being  threatened  by  one  of  the  party,  loaded 
and  fired,  killing  the  woman  and  wounding  one  of  tli? 
men.  ..,*j^.^ 

On  the  day  oi"  his  trial  he  was  escorted  from  Fort 
Snelling  by  a  company  of  mounted  dragoons  in  full 
dress.  It  was  an  impressive  scene  to  witness  the  poor 
Indian  half  hid  in  his  blanket,  in  a  buggy  with  the 
civil  officer,  surrounded  with  all  the  pomp  and  circum- 
;»tance  of  war.  The  jury  found  him  guilty.  On  being 
'asked  if  he  had  anything  to  say  why  sentence  of  death 
should  not  be  passed,  he  replied,  through  the  interpreter, 
that  the  band  to  which  he  belonged  would  remit  their 
annuities  if  he  could  be  released.  To  this  Judge  Hay- 
ner  replied,  that  he  had  no  authority  to  release  him ; 
and,  ordering  him  to  rise,  after  some  appropriate  and 
impressive  remarks,  he  pronounced  the  only  sen  tent  a 
of  death  e  /er  pronounced  by  a  judicial  officer  in  Min- 
nesota. The  prisoner  trembled  while  the  judge  spoke, 
and  was  a  piteous  spectacle.  By  the  statute  of  Min- 
nesota, one  convicted  of  murder  cannot  be  executed 
until  twelve  months  have  elapsed,  and  he  was  confaied 
until  the  governor  of  the  territory  should  by  warrant 
order  his  execution. 

Judge  Hayner,  having  been  appointed  chief  justice  in 
the  place  of  Fuller,  whose  nomination  was  not  confirmed 
by  the  United  States  Senate,  on  an  appeal  of  xVlexis 
Cloutier,  who  had  been  fined  twenty-five  dollars  for  vio- 


JUDGE  HATNER'8  DECISION  ON  LIQUOR  LAW. 


679 


lating  the  liquor  law,  decided  that  the  legislative  j)ower 
was  vested  by  the  organic  act,  in  the  Governor  and 
Legislative  Assembly  alone,  and  that  they  had  no 
power  to  delegate  their  authority  to  the  people ;  that 
the  act  in  question  was  an  attempt  at  such  transfer  of 
power,  and  was  consequently  null  and  void. 


■.Mi 


580 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


The  fourth  Legislative  Assembly  convened  on  the 
fifth  of  January,  1853,  in  the  two  story  brick  edifice  at 
the  corner  of  Third  and  Minnesota  streets.  The  Council 
chose  Martin  McLeod  as  presiding  officer,  and  the  House 
Dr.  David  Day,  Speaker,  Governor  Ramsey's  message 
was  an  interesting  document,  and  thus  eloquently  con- 
cluded : — 

"  In  concluding  this  my  last  annual  message,  per- 
mit me  to  observe  that  it  is  now  a  little  over  three  years 
and  .six  months  since  it  was  my  happiness  to  first  land 
upon  the  soil  of  Minnesota.  Not  far  from  where  we 
now  are  a  dozen  framed  houses,  not  all  completed,  and 
some  eight  or  ten  small  log  buildings,  with  bark  roofs, 
constituted  the  capital  of  the  new  territory,  over  whose 
destiny  I  had  been  commissioned  to  preside.  One 
county,  a  remnant  from  Wisconsin  territorial  organizar 
tion,  alone  afforded  the  ordinary  facilities  for  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws ;  fi,nd  in  and  around  its  seat  of  justice 
resided  the  bulk  of  uur  scattered  population.  Witliin 
this  single  county  were  embraced  all  the  lands  white 
men  were  privileged  to  till ;  while  between  them  and 
the  broad  rich  hunting  grounds  of  untutored  savages, 
rolled  the  River  of  Rivers,  here  as  majestic  in  its  north- 


GOVERNOR  RAMSEY'S  LAST  MESSAGE. 


581- 


em  youth,  as  in  its  more  southern  maturity.  Empha- 
tically new  and  wild  appeared  everything  to  the  in 
comers  from  older  communities ;  and  a  not  least  novel 
feature  of  the  scene  was  the  motley  humanity  partially 
filling  these  streets — the  blankets  and  painted  faces  of 
Indians,  and  the  red  sashes  and  moccasins  of  French 
voyageurs  and  half-breeds,  greatly  predominating  over 
the  less  picturesque  costume  of  the  Anglo-American 
race.  But  even  while  strangers  yet  looked,  the  elements 
of  a  mighty  change  were  working,  and  civilization  with 
its  hundred  arms  was  commencing  its  resistless  and 
beneficent  empire.  To  my  lot  fell  the  honourable  duty 
of  taking  the  initial  step  in  this  work  by  [noclaiminf?, 
on  the  first  of  June,  1849,  the  orgain" /ation  of  the  terri- 
torial government  and  consequent  e  •"'ion  of  the  pro- 
tecting arm  of  law  over  these  distant  regions.  Since 
that  day,  how  impetuously  have  events  crowd'  »  time' 
The  fabled  magic  of  the  eastern  tale  that  renew  d  a 
palace  in  a  single  night,  only  can  parallel  the  reality 
of  growth  and  progress. 

"  In  forty-one  months  the  few  bark-roofed  huts  have 
been  transformed  into  a  city  of  thousands,  in  which  com- 
merce rears  its  spaciop"  warehouses,  religion  its  spired 
temples,  a  broad  capitol  its  swelling  dome,  and  luxury 
and  comfort,  numerous  ornamented  and  substantial 
abodes :  and  where  nearly  every  avocation  of  life  pre- 
.sents  its  appropriate  follower  and  representative.  In 
forty-one  months  have  condensed  a  whole  century  of 
fujhievements,  calculated  by  the  old  world's  calendar  of 
progress — a  government  proclaimed  in  the  wilderness,  a 
judiciary  organized,  a  legislature  constituted,  a  compre- 
hensive code  of  laws  digested  and  adopted,  our  popula- 
tion quintupled,  cities  and  towns  springing  up  on  every 


582 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


hand,  and  steam  with  its  revolving  wings,  in  its  season, 
daily  fretting  the  bosom  of  the  Mississippi,  in  bearing 
fresh  crowds  of  men  and  merchandise  within  our  borders. 

"  Nor  is  that  the  least  among  the  important  achieve- 
ments of  this  brief  period,  which  has  enabled  us,  by 
extinguishing  the  Indian  title  to  forty  million  acres  of 
iand,  to  overleap  the  Father  of  Waters,  and  plant  civi- 
lization on  his  western  shore.  Broad  and  beautiful,  by 
universal  concession,  are  these  newly  acquired  lands — 
the  very  garden  spot  of  the  north-west,  as  explorers 
have  pronounced  them — and  it  is  scarcely  surprising, 
though  less  than  six  months  have  elapsed  since  the  rati- 
fication of  the  treaties  by  the  Senate,  that  the  keen-eyed 
enterprise  of  our  race  has  within  them  already  planned 
towns,  built  mills,  opened  roads,  commenced  farms,  the 
nucleus  of  many  a  happy  home. 

"  But  it  is,  however,  in  their  initiatory  stages  only, 
we  can  consider  the  present  growth  and  advancement 
of  our  territory  in  all  the  constituents  of  national  and 
individual  prosper)' t  v.  Our  brief,  though  energetic  past, 
foreshadows  but  faintly  the  more  glorious  and  brilliant 
destiny  in  store  for  us  in  the  future ;  nor  is  prophetic 
inspiration  necessary  to  foretell  it.  It  is  written  so 
plainly  that  he  who  runs  may  read  it.  It  is  written  in 
the  advantages  nature  has  so  liberally  bestowed  upon 
us ;  by  a  beautiful  country,  unqualified  by  the  drawback 
of  much  waste  land,  with  an  universally  fertile  soil, 
where  ^prairies,  '  that  blossom  is  the  rose,'  with  groves 
and  woods  are  proportionately  intermingled ;  while  dot- 
ting it  over,  in  refreshing  pro'  ision,  are  gem-like  laites, 
and  intersecting  its  map,  .it  convenient  distances,  are 
jrystal  streams  whose  precipitous  waters  afford  elements 
)ut  of  which  to  create  future  Lowells  and  Manchesters 


FUTURE  GEEATNE8S  OP  MINNESOTA. 


588 


•'"It  is  written  in  our  geographical  position,  in  the 
centre  of  our  continent,  at  the  head  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,  and  enfolding  either  bank  of  the  great  river 
with  its  very  head  springs,  even  as  its  delta  is  embraced 
on  both  sides  by  our  sister  Louisiana.  It  is  written  in 
our  proximity  to  Supf  rior's  inland  sea,  and  the  abund- 
ant mines  of  rich  <^.es  possessed  alike  by  its  northern, 
as  by  its  southern  shores — mines,  whose  workmen  it 
will  be  our  inevitable  lot  to  feed  and  clothe. 

"■  And  it  is  written  likewise,  on  a  thousand  features 
of  interest  and  advantage  incident  to  our  territory ;  in 
our  extensive  pineries,  the  livelihood  of  hardy  lumber- 
men, and  a  future  chief  resource  for  building  purposes 
of  the  people  of  the  great  valley  below  us ;  in  the  many 
opportunities  for  manufacturing  establishments  offered 
by  our  magnificent  water  powers,  and  the  ease  with 
which  the  Mississippi  enables  us  to  procure  the  material, 
and  export  the  products  of  factory  labour ;  in  our  salu- 
brious climate,  insuring  a  healthy,  hardy,  and  numer- 
ous population,  and  in  the  immediate  advartage  to  our 
early  growth  and  prosperity,  which  tollows  the  expendi- 
ture of  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars  annually  by 
the  national  government,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indian 
tribes  in  our  midst. 

"  That  which  is  written  is  written — the  life  of  a  short 
generation  will  realize  it.  In  ten  years  a  state — in  ten 
years  more  half  a  million  of  people,  are  not  extravagant 
predictions.  In  our  visions  of  that  coming  time,  rise  up 
in  magnificent  proportions,  one  or  more  capitals  of  the 
North,  Stockholms,  and  St.  Petersburgs,  with  many  a 
town  besides,  only  secondary  to  these  in  their  trade, 
wealth,  and  enterprise.     Steam  on  the  water  and  steam 


584 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


on  the  land,  everywhere,  fills  the  ear  and  the  sight. 
Steamboats  crowd  our  waters,  and  railroads  intersecting 
in  every  direction,  interlink  remotest  points  within  and 
without  our  territory.  The  blue  waters  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior and  the  red-tinged  floods  of  the  Mississippi  are 
united  by  iron  bands,  and  a  south-eastern  line  connects 
St.  Paul  direct  with  Lake  Michigan. 

"The  great  New  Orleans  and  Minnesota  Railroad 
pours  into  its  depot,  somewhere  on  the  Upper  Minnesota 
river,  passengers  and  products  from  the  far  sunny  South, 
to  receive  in  return,  for  ultimate  ocean  transit  perhaps, 
furs  and  merchandise  from  the  polar  circle,  which  steam- 
boats on  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  or  a  riiilroad  on 
its  banks,  have  just  brought  from  Selkirk,  or  the  plains 
of  distant  Athabasca.  Let  none  deem  these  visions 
improbable,  or  their  foreshadowing  impracticable.  Man, 
in  the  present  age,  disdains  the  ancient  Umits  to  his 
career;  and  in  this  country,  especially,  all  precedents 
of  human  progress,  growth  of  states,  and  march  of 
empires,  are  set  aside  by  an  impetuous  originality  of 
action,  which  is  at  once  both  fact  and  precedent.  Doubt- 
less an  overruling  Providence,  for  inscrutable  purposes, 
has  decreed  to  the  American  nation  this  quicker  transi- 
tion from  the  wilderness  of  nature  to  the  maturity  of 
social  enjoyments — this  shorter  probation  between  the 
bud  and  green  tree  of  empire ;  and  it  well  becomes  us 
therefore,  in  our  gratulations  upon  present  prosperity, 
and  in  our  speculations  upon  greater  power  and  happi- 
ness in  the  early  future,  to  render  humble,  yet  fervent 
thanks  '  unto  Him  who  holdeth  nations  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand,'  and  shapes  out  the  destinies  of  ever^' 
people." 

Two   subjects  came  before  the   legislature  affe;ting 


PROPOSED  ALTERATION  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SYSTEM.      585 


domestic  happiness.  The  lai^  majority  of  citizens  peti- 
tion that  a  liquor  law  might  be  enacted  that  would  be 
'  free  from  the  objections  existing  against  the  law  of  the 
previous  session.  A  bill  was  proposed  by  the  friends 
of  temperance,  but  it  failed  to  pass. 

During  this  session,  an  estimable  citizen,  the  late 
Bishop  Cretin,  in  accordance  with  an  understanding 
with  the  other  bishops  of  the  Roman  Catholic  branch 
of  the  Church  in  this  country,  caused  petitions  to  be 
presented,  asking  a  division  of  the  common  school  fund. 

Mr.  Murray,  from  the  select  committee  to  which  was 
referred  sundry  petitions  for  a  change  in  the  school  law, 
made  the  following  report: — 

"  A  majority  of  the  committee  to  whom  was  referred 
sundry  petitions  from  the  citizens  of  St.  Anthony,  St. 
Paul,  and  Little  Canada,  praying  a  modification  of  the 
present  school  law,  beg  leave  to  report : 

"  That  while  they  have  been  unable  to  give  the  mat- 
ters set  forth  in  the  petitions,  that  attention  and  investi- 
gation which  their  importance  as  aflFecting  the  rights 
und  interests  of  so  large  and  respectable  a  number  of 
the  citizens  of  this  territory,  would  demand,  it  is  evi- 
dent to  them  that  the  petitioners  have  just  grounds  of 
complaint,  and  that  the  present  school  law  is  defective 
in  this :  that  while  a  revenue  is  derived  from  every  tax- 
payer of  this  territory,  to  support  and  maintain  common 
schools,  more  than  one-third  of  the  entire  population 
of  this  territory  have  never  derived  any  benefit  from 
the  large  amounts  paid  for  that  purpose. 

"  Your  committee  believing  that  duty  demands  a  con- 
ciliation of  law  with  individual  liberty  and  freedom  of 
conscience;  and  where  any  law  does  not,  by  reason  of 
its  imperfections,  meet  the  wants  and  situation,  and  the 


586 


HISTORY  OP  MIKNESOTA. 


thounand  circumstances  which  diversify  human  cha- 
racter and  pursmts,  or  where  it  fails  to  benefit  commu- 
nities or  denominations,  by  reason  of  a  conscientious* 
belief  in  opposition  thereto,  in  common  with  their  fellow- 
citizens,  their  case,  of  right,  ought  to  be  provided  for 
by  such  legislation  as  is  consistent  with  the  welfare  of 
every  other  citiy.en,  and  of  the  whole. 

"Your  committee,  therefore,  ask  leave  to  introduce 
the  accompanying  bill,  and  recommend  its  passage."  * 

The  moderate  of  all  denominations,  and  the  friends 
of  th.e  American  system  of  public  instruction,  were  sur- 
prised at  the  introduction  of  a  bill  with  such  features  as 


^  The  following  is  the  bill  as 
originally  introduced  by  the  Oom- 
mittee : — 

"  No.  18,  (H.  of  R.)— Introduced 
by  Mr.  Murray,  from  Select  Com- 
mittee to  which  was  referred  sundry 
petitions  on  the  subject,  February 
sixteenth,  1853.  Read  first  and 
second  times,  and  laid  on  the  table  to 
be  printed,  February  sixteenth,  1853 : 
— A  Bill  Amendatory  of  ihe 
School  Law  : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislative 
Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Minne- 
sota : — Sec.  1.  That  all  communities 
of  any  denomination,  willing  to 
have  a  school  of  their  own,  in  which 
religious  instruction  will  be  taught 
as  well  as  other  branches  of  educa- 
tion, be  authorized  to  do  so,  and  their 
schools  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the 
benefits  accruing  ta  district  schools. 

"Sec.  2.  All  schools  well  organ- 
ized, and  composed  of  at  least  twenty- 
five  children,  shall  receive  a  part  of 
the  school  money,  according  to  the 


number  of   children    regularly  at- 
tending the  said  school. 

"Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
trustees  of  any  school  district  to 
issue  warrants  upon  the  treasurer 
for  the  proportionate  share  of  money 
coming  to  any  school  as  aforesaid, 
on  application  of  the  teacher  ur 
trustees  of  said  school.  Provided, 
that  said  teacher  or  trustees  shall 
prove  by  the  affidavit  of  at  least  one 
person,  the  number  of  scholars  in 
regular  attendance,  which  number 
shall  be  at  least  twenty-five. 

"  Sec.  4.  Such  schools  as  only  are 
composed  of  fit  least  twenty-five  child 
ren,  and  are  kept  in  operation  at  least 
four  hours  every  day,  during  five 
days  of  every  week,  shall  be  con- 
sidered well  organized  schools,  and 
entitled  to  a  share  of  the  school  fund. 

"  Sec.  5,  All  acta  and  parts  of  acts, 
contravening  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  are  hereby  repealed. 

"  Sec.  6.  This  act  to  be  in  force 
from  and  after  its  passage." 


BALDWIN   SCHOOL   INCORPORATED. 


587 


that  introduced  by  Mr.  Murray,  and  it  led  to  consider- 
able discussion.^ 

The  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  divided,  by 
the  legislature,  into  the  following  counties :  Dahkotah, 
Goodhue,  Waupashaw,  Fillmore,  Scott,  Le  Sueur,  Rice, 
Blue  Earth,  Sibley,  Nicollet,  and  Pierce. 

The  Baldwin  School,  founded  by  the  Rev.  Edward 
D.  Neill,  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  and  M.  W.  Baldwin  of 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  was  also  incorporated  ut  this  session 
of  the  legislature,  and  was  opened  the  following  June. 

On  the  ninth  of  April,  a  party  of  Ojibways  killed  a 
Dahkotah,  at  the  village  of  Shokpay.  A  war  party, 
from  Kaposia,  then  proceeded  up  the  valley  of  the  St. 
Croix,  and  killed  an  Ojibway.  On  the  morning  of  the 
twenty-seventh,  a  band  of  Ojibway  warriors, .  naked^ 
decked,  and  fiercely  gesticulating,  might  have  been 
seen  in  the  busiest  street  of  the  capital,  in  search  of 
their  enemies.  Just  at  that  time  a  email  party  of 
women,  and  one  man,  who  had  lost  a  leg  in  the 
battle  of  Stillwater,  arrived  in  a  canoe  from  Kaposia, 
at  the  Jackson  street  landing.  Perceiving  the  Ojib- 
ways, they  retreated  to  the  building  now  known  as  the 
"  Pioneer"  office,  and  the  Ojibways  discharging  a  volley 


»  "No.  18,  (H.  of  R.)  'A  bill 
amendatory  of  the  School  Law,' 

"Was  taken  up. 

"  The  question  then  recurring  on 
ordering  the  bill  to  a  third  reading, 

"And  thb  ayes  and  noes  being 
called  for  and  ordered,  there  were 
ayes  5,  noes  12. 

"  Those  who  voted  in  the  affirm- 
ative were. 


"  Messrs.  Lott,  Murray,  Noot, 
Oliver,  and  Rolette — 5. 

"Those  who  voted  in  the  negative 
were, 

"Messrs.  Ames,  Dutton,  Ludden, 
McKee,  Randall,  Russell,  Rnm^ey, 
Stimson,  Truax,  Wells,  Wilcox  ana 
Speaker — 12. 

"  So  the  House  refused  to  order 
the  bill  to  be  read  a  third  time." 


688 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


through  the  windows,  wounded  a  Dahkotah  woman  who 
soon  died.  For  a  short  time,  the  infant  capital  pre- 
sented a  sight  similar  to  that  witnessed  in  ancient  days 
in  Hadley  and  Deerfield,  the  then  frontier  towns  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. Messengers  were  despatched  to  Fort  Snel- 
ling  for  the  dragoons,  and  a  party  of  citizens  mounted 
on  horseback,  were  quickly  in  pursuit  of  those  who  with 
so  much  boldness  had  sought  the  streets  of  St.  Paul,  as 
»  place  to  avenge  their  wrongs.  The  dragoons  soon 
followed,  with  Indian  guides  scenting  the  track  of  the 
Ojibways,  like  bloodhounds.  The  next  day  they  disco- 
vered the  transgressors,  near  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix. 
The  Ojibways  manifesting  what  was  supposed  to  be  an 
insolent  spirit,  the  order  was  given  by  the  lieutenant  in 
command,  to  fire,  and  he  whose  scalp  was  afterwai-ds 
daguerreotyped,  and  appeared  in  Graham's  Magazine, 
wallowed  in  gore. 

During  the  summer  the  passenger,  as  he  stood  on  the 
hurricane  deck  of  any  of  the  steamboats,  might  have 
seen,  on  a  scaffold  on  the  bluffs,  in  the  rear  of  Kaposia, 
a  square  box  covered  with  a  coarsely  fringed  red  cloth. 
Above  it  was  suspended  a  piece  of  the  Qjibway's  scalp, 
whose  death  had  caused  the  affray  in  the  streets  of  St. 
Paul.  Within  was  the  body  of  the  woman  who  had 
been  shot  in  the  "  Pioneer"  building  while  seeking 
refuge.  A  scalp  suspended  over  the  corpse  is  supposed 
to  be  a  consolation  to  the  soul,  and  a  great  protection  in 
the  journey  to  the  spirit  land. 

On  the  accession  of  Pierce  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States,  the  officers  appointed  under  the  Taylor 
and  Fillmore  administrations  were  removed,  and  the 
following   gentlemen    substituted :    Governor,    W.   A. 


NEW  TERRITORIAL  OFFICERS. 


589 


Gorman,  of  Indiana;'  Secretary,  J.  T.  Rosser,  of  Virginia; 
Chief  Justice,  W.  H.  Welch,  of  Minnesota ;  Associates, 
Moses  Sherburne,  of  Maine,  and  A.  G.  Chatfield,  of  Wis- 
consin. One  of  the  first  official  acts  of  the  seconc 
governor,  was  the  making  of  a  treaty  with  the  Winne- 
bago Indians  at  Watab,  Benton  county,  for  an  exchange 
of  country. 

At  the  close  of  the  summer  the  Dahkotahs  began  to 
leave  their  ancient  villages,  and  move  to  the  reserve  on 
the  Upper  Minnesota.  Their  locations  on  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Minnesota,  previous  to  this  period,  was  as 
follows : — 

The  Kiyuksah  band,  called  by  that  name,  signifying 
"  relationship  overlooked,"  because  they  disregard  the 
Dahkotah  custom,  and  marry  their  relatives,  lived  below 
Lake  Pepin.  Their  chief  Wapaahaw  lived  in  the  vici- 
nity vif  Wii^una,  and  they  hunted  on  the  Chippeway 
river  and  branches. 

>t  the  head  of  Lake  Pepin,  where  the  town  of  Red 
Wing  now  stands,  was  the  Raymneecha  band.  They 
were  so  designated  because  their  village  was  near  a  hill 
(Ha),  water  (min),  and  wood  (chan).  The  chief  was 
Wah-koo-tay,  the  uncle  of  the  celebrated  half-breed 
Jack  Frazer. 

Four  miles  below  St.  Paul  dwelt  the  Kaposia  band. 
The  signification  of  Kaposia  is  "  light,"  and  applied  be- 
cause of  the  agility  with  which  they  travelled.  Their 
chief  was  called  by  the  whites  Little  Crow,  after  his  an- 
cestor.    His  real   name   is  Tahohyahtaydootah,  "  His 


*  Governor  Gorman  wan  born  in  Buena  Vista,   he   commanded    the 

Fleming  Co.,  Ky.,  but  for  many  years  Rifle  Battalion,  and  in  1849  he  waa 

was  a  resident  of  Indiana.     During  elected   as  a  member  of  Congress 

the  Mexican  war,  at  the  battle  of  from  the  sixth  Indiana  district. 


590 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Scarlet  People."  The  first  village  on  the  Minnesota  was 
on  the  south  side,  and  known  as  Black  Dog's,  about  four 
miles  above  Mendota. 

At  Oak  Grove  and  vicinity  lived  Good  Road's  band, 
and  the  band  driven  by  the  Ojibways  from  Lnke  Calhoun. 

The  Tintatonwan  band  occupied  the  site  of  Shokpay, 
and  their  principal  chief  was  Shokpaydan,  or  Little 
Six.' 

During  the  year  1853  an  exciting  topic  of  conversa- 
tion was  an  alleged  fraud,  said  to  have  been  perpetrated 
by  Governor  Ramsey,  H.  H.  Sibley,  H.  L.  Dousman, 
Franklin  Steele,  and  others,  in  the  payment  of  the  Dah- 
kotahs  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  in  the  autumn  of  1852. 
Charges  were  made  against  Governor  Ramsey  by  an 
Indian  trader  named  Madison  Sweetser,  who  had  come 
into  the  country  after  the  treaty,  and  was  not  satisfied 
with  the  mode  of  payment.  At  the  request  of  Mr. 
Sibley,  then  a  delegate  to  Congress,  Senator  Gwin 
moved  that  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  investigate 
the  alleged  fraud.  Commissioners  were  appointed  to 
proceed  to  Minnesota,  and  examine  all  the  facts  in  the 
case.  A  large  number  of  witnesses  testified,  and  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  February,  1854,  the   Committee  of 


^  Presbyterian  missionaries  and 
assistants  among  the  Dahkotahs,  in 
1850-53 :— 

Lac  QUI  Parle.— Stephen  R.Riggs, 
Moses  N.  Adams,  Missionaries ; 
Jonas  Pettijohn,  Assistant;  Mrs. 
Mary  Ann  C.  Kiggs,  Mrs.  Mary  A. 
M.  Adams,  Mrs.  Fanny  H.  Pettijohn, 
Miss  Sarah  Rankin. 

Tr AVERSE  DES  Sioox. — Rev.  Robert 
Hopkins  and  Mrs.  Agnes  Hopkins, 
Alexander  G.  Huggins,  Assistant; 
Mrs.  Lydia  P.  Huggins. 


Shokpay. — Samuel  W.  Pond,  Mis- 
sionary;  Mrs.  Cordelia  F.  Pond. 

Oak  Grove. — Gideon  H.  Pond, 
Missionary;  Mrs.  Sarah  P.  Pond. 

Kaposia. — Thomas  S.Williamson, 
M.  D.,  Missionary  and  Physician; 
Mrs.  Margaret  P.  Williamson,  Miss 
Jane  S.  Williamson. 

Red  Wmo.— John  F.  Alton,  Miif 
sionary ;  Joseph  W.  Hanc  )ck,  Liceri^ 
Hate;  Mrs.  Nancy  H.  Alton,  Mrs 
Hancock. 


ELECTION  FOR  DBLEOATB  TO  CONGRESS. 


691 


Indian  Affairs  of  the  Senate,  to  whom  the  testimony 
taken  by  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States  was  referred,  reported  "  that  they 
have  carefully  examined  all  the  testimony  taken  by  the 
commissioners  during  nearly  three  months  in  session  at 
St.  Paul,  and  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
conduct  of  Governor  Ramsey  was  not  only  free  from 
blame  but  highly  commendable  and  meritorious.  Not 
one  of  the  charges  preferred  against  him  has  been  sus- 
tained by  the  testimony.  On  the  contrary,  the  wit- 
nesses of  the  complainants  themselves,  in  almost  every 
instance,  have  negatived  them,  proving  conclusively  that 
he  neither  violated  the  stipulations  of  the  treaties  as 
understood  b}'^  the  parties  to  them,  nor  was  governed  in 
his  conduct  by  motives  other  than  such  as  entitle  him 
to  commendation,  both  as  a  man  and  an  officer." 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  D.  A.  Robertson,  who 
by  his  enthusiasm  and  earnest  advocacy  of  its  priaci- 
ples  had  done  much  to  organize  the  Democratic  party 
of  Minnesota,  retired  from  the  editorial  chair  and  was 
succeeded  by  David  Olmsted. 

At  the  election  held  in  October,  Henry  M.  Rice  and 
Alexander  Wilkin  were  candidates  for  delegate  to  Con- 
gress.    The  former  was  elected  by  a  decisive  majority.' 


'  The  official  vote  was: — 


Rloe. 

Wilkin. 

Rtco. 

WIlkiD 

Ramsey,      .     . 

.    880 

292 

Fillmore,     .    . 

.      161 

12 

Benton  and  Cass,     233 

38 

Nicollet,      .    . 

.      81 

00 

Hennepin,  .     . 

.    160 

30 

Chisago,      .    . 

.      41 

8 

Sibley,   .    .     . 

.      13 

2 

Washington,    . 

.    288 

147 

Wabasha,   .     . 

.      10 

24 

Itasca,    .     .     . 

.      18 

00 

Dahkotah,  .     . 

.    114 

46 

Pembina,    .    . 

.      60 

68 

Soott.      .     .     . 

.      51 

9 

Blue  Earth,     . 

16 

12 

Total, 

2149 

C96 

Le  Sueur,   .     . 

,      23 

8 

b&i 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


:i::>.:\iit^imrm4^yi.    '  ■'' '   '^    'mamf.^/ihi: 

r»hw     CHAPTER   XXVII. 

With  the  advent  of  a  new  governor,  a  different 
arranp;eraent  of  parties  in  a  territory  naturally  fol- 
lows. 

During  the  early  periods  of  a  territorial  government, 
citizens  are  so  much  occupied  with  local  and  personal 
inter^'st,  as  not  to  feel  the  interest  in  national  pohtics 
which  is  witnessed  in  the  Atlantic  States. 

From  the  previous  chapters  it  appears  that  the  excit- 
ing question  of  the  year  1851  was  the  apportionment 
bill  of  th^  legislature  of  that  year,  allowing  citizens  on 
the  unceded  Ifnds  a  representation. 

The  year  1852  was  characterized  by  the  discussion 
on  the  liquor  question,  and  the  passage  of  a  law  prohi- 
biting the  sale  of  intoxicating  beverages,  except  for 
medicinal,  mechanical,  and  sacramontal  purposes.  The 
year  1853  was  one  of  bitter  personal  controversy,  and 
parties  were  known  as  Fur  Company  and  Anti-Fur  Com- 
pany. 

The  year  1854  witnessed  entirely  new  coalitions. 
Those  who  had  previously  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder 
were  found  withstanding  each  other  to  the  face.  On 
the  one  side  are  ranged  Ramsey,  Rice,  and  Rob'  rtson; 
on  the  other  side,  Sibley  and  Gorman. 

The  fifth  session  of  the  legislature  was  commenced  in 


LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLY,  1854. 


503 


the  building  just  completed  as  the  Capitol,  on  January 
fourth,  1854.  The  President  of  the  Council  was  S.  B. 
Olmstead.* 

Governor  Gorman  delivered  his  first  annual  message  on 
the  tenth,  and  with  his  predecessor  urged  the  importance 
of  railway  communications,  and  dwelt  upon  the  neces- 
sity of  fostering  the  interests  of  education,  and  of  the 
lumbermen. 

The  exciting  bill  of  the  session  was  the  act  incorpo- 


COUNCIL. 


Age. 

Birth-placs. 

., 

S.  B.  Olmstead, 41 

Otsego  Co.,  N.  Y. 

J.  R.  Brown, 48 

York  Co.,  Penn. 

I.  Van  Etten 27 

Orange  Co.,  N.  Y. 

•i 

N.W.Kittson 40 

Sorel,  Canada. 

A.  Stimson 37 

York  Co.,  Me. 

W.  P.  Murray, 28 

Butler  Co.,  Ohio. 

W.  Freeborn, 37 

Richland  Co.,  Ohio. 

T  E.  Mower, 36 

Somerset  Co.,  Me. 

House. 

-   ,' 

R.  Watson, 28 

Scotland. 

Cephas  Gardner, 

.    .    53 

N.  H. 

W.  A.  Davis,  ,    . 

.    31 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Levi  Sloan,     .    . 

.    31 

Schoharie  Co.,  N.  Y. 

W.  H.  Nobles,     . 

.    .    36 

Genesee  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Wm.  McKusick, 

.    .    28 

Maine. 

j 

D.  G.  Morrison,  . 

.    .    27 

Fond  du  Lac,  M.  T. 

C.  P.  Stearnes,    . 

.    46 

Berkshire  Co.,  Mass. 

f 

N.  C.  D.  Taylor, 

.    42 

Belknap  Co.,  N.  H. 

, 

Peter  Roy,      .     . 

.    26 

Rainy  Lake,  M.  T. 

f 

John  Fislier,  .     . 

.    29 

Canada  West. 

i 

H.  Fletcher    .    . 

.    35 

Maine. 

R.  M.  Richardson, 

.    36 

Pickaway  Co.,  Ohio. 

1 

J.H.Day,      .     . 

.    33 

Virginia. 

h 

0.  M.  Lord,    .     . 

.    27 

Wyoming  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Louis  Bartlette,  . 

.    33 

Montreal,  C.  E. 

H.  S.  Plumer,     .    , 

.    25 

Sheffield  Co.,  N.  H. 

Wm.  Noot,      .     .     . 

.    43 

Prussia. 

Joseph  Rolette,   .    . 

.    32 

Prairie  du  Chien. 

694 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


rating  the  Minnesota  and  North-western  Railroad  Com« 
pany,  introduced  by  Joseph  R.  Brown.  It  waf  passed 
after  the  hour  of  midnight  on  the  last  day  of  the  ses- 
sion. Contrary  to  the  expectation  of  his  friends,  the 
governor  signed  the  bill. 

On  Friday,  the  third  of  March,  the  Presbyterian  mis- 
sion-house at  Lac  qui  Parle  was  burned.     Two  of  the 
children  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Riggs  went  into  the  cellar  to 
procure  some  vegetables  for  their  mother;   bearing  a 
lighted  candle,  they  unintentionally  communicated  fire 
to  the  hay,  and  soon  the  house  was  in  flamep.     Nearly 
everything  was  destroyed.    The  missionary,  in  a  letter, 
says  :  "  A  few  books  were  thrown  out  of  the  window, 
Gesenius'  Hebrew  Lexicon  and  a  few  others,  but  neither 
my  Hebrew  Bible,  Septuagint,  Vulgat«,  French  Bible, 
nor  Greek  Testament,  nor  a  single  copy  of  the  English 
Scriptures,  were  saved,   A  short  time  since  I  ban,  at  the 
request  of  Dr.  Williamson,  obtamed  of  Mr.  M.  Renville 
his  father's  large  French  Bible,  for  the  library  of  the 
Minnesota  Historical  Society.    It  was  printed  at  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  in  1588,  if  I  remember  correctly,  and  was 
not  only  the  oldest,  but  probably  the  first  Bible  in  Min- 
nesota.  For  its  historical  value  we  all  very  much  regret 
its  loss.     *****     When  Paul  and  those  who 
ailed  with  him  were  shipwrecked   on   the  island  ol' 
Melita,  he  says,  '  The  barbarous  people  showed  us  no 
little   kindness.'     How  often  have  I   thought  of  this 
within  a  few  days !   While  some  of  the  Dahkotahs  camo. 
both  during  and  after  the  fire,  to  steal,  the  majority 
exerted  themselves  to  save  for  us  what  c^uld  be  saved." 

During  the  same  month  Joseph  R.  Brown,  who  had 
been  editor  of  the  Pioneer,  was  succeeded  by  Earle  S. 
Goodrich. 


GREAT  RAILROAD  EXCURSION. 


595 


Tuesday,  the  eighth  of  June,  is  a  day  that  will  long 
be  remembered  by  the  early  settlers  of  Minnesota. 
Mr.  Famham,  the  builder  of  the  Rock  Island  Railroad, 
to  mark  the  era  of  its  completion,  with  princely  libe- 
rality, e^ztended  an  invitation  to  hundreds  of  "  the  wise 
men  of  the  East,"  to  accompany  him,  via  the  Chicago 
and  Rock  Island  Road,  on  a  pleasure  excursion  to  the 
Upper  Mississippi.  At  the  wharf  at  Rock  Island,  the 
company  found  five  large  steamers  ready  to  receive 
them.  Among  the  guests  were  some  of  the  prominent 
statesmen,  divines,  scholars,  editors,  and  merchants  of 
the  land.^  Passing  through  Lake  Pepin,  on  a  beautiful 
night,  the  steamers  quietly  approached  each  other,  and 
being  fastened  together,  the  signal  was  given  for  a  gene- 
ral exchange  of  visits  from  boat  to  boat.  The  scene  of 
grandeur  and  excitement,  as  these  boats  moved  through 
the  lake,  side  by  side,  with  their  precious  freight,  will 
probably  never  be  repeated.  Arriving  near  St.  Paul  a 
day  sooner  than  was  anticipated,  the  firing  of  a  cannon 
on  board  of  the  steamer  in  advance,  created  considerable 
surprise  and  confusion,  as  the  preparations  for  the  proper 
reception  of  one  thousand  guests  were  not  completed. 
All  felt  that  they  could  not  return  without  beholding  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  yet  appropriate  vehicles  were 
very  scarce.  Though  a  man  could  have  given  a  king- 
dom, he  could  not  have  obtained  a  horse  for  himself 
The  ride  to  St.  Anthony  was  however  accomplished. 


'  Ex-President  Fillmore. 
Goorge  Bancroft. 
Professor  Silliman. 
Edwiird  Robinson,  LL.  D. 
Professor  Gibbs,  Yale  College. 
Professor  Larned,  Yale  College. 
Professor  Parker,  Harvard. 


Professor  H.  B.  Smith,  New  York. 
Rev.  Dr.  Vermilye. 
Rev.  Dr.  Spring. 
Rev.  Dr.  Bacon. 
Charles  Sedgwick. 
Miss    Catharine    Sedgwick,    and 
many  others. 


596 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


after  a  fashion.     A  Galena  editor  thus  described  the 
scene  :-•- 

"The  *  March  to  Finchley'  was  nothing  compared  to 
our  motley  cavalcade.  Here  was  a  governor  astride  a 
sorry  Rozinante  of  which  even  the  great  Don  would 
have  been  ashamed;  here  an  United  States  Senator, 
acting  the  part  of  footman,  stood  bold  upright  in  the 
baggage  boot  of  a  coach,  holding  on  by  the  iron  rail 
surr'^unding  the  top ;  here  the  historian  of  whom  the 
country  is  justly  proud,  squatted  on  the  top  of  a  crazy 
van,  unmindful  of  everything  but  himself,  his  book,  hat, 
and  spectacles ;  there  a  hot-house  flower,  nursed  in  some 
eastern  conservatory,  so  delicate  and  fragile  that  a  fall- 
ing leaf  might  crush  it,  but  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the 
feminine  gender  withal,  would  be  seated  over  the  hind 
axle  of  a  lumber  wagon,  supported  on  each  side  by  opera 
glass  exquisites,  who  only  wondered  *  why  the  devil  the 
people  in  this  country  didn't  send  to  New  York  for 
better  carriages  ?'  and  whose  groans  between  every  jolt, 
furnished  amusement  for  the  more  hardy  of  the  party ; 
here  some  corpulent  madame,  whose  idea  of  a  ride  is 
bounded  by  luxuriant  cushions,  shining  hammer  cloths, 
spirited  horses,  and  obsequious  flunkies,  was  seated  in 
a  hard  bottom  chair,  in  an  ojjen  one-horse  wagon,  first 
cousin  to  her  husband's  vegetable  drag,  or  perhaps  his 
pedliir's  cart,  before  riches  came  to  bless  them  (about 
which  she  has  forgotten  of  course),  here  she  was,  sur- 
rounded perhaps  by  the  canaiUe  whom  she  has  learned 
in  latter  days  to  despise,  dragged  along  at  a  snail's  pnoo 
by  one  old  mare,  with  a  crazy,  foolish,  wickering  colt 
alongside,  to  torment  her  and  to  make  the  driver  curse : 
there  a  politician  who  has  ridden  successfully  more  tlian 


SPEECHES  OF  FILLMORE  AND  BANCROFT  AT  CAPITOL.     59'. 


cue  easy  hobby,  would  have  been  glad  to  ride  a  rail. 
The  scene  was  animated  and  amusing !" 

In  the  afternoon  the  steamers  proceeded  to  Fort 
Snelling,  and  the  gates  being  thrown  open,  the  fort  was 
completely  stormed.  As  the  fair  company  retired  from 
the  green  sward,  within  the  walls,  the  fort  never  seemed  so 
lonely  to  the  young  lieutenants,  and  that  night  memory 
brought  the  light  of  other  days  around  them.  Return- 
ing to  St.  Paul  before  dark,  the  citizens  and  the  guests 
repaired  to  the  Capitol.  The  more  grave  listened  to 
speeches  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  from  Ex-President 
Fillmore,  and  Bancroft  the  historian,  while  the  more 
gay  tripped  it,  in  the  Supreme  Court  Room.  At  mid- 
night the  guests  embarked  on  their  respective  steamers, 
whose  bows  were  soon  turned  towards  the  homes  of  the 
visiters.  •  m?f:f  itmf.-'iH  ■• 

On  the  following  Sunday,  Rev.  E.  D.  Neill,  who  had 
not  been  able  to  give  his  usual  attention  to  .study,  preached 
a  discourse  suggested  by  the  occasion,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  one  of  the  St.  Paul  papers,  and  was  severely 
criticised  by  uhe  Daily  Times  of  New  York  city,  as  in- 
appropriate to  the  pulpit.  From  the  fact,  that  it  led 
to  some  profitable  discussion  on  what  a  sermon  should 
be,  we  give  an  abstract.     The  texts  were : — 

"  Isaiah  xl.  3,  The  voice  of  him  that  crieth  in  the 
wilderness.  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God.  Every 
valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill 
rihall  be  made  low ;  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made 
straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain. 

"  Judges  V.  6.  In  the  days  of  Shamgar  the  son  of 
Anath,  in  the  days  of  Jael,  the  highways  were  unoccu- 
pied and  the  travellers  walked  through  byways." 


598 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


The  introduction  was  in  these  words : — 

"  The  Prophet  Isaiah,  in  uttering  this  language,  fore- 
told in  figurative  expressions,  the  pioneer  work  of  John 
the  Baptist,  yet  it  primarily  was  applied  to  the  return 
of  the  Hebrews  from  their  captivity  in  Babylon. 

"  Not  only  in  the  days  of  Shamgnr,  but  during  all  of 
the  earlier  periods  of  the  history  of  the  world,  there  was 
but  little  international  intercourse.  The  means  of  trans- 
portation were  exceedingly  limited,  and  there  were  few 
roads  that  were  common  thoroughfares  for  nations. 

"Here  and  there,  over  the  mountains  and  through 
the  valleys,  there  were  the  trails  of  the  hunter  and  rest 
less  adventurer,  and  pathways  of  sheep  and  their  shep- 
herds, but  seldom  was  there  a  highway  of  any  costliness 
extending  beyond  the  national  boundaries.  It  was  the 
policy  of  the  day  to  intrench  or  wall  themselves  around, 
and  cut  off  the  intercommunication  of  the  people.  When, 
therefore,  great  bodies  of  men  were  necessitated  to  move 
toward  some  distant  land,  a  preparatory  work  was  needed. 
Pioneers  preceding  the  army  or  cai  van,  made  highways 
for  their  passage,  smoothing  down  the  rough  hills  and 
filling  up  the  marshy  valleys. 

"  Diodorus,  an  a,ncient  historian,  in  giving  an  account 
of  Semiramis,  Queen  of  Babylon,  says :  '  In  her  march 
to  Ecbatane,  she  came  to  the  Zarcean  mountain,  which, 
extending  many  furlongs,  and  being  full  of  craggy  pre- 
cipices and  deep  hollows,  could  not  be  passed  without 
taking  a  great  compass.  Being  therefore  desirous  of 
leaving  an  everlasting  memorial  of  herself,  as  well  iis 
shortening  the  way,  she  ordered  the  precipices  to  be 
digged  down  and  the  hollows  to  be  filled  up,  and  at  a 
great  expense  she  made  a  shorter  and  more  expeditious 


RAILWAYS  IN  THEIR  RELIGIOUS  ASPECTS. 


599 


road,  which  to  this  day  is  called  from  her  the  road  of 
Semiramis.' 

"  Babylon  was  separated  from  Judea  by  a  wide  and 
dreary  country,  and  no  doubt  pioneers  were  literally 
sent  on  before  to  '  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  high- 
way.' 

"  Since  the  advent  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty-four,  the  community  in  which  we  dwell  have  been 
greatly  interested  in  the  propositions  for  making  a 
straight  iron  highway  from  the  head  of  Lake  Superior 
to  this  point  on  the  Mississippi,  and  from  hence  to 
the  waters  of  the  Pacific,  connecting  with  bracelets  of 
iron  the  Naiads  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  Mississippi,  and 
Columbia. 

"  Every  mail  is  watched  with  eagerness,  in  the  hope 
that  it  may  bring  the  intelligence  that  the  National 
Congress  has  taken  measures  for  exalting  the  valleys 
and  lowering  the  hills  and  mountains  that  lie  between 
our  Mediterranean  and  Pacific. 

"  The  week  that  has  passed  has  been  signalized  by 
the  arrival  of  hundreds  of  our  fellow-countrymen  on  an 
excursion  in  boats  as  far  excelling  in  splendour  the  re- 
nowned barges  of  the  luxurious  Cleopatra,  as  those  sur- 
passed the  osier  vessels  of  the  Briton,  or  the  birchen 
canoe  of  the  Ojibway, — who  have  been  gratified  and 
astonished  by  a  continuous  journey  in  a  steam  vehicle 
from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  head  of  naviga- 
tion of  the  mighty  Mississippi,  in  the  brief  space  of  a 
few  days. 

" '  To  every  thing  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to 
every  purpose  under  heaven,'  saith  Ecclesiastes. 

"  Fatigued  with  the  multiplied  duties  of  last  week, 
unfitted   for   severe  thought,  and   believing  that  the 


600 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


theme  can  be  appropriately  discussed,  without  infring- 
ing upon  the  sacredness  of  the  day,  or  deviating  from 
the  dignity  of  the  pulpit,  we  enter  upon  the  considera- 
tion of  railways  and  other  modes  of  inteniational  com- 
munication, in  the  higher  and  religious  aspects." 

The  preacher  proceeded  to  show  that  they  decrease 
idleness ;  expand  the  mind  of  the  nation ;  were  aids  to 
contentment;  rode  over  sectional  prejudices;  promoted 
a  common  healthful  public  sentiment ;  and  lastl) ,  were 
agencies  in  the  promotion  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion. 
Under  this  head  the  clergyman  remarked : — 

"  First :  They  draw  the  emigrant  population  to  cer- 
tain localities.  Before  the  mountains  were  depressed, 
and  the  valleys  exalted,  and  the  rough  places  made 
plain,  the  roads  were  so  unbroken  that  the  farmer  mov- 
ing into  a  new  land,  was  not  attracted  by  the  beaten 
path,  but  he  branched  off  in  the  direction  inclination 
prompted.  Settlements  consequently  were  much  scat- 
tered, and  it  was  difficult  for  him  who  longed  to  pro- 
claim the  unsearchable  riches  of  Jesus  Christ  to  discover 
the  abiding  places  of  the  lost  sheep  of  Israel.  It  was 
almost  impossible  in  the  first  period  of  the  settlement 
of  a  new  country  to  pass  from  house  to  house,  on  ac- 
count of  the  impassable  state  of  the  road.  But  the 
condition  of  affairs  has  changed. 

"  The  emigrant  population  of  the  Atlantic  and  Euro- 
pean states  are  drawn  as  if  by  magnetic  influence  along 
the  great  iron  railway  leading  from  the  eastern  cities  of 
commerce  to  the  remotest  west.  In  this  way,  made 
acquainted  with  the  sections  of  land  in  the  vicinity,  and 
knowing  the  advantages  of  a  railway  in  finding  a  mar- 
ket for  produce,  they  settle  along  the  line  of  the  great 
inland  road,  and  the  labourer  in  Christ's  cause,  finds  the 


RAILROADS  ANTIDOTES  TO  UIQOTRV^ 


001 


fields  white  for  the  harvest,  and  numbers  in  the  same 
neighbourhood  to  whom  the  gospel  should  be  preached. 
By  these  highways  he  is  enabled  to  advance  along  with, 
or  Ixjfore  the  wave  of  emigration,  »nd  commence  turn 
ing  the  wilderness  into  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  before 
the  rank  weeds  of  error  have  taken  deep  root. 

'•Had  the  means  of  conveyance  to  this  town  not 
been  expeditious,  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  would 
not  have  been  here  at  the  laying  of  the  foundation 
stones  of  our  territorial  existence,  and  years  would  have 
probably  elapsed  before  so  many  temples  erected  to  the 
worship  of  the  true  and  living  God  would  have  been 
visible,  or  the  community  reached  its  present  position 
in  the  scale  of  civilization. 

'"  Secondly :  They  aid  religion  by  proving  antidotes  to 
bigotry.  When  the  wagon  drawn  by  oxen  was  the  mode 
of  conveyance  to  a  new  country,  but  few  penetrated  the 
wilds  of  the  west,  except  those  who  had  been  driven 
away  from  the  homestead  of  their  fathers  by  poverty 
or  other  misfortune. 

''  Far  away  from  all  refining  influences,  they  rapidly 
degenerated ;  their  children,  debarred  the  knowledge  of 
the  common  school,  grew  up  without  education,  and 
were  semi-barbarous.  The  only  religious  teachers  they 
possessed  were  those  who  came  to  them  because  they 
knew  they  were  ignorant  and  ripe  for  error,  or  because 
their  own  ignorance  had  rendered  them  unfit  for  the 
exercise  of  the  ministry  where  there  was  intelligence. 
Under  the  guidance  of  these,  they  grew  up  with  strong 
prejudices  towards  those  who  attempted  to  present  the 
truth  in  a  different  light,  or  a  more  polished  dress,  or 
wore  a  blacker  coat.  The  religion  they  possessed  was 
tinctured  with  the  quintessence  of  bigotry. 


V:,     li 


002 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


"Thiough  the  influence  of  railways  and  steam  car- 
riages, this  state  of  things  has  been  almost  dissipated. 

"  The  very  year  a  town  starts  into  existence,  the  in- 
habitants are  visited  by  religious  teachers  of  various 
schools  of  belief  The  student  who  has  been  dinoiplined 
in  the  college',  and  who  ha?  studied  the  Bible  systemati- 
cally, as  well  as  he  who  h  urried  from  the  work-bench 
into  the  pulpit,  stand  side  by  side. 

"  He  who  defends  the  general  teachings  of  Calvin,  and 
he  who  eulogizes  Wesley,  appear  before  the  same  audi- 
ence, perhaps  upon  the  same  Sabbath.  It  will  not  do 
for  either  to  show  an  improper  spirit,  or  an  unwise 
sectarian  zeal.  Men  who  listen  to  the  herald  of  salvor 
tion  in  such  circumstances  are  not  won  to  Christ  by  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  depreciating  his  fellow-ministers. 
They  are  impenitent  under  discourses  in  which  there  is 
an  attempt  to  prove  that  none  are  safe  out  of  the  line 
of  a  certain  succession,  or  off  of  certain  platforms  of 
faith.  They  demand  that  those  truths  shall  be  preached 
which  will  convince  them  that  religion  is  adapted  to 
expand  the  mind,  and  promote  man's  highest  well-being. 
They  become  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Fenelon 
and  Pascal,  Leighton  and  Taylor,  Edwards  and  Chal- 
mers, Wesley  and  Fletcher,  and  love  them  not  because 
of  denominational  peculiarities,  but  because  of  their 
likeness  to  Jesus.  The  contractedness  that  in  days  gone 
b}'^  was  manifested  in  places  that  were  settled  almost 
exclusively  by  Scotch  Presbyterians,  English  Puritans, 
and  Wesleyan  Methodists,  in  this  progressive  age  will 
now  disappear,  and  religion  will  assume  a  higher  and 
more  effective,  because  a  more  scriptural  type. 

*'  Thirdly :  Religion  is  promoted  by  the  construction 
of  expeditious  routes  of  travel,  because  there  is  a  great 


/L 


RAILWAYS  8AVE  TIME. 


fi08 


saving  of  time.  The  days  that  were  once  lost  by  a 
minister  in  passing  from  preaching  station  to  preaching 
station,  are  saved  upon  a  line  of  railway,  or  a  river 
navigated  by  regular  steamers.  He  can  accomplish  in 
a  few  hours  what  once  occupied  as  many  days,  and  thu» 
he  has  more  time  for  study,  prayer,  and  meditation. 

"Under  the  improved  .  vstem  of  travelling,  a  man 
like  the  eloquent  Dr.  Duff,  can  cross  the  ocean,  and  oiu' 
Sunday  hold  the  attention  of  thousands  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  and  on  the  next  be  discoursing  to  an  audience 
equally  interested  far  away  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  ere  long  a  divine  can  pass  his  third  Sabbath 
with  the  future  dwellers  on  the  mountain  tops  of  Oregon, 
and  the  fourth  Sabbath,  address  a  congregation  on  the 
Pacific  coast. 

''Finally,  our  great  thoroughfares  are  destined  to 
facilitate  intercourse  with  the  Pagan  world  of  Asia,  and 
hasten  the  approach  of  Millennial  glory. 

'  Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before.' 


"  For  more  than  two  centuries  an  impression  has  pre- 
vailed that  the  welfare  of  the  whole  globe  would  be 
promoted  by  a  channel  of  travel  through  North  America, 
connecting  the  western  nettlements  of  Europe  with  the 
eastern  nations  of  Asia.  The  island  of  Montreal  was 
named  by  Robert  de  La  Salle,  *  China,'  to  commemorate 
his  cherished  plan  of  civilizing  and  evangelizing  the 
great  empire  of  that  name,  by  establishing  a  channel  of 
communication  through  this  continent.  Hennepin,  the 
first  European  that  ever  ascended  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  discoverer  of  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  was  a  Fran- 
ciscan priest,  despatched  by  the  adventurous  La  Salle 


604 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


to  explore  a  route  to  Japan,  which  he  thought  could  be 
found  in  this  direction.  ' 

"The  first  British  subject  that  entered  Minnesota, 
about  a  century  ago,  predicted  that  there  would  be  '  a 
short  cut  made  from  New  York  to  Green  Bay,*  and  hud 
no  doubt,  to  use  his  own  words,  '  that  mighty  kingdoms 
would  emerge  from  these  wildernesses,  and  stately  palaces 
and  solemn  temples  with  gilded  spires  rending  the  skies, 
supplant  the  Indian  huts,  whose  only  decorations  are 
the  barbarous  trophies  of  their  vanquished  enemies.' 
Returning  to  London,  he  formed  a  plan,  with  the  aid 
of  a  member  of  Parliament,  '  that  would  disclose  new 
sources  of  trade,  promote  many  useful  discoveries,  and 
open  a  passage  for  conveying  intelligence  to  China  and 
the  English  .settlements  in  the  East  Indies,  with  greater 
expedition  than  a  tedious  voyage  by  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  or  the  Straits  of  Magellan.' 

"  Had  not  the  American  Revolution  taken  phvce,  it 
was  designed  to  have  built  a  fort  at  Lake  Pepin,  to  have 
proceeded  up  the  river  St.  Pierre  (now  known  by  its 
original  name,  Minnesota),  then  up  a  branch  of  the 
Missouri,  till  they  discovered,  as  they  supposed  they 
could,  the  river  Oregon,  down  which  they  expected  to 
sail  into  the  Pacific. 

"  One  year  ago,  we  witnessed  a  civil  and  military 
expedition  start  forth  from  our  vicinity,  by  order  of  the 
United  States,  in  search  of  the  long-desired  thoroughfare 
to  the  Pacific.  The  commander  of  that  expedition '  has 
returned  to  Washington,  by  the  way  of  San  Francisco, 
and  reports  that  such  a  route  is  entirely  practicable. 

"On  Thursday  c^  the  last  week,  men  distinguished 
in  the  professional,  scientific,  and  commercial  circles  of 
*he  country,  visited  us,  and  felt  that  the  day  was  not 

'  Governor  Stevens. 


PACIFIC  RAILROAD  PROMOTER  OF  CHIUSTIANITY. 


605 


far  diatant  when  the  waters  of  Superior  and  Pacific 
would  be  bound  together.  Let  this  only  occur,  and 
who  can  doubt  that  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  will  be 
extended,  that — 

"  From  Java  to  the  furtheBt  West 
The  heavenly  light  shall  reach, 
And  truth  divine  its  power  attest 
In  every  clime  and  speech." 

"  A  Pacific  Railroad  would  be  a  voice  in  the  wilder 
iiess,  saying,  *  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
his  paths  straight.  Every  valley  shall  be  filled,  and 
every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  brought  low ;  and  the 
crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  ways 
shall  be  made  smooth ;  and  all  flesh  shall  see  the  salva- 
tion of  God.' 

"  In  view  of  the  good  results,  it  becomes  Christians 
to  watch  with  interest  the  enterprises  of  the  day 
Every  great  invention  is  an  aid  to  the  cause  of  religion. 
The  telescope,  the  printing  press,  the  telegraph,  the 
ocean  steamers,  a  Pacific  Railway,  are  ordained  by  God, 
not  for  the  pulling  down  but  the  upbuilding  of  religion 
— they  are  all  working  together  to  produce  the  grand 
consummation  of  giving  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  to 
Christ — of  bringing  about  the  day  when  all  will  cry : — 

i'  Worthy  the  Lamb,  for  he  was  slain  for  us ; 
The  '.tellers  in  the  vales  and  on  the  rocks 
Shout  to  euoh  other,  and  the  mountain  tops 
From  distant  mountains  catch  the  flying  joy  ; 
Till,  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain, 
Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosanna  round." 


"  With  a  few  remarks  we  close  the  discourse. 

"  In  such  a  fast  age  every  Christian  muf-t  be  up  iind 


.e0*f\' 


€0(5 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


•"'!' 


!»  t 


doing.  It  is  higli  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep  We 
must  gird  ourselvf's  up  for  the  race,  and  pray  earnestly 
that  we  may  not  as  a  Church  of  Christ  be  found  lag- 
ging when  all  things  else  are  advancing  with  accele- 
rated speed.  This  one  thir?g  we  ought  to  do — '  Forget- 
ting those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth 
unto  those  things  that  are  before,  we  should  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus.' 

"  It  would  be  douig  violence  to  my  own  f  elings,  and 
a  neglect  of  ministerial  duty,  if  I  should  conclude  this 
discourse  without  reminding  this  audience  that  this 
world  is  a  great  station  house,  in  which  we  are  await- 
ing the  approach  of  the  cars  that  lead  to  '  that  bourne 
from  whence  no  traveller  returns,'  but  through  which 
every  traveller  passes  to  regions  of  bliss  or  despair. 

"  My  hearers !  some  of  you  have  tickets  that  will 
lead  you  to  hell.  The  car  of  death  is  hastening  on, 
swifter  than  an  eagle  hasteneth  to  Ja  prey,  or  any 
'lightning  train.'  Before  it  arrives  we  urge  you  to 
change  that  ticket.  Christ  is  always  in  his  office.  He 
says,  '  If  any  man  knocketh,  the  door  shall  be  opened.' 
If  any  man  asketh,  he  will  change  his  ticket,  and  that 
*  without  money  and  without  price.' 

"  Hasten  before  it  is  too  late.  Now !  nc.v !  now !  ' is 
the  accepted  time,  and  now  is  the  day  of  salvation.'" 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  month  of  this  excursion, 
CongresM  passed  an  act  to  aid  the  Territory  of  Minne- 
sota in  the  construction  of  a  railroad  therein,  which  was 
approved  by  the  President,  and  directions  were  issued 
from  the  General  Land  Office  to  the  offices  in  Minnesota, 
withdrawing  from  sale  a  city,  certain  townships  on  the 
line  of  the  proposed  road.     The  citizens  of  Minnesota 


REPEAL  OF  LAND  GRANT  B/  CONGRESS 


607 


received  the  intelligence  with  "oyful  enthusiasm,  but  the 
Greek  proverb, 


iViit  :■■-  ■ 


there's  many  a  slip  between  the  cup  and  the  lip,  was 
soon  fulfilled. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  July,  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Washburne,  of 
Illinois,  rose  to  a  question  of  privilege.  He  said  the 
Hou"i,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  passed  the  bill 
grai  ing  lands  to  Minnesota,  to  aid  in  the  construction 
of  railroads,  and  a  material  alteration  had  been  made 
since  its  engrossment.  The  bill  was  introduced  here  by 
the  Committee  on  Public  Lands.  It  was  drawn  up  by 
a  gentleman  from  Minnesota,  who  vas  well  acquainted 
with  the  subject,  and  who  had  frequent  consultations 
with  him  (Mr.  Washburne'  concerning  its  provisions. 
Minnesota  had  chartered  a  company  with  most  extra- 
ordinary powers,  granting  to  it  all  the  la^ids  which  have 
been  or  may  hereafter  be  donated  to  that  territory  for 
the  construction  of  railroads.  The  House,  to  avoid  this, 
added  a  proviso  that  said  lands  shall  be  subject  to  the 
disposition  of  an}^  future  legislature  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid.  Nor  shall  they  inure  to  the  benefit  of  any 
company  hereafter  to  be  constituted  or  organized.  This 
was  the  way  the  bill  was  originally  framed,  to  prevent 
the  company  from  receiving  the  benefit  of  the  grant. 
The  first  alteration  he  noticed  was  the  striking  out  of 
the  word  "  future,"  but  this  he  believed  was  made  by 
the  committee.  The  second  alteration,  which  he  charged 
with  being  made  after  the  bill  was  engrossed,  was  the 
(^hanging  of  the  word  *'  or"  to  the  word  "  and,"  so  as  to 
rpiid  "constituted  and  organized  company."  This  com- 
pany, not  being  constituted  artd  organized,  expects  t<i 


J'  1 


5(W 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


lyUH. 


.11 


-J 


[>% .  i.' 


hold  these  lands  under  the  bill,  and  hence  he  charged 
this  object  in  the  alteration.  The  word  was  in  a  hand 
different  from  that  of  the  engrossment.  This  was  a 
matter  affecting  deeply  the  proceedings  of  the  House, 
and  it  was  due  that  an  examination  should  be  made,  as 
the  records  of  this  House  have  been  mutilated. 

Mr.  Washburne  said  he  understood  the  bill  was 
altered  after  it  was  sent  from  the  House  to  the  Senate. 
He  offered  a  resolution  for  the  appointment  of  a  select 
committee  to  inquire  into  the  fact  which  he  brought 
before  the  House,  with  power  to  send  for  persons  and 
papers,  and  to  examine  witnesses  under  oath. 

Mr.  Stevens,  of  Michigan,  rose  to  make  a  personal 
explanation  with  reference  to  the  subject  on  which  the 
special  committee  had  a  short  time  since  been  ordered 
to  be  appointed.  Me  intended  to  make  his  statement 
on  honour.  After  the  Minnesota  Land  Bill  had  been 
serit  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  of  which  he  is 
a  member,  it  was  referred  to  him  for  his  individual 
siction  on  it.  Gentlemen  who  were  connected  with  the 
bill  called  on  him,  and  requested  that  certain  alter  ations 
should  be  made  in  the  third  section  beibre  he  returned 
the  bill  to  the  committee.  The  alterations  desired  were 
explained.  One  of  them  was  to  affect  the  subject  of 
lep;islation  in  Minnesota  in  relation  to  lands  granted  by 
Congress,  and  he,  with  his  own  hands,  struck  from  ^.he 
original  bill  the  word  "  future."  The  other  was  the 
alteration  of  the  word  "  or"  to  "  and,"  and  he  thought 
proper  it  should  be  made,  and  he  supposed  he  had  made 
it.  He  presented  the  bill  with  some  explanation  to  the 
Committee  on  Public  Lands,  which  approved  of  it.  He 
then  reported  it  to  the  House.  It  passed,  and  was  sent 
to  the  Senate.     After  getting  there,  his  attention  was 


DISCUSSION  IN  U.  8.   HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES         609 


and 


called  to  the  bill.  It  was  remarked  that  the  alteration 
which  he  said  he  had  made,  he  did  not  make,  or  that 
the  bill  did  not  contain  the  alteration.  He  conferred 
with  one  or  two  gentlemen  of  the  Senate,  and  told  them 
frankly  that  when  he  reported  the  bill  to  the  Committee 
on  Public  Lands,  he  made  the  alt(  ritions,  or  intended 
to  do  so.  Subsequently  one  of  tbj  Senate  clerks  came 
to  him  in  the  lobby  fronting  the  centre  door.  He  met 
General  Patton,  who  held  out  the  bill,  and  pointing  out 
the  third  section,  asked  him  whether  it  was  right.  To 
which  he  (Mr.  Stevens)  replied  it  was  not  right  as  it 
passed  from  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  and  ac- 
cording to  his  recollection,  he  further  said,  "  You  will 
find,  if  you  look  at  the  original  draft,  the  word  '  and* 
instead  of  '  or'  is  there."  He  went  to  the  desk  of  the 
House  cjngrossing  clerk  (Mr.  Sperle),  where  the  matter 
was  talked  over.  He  there  stated  he  had  supposed  he 
had  made  the  alteration  in  the  original  draft,  and 
thought  he  voted  for  the  bill  thus  amended.  The  ques- 
tion came  up  as  to  whether  the  alteration  could  }ie 
made,  and  several  Senators  said  it  was  a  mere  verb/il 
alteration,  and  they  had  frequently  made  such. 

Ml.  Forney  said  he  did  not  know  whether  the  bill 
could  be  altered.  But  Mr.  Patton  said,  "  We  frequently 
make  such  alterations."  Whereupon  Colonel  Forney  re- 
marked, "  Then  perhaps  it  would  be  better  the  alteration 
should  be  made."  He  (Mr.  Stevens)  left,  and  ho  sup- 
posed the  alteration  was  made  in  consequence  of  what 
had  taken  place.  He  wished  to  withhold  nothing,  but 
to  state  the  facts.  However  much  he  may  have  erred, 
ho  wislved  to  state  tliein  frankly.  If  he  had  sinned,  it 
^^ius  an  error  of  judgment,  nothing  more.  He  was  per- 
fectly certain  that  Colonel  Forney,  in  giving  his  sanction 

39 


610         i^y /i1/iy::i  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA.       ',,>>, 

to  the  alteration,  supposed  he  was  right  and  justified  iu 
so  doing.  He  wished  here  to  say,  this  was  the  first  and 
last  interview  he  had  with  Colonel  Forney  on  the  sub- 
ject. So  help  him  God,  he  did  not  then  know  of  any 
design  in  having  the  bill  changed  from  its  original  form ; 
he  said  the  only  interest  he  had  in  the  bill  was  to  con- 
nect the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  with  the  lake  and 
steamboat  navigation,  and  thereby  benefit  other  states, 
und  the  substitution  of  the  word  "  and"  for  *'  or"  could 
not  aftect  the  original  purpose. 

On  the  morning  of  August  the  third  the  bill  was  re- 
pealed, and  the  news  was  quickly  transmitted  by  the 
energetic  delegate  of  Minnesota,  Hon.  H.  M.  Rice.' 

The  Minnesota  and  North-western  Railroad  Com- 
pany contended  that  they  had  complied  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  aH  of  Congress,  and  that  that  body  had 
no  right  to  repeal.     A  complaint  was  brought  before 


*      Washington,  Aug.  3,  1854, 
I  o'clock,  p.  H. 

Dear  Sir: — This  morning  the  se- 
lect committee  reported  that  the 
•word  "  and"  between  the  words 
"  constituted"  and  "or(|;anized"  had 
been  substituted  for  the  word  "  or," 
but  exonerated  Gen.  Stevens  and  the 
clerk  of  the  House — and  recommend- 
ed that  the  word  "or"  be  reinstated. 
Mr.  Letcher's  (of  Virginia;  repeal 
bill  was  introduced  and  carried  by 
ti  large  majority — so  the  House  has 
repealed  the  Minnesota  land  grant. 
The  testimony  taken  by  the  lionimit- 
tee  will  be  printed — u  copy  of  which 
I  will  send  you  us  soon  as  possible — 
then  the  people  of  Minnesota  can 
judge  for  themselv:.--.  A  motion  i« 
now  liofire  the  House  to  diechargo 


the  clerk  of  the    House,  Col.  For- 
ney. 

The  vote  to  repeal  was  109  to  56. 

The  vote  for  expelling  Col.  Forney 
was  ayes  18,  nays  154. 

The  Senate  must  now  act  iu  re- 
gard to  the  repeal  of  the  grant — its 
non-concurrence  will  save  the  grant 
— but  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  nnw 
give  a  conjecture  of  its  probable  ac- 
tion. To-morrow  will  tell  the  tale; 
the  result  will  be  forwarded  by  tele- 
graph. Many  able  lawyers  are  of 
the  opinion  that  Congress  has  not 
the  power  to  repeal  the  act.  That, 
however,  is  a  question  to  be  settloNl 
hereafter. 

In  haste,  respectfully  yours, 
II.  M.  RicB. 

D.  Olmsted,  Esq. 


't^S^r 


DECISION  OF  JUDGE  WELCH  ON  RAILROAD  TRESPASS.     61J 


Judge  Welch,  at  a  session  of  the  United  State?  District 
(Jourt,  in  Goodhue  county,  against  the  company.  The 
complaint  alleged  that  the  company  had  cut  and  carried 
off  five  hundred  trees,  the  property  of  the  United  States, 
in  Goodhue  county.  On  the  fourth  of  November,  Chief 
Justice  Welch  gave  judgment  in  favour  of  the  railroad 
couipany.  The  case  was  carried  up  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Minnesota,  on  December  sixth,  which  con- 
finned  the  decision  of  Chief  Justice  Welch.  Chancellor 
Walworth,  and  other  jurists  of  New  York,  furnished 
written  opinions  that  Congress  had  no  right  to  repeal 
the  act.  The  case  was  then  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.' 

On  the  afternoon  of  December  twenty-seventh,  tb'~ 
first  public  execution  in  Minnesota,  in  accordance  with 
the  forms  of  law,  took  place.  Yuhazee,  the  Dahkotah 
who  had  been  convicted  in  November,  1852,  for  the 
murder  of  a  German  woman,  above  Shokpay,  was  the 
individual.  The  scaffold  was  erected  on  the  open  space, 
between  the  Franklin  House  and  the  rear  of  Mr.  J.  W. 
St^lby's  enclosure.  About  two  o'clock,  the  prisoner, 
ilressed  in  a  white  shroud,  left  the  old  log  pi'ison,  near 
the  court  house,  and  entered  a  carriage  with  the  officers 
of  the  law.  Being  assisted  up  *he  steps  that  led  to  the 
Hcaffold,  he  made  a  few  remarks  in  his  own  language, 
and  was  then  executed.  A  disgraceful  rabfele  sur- 
unnded  the  scaffold,  and  none  of  the  decencies  of  law 
were  manifested  on  the  occasion.  Says  an  editor,  "  liquor 
was  openly  passed  through  the  crowd,  and  the  last 
moments  of  the  poor  Indian  were  disturbed  by  bacchar 


'  At  the  December  ''.erni,  \Sr>!), 
Supreme  Court  uf  the  United  Stfttes, 
the  attorney-general   moved   to  dis- 


continue   tiic   case,    which 
was  (granted. 


motion 


612 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


m 


V    •    'X 


iialiaii  yells  and  cries.  Remarks  too  heartless  and  de« 
praved,  in  regard  to  the  deceased,  to  come  from  men, 
were  freely  bandied.  A  half-drunken  father  could  be 
seen  holding  in  his  arms  a  child  eager  to  see  well; 
giddy  and  senseless  girls  chatted  with  their  attendants, 
and  old  women  were  seen  vying  with  drunken  ruffians 
for  a  place  near  the  gallows."  Numerous  ladies  sent  in 
a  petition  to  the  governor,  asking  the  pardon  of  the 
Indian,  to  which  that  officer  made  an  appropriate  reply.' 


} 


'Executive  Departhent,  M.  T., 
St.  Paul,  Dec.  28,  1854. 

Ladies : — I  have  the  honour  to  ac- 
knowledge the  receipt  of  your  peti- 
tion, asking  me,  as  tlie  executive  of 
the  territory,  to  pardon  the  Indian 
now  under  sentence  of  death,  or  to 
commute  his  punishment  to  impris- 
onment for  life  in  the  penitentiary. 

I  cannot  conceal  the  sympathy  1 
feel,  in  common  with  each  of  you, 
on  this  melancholy  subject ;  and  I 
find  it  even  mure  difficult  to  reject 
the  prayer  of  thowe  whose  hearts  are 
always  first  in  missions  of  mercy ; 
those  who  are  always  first  to  imitate 
the  divine  character  and  forgive. 
Those  whose  gentle  hamls  smooth 
the  brow  of  the  sick  and  afflicted. 
Those  who  are  first  to  console  even 
in  the  last  hours  of  trial.  And  this 
petition  is  a  high  compliment  to 
these  many  virtues,  and  even  a  still 
higher  one  to  the  benevolence  of 
you.-  hearts.  "To  forgot  is  a  vir- 
tno;  l)ut  to  forgive  is  divine."  But. 
ladies,  1  deeply  regret,  that,  in  ac- 
cordance with  what  I  deem  to  bo 
my  duty  to  the  country,  and  the 
general  peace  of  society,  I  oaiinot 
consistently  grant  the  prayer  of 
your  petition. 

The  murder  for  which  this  unfor- 


tunate child  of  nature  is  couderaned, 
was  without  a  shadow  of  excuse. 
It  was  seemingly  deliberate,  and  his 
victim  was  of  your  sex,  innocent  and 
defenceless.  She  was  murdered  by 
the  sidt  '  a  poor,  but  no  doubt 
fond  and  devoted  husband,  while  in 
the  public  highway,  wending  their 
course  to  a  new  home. 

If  such  criminals  should  be  al- 
lowed to  escape  the  stern  demands 
of  the  law,  others  of  his  savage  tribe 
might  be  tempted  to  hope  for  a 
like  release,  and  commit  a  like  of- 
fence; and  the  dunger  of  such  re- 
sults would  be  far  greater  from  In- 
dians than  from  civilized  man. 

Every  efibrt  that  can  be  has  been 
made  to  save  him  by  the  law.  An 
impartial  jury  of  the  country  gave 
him  a  fair  trial,  and  found  him  guil- 
ty. And  there  is  no  just  reason 
known  to  stay  the  execution  of  the 
penalty  of  the  law. 

With  sentiments  of  the  highest 
personal  regard, 

I  am.  most  respectfully, 
Your  ob't  serv't, 

VV.  A.  Gorman. 
To  Mrs.  .Julia  E.  Fillmore,  Mrs.  An- 

n^!  E.   lUmsey.  Mrs.  E.  R.  H  )1- 

liushead,  and  others. 


FIRST  BRIDOE  ACROSS  THE  MISSISSIPPI 


#18 


' ;  ni  ii'.'':'!iii>\  \M.  SI  iy")'if''i  ^i^nt'rtsA  ilsotIm':?  ^'r.    " 
CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


The  discussion  concerning  the  charter  of  the  Min- 
nesota and  North-western  Railroad  Company  did  not 
terminate  with  the  year  1854. 

The  sixth  session  of  the  legislature  convened  on  the 
third  of  January,  1855.  S.  B.  Olmsteadiwas  elected 
President  of  the  Council,  and  J.  S.  Notns  Speaker  of 
the  House. 

About  the  last  of  January,  the  two  houses  adjourned 
one  day  to  attend  the  exercises  occasioned  by  the  open- 
ing of  the  first  bridge  of  any  kind  over  the  mighty 
Mississippi  ever  completed,  from  T,ake  Itasca  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  is  made  of  wire,  and  at  the  time 
of  its  opening,  the  patent  for  the  land  on  which  the  west 
pinrs  were  built  had  not  been  issued  from  tlie  Land 
"ffice,  a  striking  (nidence  of  th*-  rapidity  with  which 
Minnesota  is  being  deveig|)ed. 

The  governor,  in  his  •■cuMap'  to  the  legislature,  took 
ftrong  ground  i^rainst  the  xaAnMKi  chuv^  •.  and  in  tK-2 
fii.red  Stntrs  Hi)UHe  r**  Bygaeata  ves  a  resolution  was 
passed  df  the     i.irterot  the  Minnesota  and  North- 

western <  ompaiiy  null  On  tbe  two^y  ocventh  of  Feb- 
ruary, the  Uiiifed  States  Senate  refused  to  appio\<«  of  the 
resolution  that  had  passed  the  House,  annulling  the 
"liarter  of  the  company.  The  news  that  the  charter 
Mas  not  annulled  caused  great  rejoicing  among  the 
friends  of  the  railroad,  and  on  Saturday  night,  March 
1  Should  be  W.  P.  Murray. 


614 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


twenty-fourth,  there  was  a  general  illumination  of  the 
principal  stores  and  residences  of  the  capital. 

Governor  Gorman  having  vetoed  a  bill  passed  by  the 
Minnesota  legislature,  amending  the  act  incorporating 
the  Minnesota  and  North-wesiern  Railroad  Company,  it 
was  again  passed  in  the  legislature  on  February  twenty- 
first,  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  and  became  a  law. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  March,  a  convention  was  held 
at  St.  Anthony,  which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  of  Minnesota.  This  body  took  measures  for 
the  holding  of  a  territorial  convention  at  St.  Paul,  which 
convened  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  July,  and  William  R. 
Marshall  was  nominated  as  delegate  to  Congress. 
Shortly  after  the  friends  of  Mr.  Sibley  nominated  David 
Olmsted  and  Henry  M.  Rice,  the  former  delegate  was 
also  a  candidate.  The  contest  was  animated,  and 
resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Rice.* 


(.^   '.If 


'  Vote  for 

Delegate 

:— 

Cauntie8. 

Rice. 

Manhall 

OI(n''t«(L 

CoUDtlM. 

Rice. 

Marahall 

Olmsted: 

Blue  Earth, 

.    54 

52 

12 

Nicollet, .     . 

85 

34 

39 

Brown,* 

.    30 

Olmsted,*    . 

100 

Benton,  . 

.  195 

52 

121 

Pierce,     .     . 

Carver,    . 

.     37 

28 

33 

Pembina 

46 

Ca88j  .     . 

.    57 

Rice,  .    .     . 

50 

226 

48 

Chisago, 

.  104 

61 

11 

Renville, 

Dahkotah, 

.  153 

161 

331 

Ramsey, 

735 

610 

529'^ 

Dodge,     . 

.    48 

49 

1 

Scott,      .    . 

190 

125 

127 

Doty,*     . 

.  100 

Stearns,  .     . 

125 

7 

42   ' 

Davis,      .     . 

, 

•  ■<>,;■•  f): 

Sibley,     .     . 

96 

4 

1 

Fillmore, 

.  185 

151 

9 

Superior,*   . 

200 

■;  ■-■ ' 

Freeborn, 

, 

Steele,     .     . 

'>i:- 

h:;^-  ^  ■ 

Faribault, 

, 

Todd,      .     . 

.      9 

Goodhue, 

.  184 

126 

1 

Wabashaw, 

18 

103 

30, 

Hennepin, 

.  358 

415 

80 

Winona, 

132 

134 

57 

Houston,* 

.  115 

16 

Washington, 

292 

121 

37 

Itasca,     . 

, 

Wright," .     . 

.     11 

63 

18 

Le  Sueur,* 

.    56 

55 

19 

Mower,* . 

.     .     40 

'!'" 

■•     ',)■■  •( 

ii.-ti.    •• 

3705 

2493 

1746 

*  Inoompleta. 

.    :  -Ij 

,  '  ■  '•         '.     >',    'V  t 

, 

«/ 


SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN.— LEGISLATl'UK  OK  1850. 


615 


About  noon  of  December  twelfth,  1855,  a  four  horse 
vehicle  was  seen  driving  rapidly  through  St.  Pnul ;  and 
deep  was  the  interest  when  it  wa.s  announced  th<»t  one 
of  the  Arctic  exploring  party,  Mr.  James  Stewart,  was 
ou  his  way  to  Canada  with  relics  of  the  world-renowned 
and  world-mourned  Sir  John  Franklin.  Gathering  to- 
g'ither  the  precious  fragments  found  on  Montreal  inland 
and  vicinity,  the  party  had  left  the  region  of  icebergs 
on  the  ninth  of  August,  and  after  a  continued  land 
journey  from  that  time  had  reached  St.  Paul  on  that 
day  en  route  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  quarters  in 
Canada. 

The  seventh  session  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  was 
begun  on  the  second  of  January,  1856,  and  again  the 
exciting  question  was  the  Minnesota  and  North-western 
Eailroad  Company. 

John  B.  Brisbin  was  elected  President  of  the  Council, 
and  Charles  Gardiner,  Speaker  of  the  House. 

Governor  Gorman,  in  his  annual  message,  devoted 
nmch  space  to  railroad  projects,  and  expressed  his  oppo- 
sition to  the  Minnesota  and  North-western  Railroad. 
Contrary  to  what  the  community  had  anticipated,  on 
the  last  night  of  the  session,  the  governor  signed  a  bill 
giving  an  extension  of  time  to  the  company.  With  the 
announcement  of  the  approval,  he  submitted  the  follow- 
ing message: —  .  ■    i     '  '  '  (^.A'V'i 

••  I  have  this  day  approved  and  signed  an  act,  entitled 
'  An  act  granting  an  extension  of  time  to  the  Minnesota 
and  North-western  Railroad  Company,  and  tor  other 
purposes.' 

"This  bill  is  satisfactory  so  far  as  the  resulting  in- 
terest is  concerned,  yet  there  are  not  such  guards  as  in 


t;i  'Ml!  v. 


616 


HISTORV  OF  M1NNK30TA. 


my  judgment  should  be  thrown  around  so  important  an 
interest  as  is  involved  in  this  company's  charter, 

"  I  have,  from  the  beginning  of  tliis  railroad  question, 
earnestly  sought  the  permanent  welfare  of  Minnesota, 
and  in  conjunction  with  many  faithful  and  upright  men 
in  public  and  private  life,  finally  succeeded  in  procuring 
two  per  cent,  upon  the  gross  proceeds,  receipts,  and 
income  of  said  road. 

"  This  percentage,  if  the  road  is  ever  built,  is  to  bo 
applied  to  the  governmental  expenses  of  our  future  state, 
and  must  yield  ample  means  in  a  few  years  to  relieve 
our  fellow-citizens  from  all  state  taxes  for  state  pur- 
poses, and  must  be  admitted  by  all  as  an  important 
event  to  the  tax-payers  of  our  country. 

"  If,  on  the  other  hand,  said  company  shall  not  con- 
struct the  road  nor  get  the  land,  nothing  can  be  lost  to 
the  people.  I  have  yielded  other  objections,  because 
three  several  legislatures  have  passed  favourably  upon 
this  company's  charter  and  amendments,  and  1  feel  that 
each  favourable  amendment  should  not  be  lost,  because 
others  are  desirable.  Strong  orofessionn  of  ample  capa- 
city to  build  this  road  have  been  made ;  we  shall  now 
see  how  far  they  are  to  be  realized ;  I  confess  that  my 
confidence  in  these  professions  is  still  feeble.  ,!u  >^i. 

''The  means  used  to  accomplish  ends  by  this  com- 
pany have  never  met  my  approval,  and  I  trust  never  will ; 
but  if  they  shall  fairly  and  legally  get  possession  of  the 
lands  granted  by  Congress  to  aid  in  constructing  said 
road,  I  trust  we  shall  have  no  cause  to  regret  having 
urged  the  demands  of  the  people  for  the  interest  and 
guards  we  have  succeeded  in  throwing  around  their 
corporate  powers.  Trusting  to  Mie  calm  and  consider- 
ate judgment  of  my  fellow-citizvuis,  and  especially  to 


•^;SJJJrm,1Cy 


LIST  OF  LEOISLATORS  OF  18oft. 


617 


the  members  of  the  legislature,  I  leave  the  future  to 
develop  its  results." ' 

'  Lilt  of  Members  of  the  Seventh  Session  of  the  LegislaUve  Assembly  of 

Minnesota. 


COUNCIL. 


NilMU. 

COOKIT. 

FOHromoi. 

Ralcomb,  8iilnt  A.  D 
llallloy,  il«ur;  Q. 

Winona 

WInnna 

Dahkotah 

llaatlDKa 

Donley.  Samuel 

Scott 

IxialKTille 

KlanJniu,  Chmrle§  K. 

Nicolli't 

TraviTW)  d'Sloux 

Freeborn,  WillUm 

(loodhue 

Ked  VVInR 

Mnn»oii,  D.  .M. 

HonnHpiii 

Mllllil'Kpnlln 

uldon.  John  D. 

Ohlugo 

Taylor'a  Kalla 

,,   vry.  WllUmii  1). 

OlmatMl 

KoclicatHr 

Hoi  iiiN,  John 

Ilamsoy 

St.  Anthony 

Rolette,  Jowph 

Pembina 

PemMtia 

SeUer,  Henry  N. 

Wa«hini{I')fi 

SHllw»ur 

8tone,  Lewli 

Benton 

Royal  ton 

TllloUion.  Benj.  V 

flllmorn 

Richland 

Thompson.  0.  W. 

Houiton 

Hokah 

Hriabin,  John  B.,     > 

llamsey 

■    Paul 

Pnwldeut.  i 

AOB 

ooum'ii. 

— 

36 

married 

in 

uiarrled 

»7 

jinrrlwl 

20 

ffltif^tn 

30 

married 

2H 

iniirrhid 

36 

sintcio 

IM 

umrrled 

48 

ninrrleil 

3S 

niarrli'd 

31 

murriud 

60 

widow'r 

aft 

mnrrleii 

30 

■ingle 

■J» 

married 

HATTITT. 

oooortnoN. 

New  York 

Farniar 

Mlnneaota 

Mircbant 

Kanturky 

Karme," 

.Now  Voik 

Lawyer 

Ohio 

Farnipr 

Malm- 

ijHWyer 

Masaachuietta 

liumherman 

IN'nnsylvanla 

Farmer 

Maine 

Farmer 

Wlaconaln 

Indian  tradei 

Missouri 

I.uuibornian 

New  York 

Farmer 

Ohio 

Farmer 

Canada 

Miller 

New  YO:. 

Lawyer 

UOOesi     W  RKPRKaK>TATlVK8. 


sums. 

COOSTT. 

po.-Torrioi.      1 

AQI 

coam'if. 
ma   ried 

KATITITT. 

COUPATIOH. 

Boutilller,  C.  W.  Le 

Ramiwy 

St.  Anthony 

laid  of  Jeraey 

Physician 

Ilrwllnv,  James  T. 

llHnnepin 

.Minneapolis 

38 

marfiwi 

Connecticut 

Carriage  in'kr 

buck,  C.  P. 

Winona 

Winona 

■M 

marriv4 

New  York 

Lawyer 

Ilunlli-k,  R.  0. 

Pembina 

■Vmblna 

21 

single 

Micbigan 

Indian  Iisder 

Cleaveland,  Arba 

Carter 

■^hanhassun 

30 

married 

.Massa<'>iii>u.tts 

Farmer 

Oovcl,  Wm.  B. 

Mower 

Frankfort 

2.'i 

single 

New  \     '- 

Surveyor 

1»«  U  Vcrgne.  A.  F. 

Le  Sueur 

!>■  .Sueur 

40 

married 

New  Y.  < 

.Shoemaker 

Duiibnr,  Wm.  F. 

Houston 

Caledonia 

31 

married 

RhiHle  lRt«rid 

Farmer 

Karnhnm,  8amner  F. 

Ramsey 

SI.  tn.bony 

Ml 

married 

Maine 

Lumberman 

Oalbraith,  Thos.  J. 

Seott 

Shak'.pee 

M 

married 

Pennsylvania 

Lawy#*r 

O.re.  WilllHm  II. 

Fillmore 

Chstneld 

J. 

single 

Pennnlvania 

Farmer 

•  illibK.  0.  C. 

Dahkolah 

St.  Paul 

J8 

married 

VrtrmoDt 

Farmer 

Oiant.  Charles 

Pembina 

!>!.  Joseph 

.t() 

uiarrieil 

Ked  River,  B.P. 

Indian  trader 

Il:(rt«*nln)wer,  J.  H. 

Oluisted 

PUasant  (Jrovo 

27 

married 

Kentucky 

Farmer 

Ilnus,  Reuben 

Ramsey 

St.  Paul 

37 

married 

Pennsylvania 

Carpenter 

llnll.iml,  .1.  M. 

Scott 

Shakopee 

24 

single 

Maryland 

Lawyer 

IIuMr'U,  J.  II. 

Dodge 

Mantorville 

3t) 

marrieij 

Now  York 

Farmer 

Hull.  .Samuel. 

Fillmore 

Carimona 

47 

marriiHl 

Pennaylvanla 

Farmer 

Hunt.  Thorn' '  i>. 

"arver 

Chasku 

24 

tnarrind 

Can  ml  a 

Lawyer 

M«.  J.  C. 

;  ce 

Farrlbault 

4S 

married 

Vermon  1 

Mechanic 

•iHcknian.  II.  .' 

ashlngloii 

Stillwater 

m 

marrle^l 

Maine 

Lumberman 

.I'tliiiKon.  Pan-'. .-  '. . 

■Hue  Earth 

Maukato 

:iSt 

married 

VermoM 

Tailor 

KirkiMiiii,  Jai" 

V'abashaw 

Wahashaw 

:il 

married 

Canada 

Blacksmith 

Knauft,  Ferdit 

.  amsey 

.St.  Paul 

31 

married 

Prussia 

Carpenter 

I."tt.  II.  W. 

.amsev 

St.  Paul 

27 

single 

New  Jersey 

Ijiwyer 

^^■Lei)d,  Qeorge  A. 

Nicollet 

Traverse  d'Sioui 

38 

married 

Caiia'ta 

Merchant 

'  nrphy,  M.  T. 

Dahkotah 

Menrtota 

24 

.siagle 

Ireland 

Farmer 

N  Lies,  Wm.  H. 

Ramsey 

St.  Paul 

37 

married 

New  York 

Miller            ' 

Niiiri«.  James  S. 

Washington 

Cottage  GroTe 

40 

married 

Maine 

Farmer 

I'ierc-  T.  W. 

Hennepin 

Minneapolis 

30 

married 

PitinsylTanIa 

Carpenter 

SlurKia,  William 

Boritou 

Little  Falls 

38 

married 

Canada 

Fanner 

Taylor,  Nathan  C.  D. 

Chisago 

Taylor's  Falls 

4.1 

single 

N,  liampebire 

Lumberman 

Ttii.rnpson,  M.  0. 

Houston 

llruwnsTllle 

■M 

married 

New  York 

Lawyer 

ThnrndlVe,  F. 

Hennepin 

Rim  Ci-eek 

::« 

married 

Maine 

Farmer 

Vim  V'jrhes.  A. 

Washington 

Stillwater 

«) 

married 

I'ennsylvania 

aunsmith 

Wilkinson.  Koss 

Ramsey 

St.  Paul 

35 

marrieii    Pennsylvania 

Farmer 

vviisnn.  .lohn  L. 

Stearns 

St.  Cloud 

35 

married   .Maine 

Architect 

dardiuer,  Charles, 
Speaker. 

Uoodbue 

Wostervoit 

40 

married ,  New  York 

Lawyer 

^f^.. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


Vi 


A 


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7 


1.0 


I.I 


Li  12.8 

|50     ^^~ 

Ul 
Ui 


■  40 


1 2.2 
2.0 

1.8 


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6"     

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Photographic 

Sdences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STMEET 

WEOSTER.N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


<^ 


818 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


During  the  session  of  1856,  there  was  some  conversa- 
tion about  the  division  of  the  territory  by  an  east  and 
west  line,  and  forming  a  new  territory  north  of  the 
forty-sixth  degree  of  latitude,  but  no  definite  action  was 
taken.  But  in  the  summer  the  question  of  a  state 
organization  was  for  the  first  time  formally  agitated  in 
a  series  of  earnest  articles  in  the  newspaper,  from  the 
pen  of  John  E.  Warren. 

This  year  was  comparatively  devoid  of  interest.  The 
citizens  of  the  territory  were  busily  engaged  in  making 
claims  in  newly  organized  counties,  and  in  enlarging  the 
area  of  civilization. 

On  the  twelfth  of  June,  several  Ojibways  entered  the 
farm  house  of  Mr.  Whallon,  who  resided  in  Hennepin 
county,  on  the  banks  of  the  Minnesota,  a  mile  below 
the  Bloomington  ferry.  The  wife  of  the  farmer,  a 
friend,  and  three  children,  besides  a  'ittle  Dahkotah  girl, 
who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  mission-house  at  Ka- 
posia,  and  was  so  changed  in  manners  that  her  origin 
was  scarcely  perceptible,  were  sitting  in  the  room  when 
the  Indians  came  in.  Instantly  seizing  the  little  Indian 
maiden,  they  threw  her  out  of  the  door,  killed  and 
scalped  her,  and  lied  before  the  men  who  were  near  by 
in  the  field  could  reach  the  house. 

The  procurement  of  a  state  organization,  and  a  grant 
of  lands  for  railroad  purposes,  were  the  topics  of  politi- 
cal interest  during  the  year  1857. 

The  eighth  Legislative  Assembly  convened  at  the 
capitol  on  the  seventh  of  January,  and  J.  B.  Brisbin 
w£is  elected  President  of  the  Council,  and  J.  W.  Furber, 
Speaker  of  the  House. 

A  bill  changing  the  seat  of  government  to  St.  Peter, 
on  the  Minnesota  river,  passed  the  House. 


LONG  8E88ION  OF  COUNCIL. 


619- 


On  Saturday,  February  twenty-eighth,  Mr.  Balconibe 
offered  the  following  resolutions  : — 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  Hon.  Joseph  Rolette  be  very 
respectfully  requested  to  report  to  the  Council,  Bill  No. 
sixty-two  Council  File,  entitled  '  A  Bill  for  the  removal 
of  the  Seat  of  Government  for  the  Territory  of  Min- 
nesota,' this  day ;  and  that  should  said  Rolette  fail  so  to 
do  before  the  adjournment  of  the  Council  this  day,  that 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Wales,  who  stands  next  in  the  list  of  said 
Committee  on  En»olled  Bills,  be  respectfully  requested 
to  procure  another  truly  enrolled  copy  of  the  said  bill, 
and  report  the  same  to  the  Council  on  Monday  next. 

^^And  he  it  further  Resolved,  That  the  secretary  of  the 
Council  is  very  respectfully  requested  to  give  said  bill, 
after  it  has  been  signed  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House, 
and  President  of  the  Council,  to  the  Hon.  Mr.  Wales, 
to  deliver  to  the  Governor  for  hie  approval." 

Mr.  Setzer,  after  the  reading  of  the  resolutions,  moved 
a  call  of  the  Council,  and  Mr.  Rolette  was  found  to  be 
absent.  The  chair  ordered  the  sergeant-at-arnis  to 
report  Mr.  Rolette  in  his  seat.  Mr.  Balcombe  moved 
that  further  proceedings  under  the  call  Ije  dispensed 
with,  which  did  not  prevail.  From  that  time  until  the 
next  Thursday  afternoon,  March  the  fifth,  a  period 
of  one  Imndred  and  twenty-three  hours,  the  Council  re- 
mained in  their  chamber  without  recess.  At  that  time 
a  motion  to  adjourn  prevailed.  On  Friday,  another 
motion  was  made  to  dispense  with  the  call  of  the  Coim- 
cil,  which  did  not  prevail.  On  Saturday,  the  Council 
met,  the  president  declared  the  call  still  pending.  At 
seven  and  a  half  p.  m.,  a  committee  of  the  House  wa» 
aiuiounced.  The  chair  ruled,  that  no  conununication 
from  the  House  could  be  received  while  a  call  of  the 


620 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Council  was  pending,  and  the  committee  withdrew.  A 
motion  was  again  made  during  the  last  night  of  the 
session,  to  dispense  with  all  further  proceedings  under 
the  call,  which  prevailed,  with  one  vote  only  in  the 
negative. 

Mr.  Freeborn,  from  the  committee  on  enrolled  bills, 
made  the  following  report: —  »fUJ  isun  ;  tm«»k 

"  The  Committee  on  Enrolled  Bills  would  respectfully 
report,  that  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  chairman  of 
this  committee,  Bill  No.  (62)  sixty-two.  Council  File, 
being  a  bill  for  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government 
of  the  Territory  of  Minnesota,  introduced  by  Mr.  Lowiy 
on  the  sixth  of  February,  1857,  has  not  been  reported 
by  this  committee  back  to  the  Council.  Your  com- 
mittee would  further  state  that  the  above-named  ))ill 
might  have  been  reported  back  to  the  Council  at  tins 
time,  but  that  after  examining  the  enrolled  copy  of  said 
bill,  which  was  delivered  to  this  committee  with  the 
engrossed  bill,  by  the  secretary  of  the  Council,  in  pre- 
sence of  the  enrolling  clerk  of  the  Council,  and  care- 
fully comparing  the  same,  we  find  numerous  errors  in 
the  enrolled  copy — some  portions  of  the  engrossed  bill 
being  left  out  of  the  enrolled  copy,  and  matter  being 
inserted  in  the  enrolled  copy  which  is  not  in  the  en- 
grossed bill.  Your  committee  cannot,  therefore,  report 
the  said  Bill  No.  62,  C.  F.,  as  correctly  enrolled,  but 
retain  the  same  in  our  possession,  subject  to  the  order 
of  the  Council. 

"  All  which  is  respectfully  submitted." 

Mr.  Ludden  moved  that  a  committee  be  app<  tinted  to 
wait  on  the  governor,  and  inquire  if  he  had  any  fur- 
ther communication  to  make  to  the  Council. 

Mr.  Lowry  moved  a  call  of  the  Council,  which  was 


EXCITEMENT  ON  REMOVAL  OP  CAPITAL. 


G21 


ordered,  and  the  roll  being  called,  Messra.  Rolette, 
Thompson,  and  Tillotson  were  absent,    luf/  f; 

At  twelve  o'clock  at  night  the  president  resumed  the 
cliair,  and  announced  that  the  time  limited  by  law  lor 
the  continuation  of  the  session  of  the  territorial  legis- 
lature had  expired,  and  he  therefore  declared  the  Coun- 
cil adjourned  without  day. 

The  excitement  on  the  capital  question  was  intense, 
and  it  was  a  strange  scene  to  see  members  of  the  Coun- 
cil, eating  and  sleeping  in  the  hall  of  legislation  for 
days,  waiting  for  the  sergeaut-at-arms  to  report  an  ab- 
sent member  in  his  seat. 

During  the  spring  and  early  summer,  the  public  miud 
was  indignant  at  an  atrocity  perpetrated  in  the  extreme 
south-western  frontier  of  Minnesota,  the  recital  of  which 
causes  the  blood  to  curdle,  and  the  mind  to  revert  to 
the  border  scenes  of  the  past  century,  which  occurred 
in  the  valley  of  Wyoming.  In  the  north-western  comer 
of  Iowa,  a  few  miles  from  the  Minnesota  boundary,  there 
is  ft  lake  known  as  Spirit  Lake.     In  the  spring  of 

1856,  persons  from  Red  Wing  had  visited  this  place, 
and  determined  to  lay  oflF  a  town.     In  the  winter  of 

1857,  there  were  six  or  seven  log  cabins  on  the  borders 
of  the  lake.  About  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  north,  in 
Minnesota,  there  was  also  a  small  place  called  Spring- 
field. 

For  several  years,  Inkpadootah,  a  Wahpaykootay 
Dahkotah,  had  been  roving  with  a  few  outlaws,  being 
driven  away  from  their  own  people  by  internal  diffi- 
culties. These  Indiana  weve  hunting  in  north-western 
Iowa,  when  one  was  bitten  by  a  white  man's  dog,  which 
he  killed.  The  whites  then  proceeded  to  the  Indian 
camp,  and  disarmed  them,  but  they  soon  supplied  them- 


«22 


lUSTORV  0'  MINNESOTA. 


■..iUi 


selves  again.  After  this,  they  arrived  on  Sunday,  the 
eighth  of  March,  at  Spirit  Lake.  They  proceeded  to 
a  cabin,  where  only  men  dwelt,  and  atked  for  beef. 
Understanding,  as  they  assert,  that  they  had  permission 
to  kill  one  of  the  cattle,  they  did  so,  and  commenced 
cutting  it  up,  when  one  of  the  white  men  came  out  and 
knocked  down  the  Dahkotah.  For  this  act  the  settler 
was  shot,  and  another  one  coming  out  of  the  cabin,  he 
was  also  killed.  Surrounding  the  house,  the  Indians 
now  fired  the  thatched  roof,  and  as  the  men  ran  out  all 
were  killed,  making  the  whole  number  eleven. 

About  the  same  time,  the  Indians  went  to  the  house 
■of  a  frontiersman,  by  the  name  of  Gardner,  and  de- 
manded food,  and  all  the  food  in  the  house  was  given 
to  them.  The  son-in-law,  and  another  man,  left  to  go 
and  see  if  all  was  right  at  the  neighbouring  cabin,  but 
they  never  came  back.  Toward  night,  excited  by  the 
blood  they  had  been  spilling  through  the  day,  they 
■came  back  again  to  Mr.  Gardner's  house,  and  soou 
killed  him,  and  despatching  his  wife,  and  two  daugh- 
ters, and  grandchildren,  carried  off  Abby,  the  surviv- 
ing daughter.  The  next  day,  they  continued  their 
fiendish  work,  and  brought  into  camp  Mrs.  Thatcher 
and  Mrs.  Noble.  That  day  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Markham  visited  the  house  of  Gardner,  and  saw  the 
dead  bodies.  Secreting  himself  till  night,  he  came 
to  the  Springfield  settlement  in  Minnesota,  and  re- 
ported what  he  had  seen.  Three  miles  above  the 
Thatcher  family  on  the  lake,  there  lived  a  Mr.  Marble. 

On  Thursday,  the  twelfth  of  March,  an  Indian,  who 
had  been  on  friendly  terms  with  Marble's  family,  called 
«t  his  house,  and  (as  near  as  Mrs.  Marble,  with  her  im- 
l^erfect   knowledge  of  the  language,  could  make  out) 


SPIRIT  LAKE  AND  SPRINGFIELD  MASSACRE 


62S 


told  them  that  the  white  people  below  them  on  the 
Luke  had  been  ntppoed  (killed)  a  day  or  two  previously. 
Til  is  aroused  the  suspicion  of  the  Marbles,  and  none  the 
less  that  the  great  depth  of  the  snow  made  it  almost 
impossible  to  get  out  and  ascertain  the  truth  of  the 
story.  The  next  day  (the  thirteenth),  quite  early  in 
the  forenoon,  four  Indians  came  to  Marble's  house  and 
were  admitted.  Their  demeanour  was  so  friendly  as  to 
disarm  all  suspicion.  They  proix)sed  to  swap  rifles  with 
Marble,  and  the  terms  were  soon  agreed  upon. 

After  the  swap,  the  chief,  suggested  that  they  should 
go  out  on  the  lake  and  shoot  at  a  mark.  Marble 
assented.  After  a  few  discharges  they  turned  to  come 
in  the  direction  of  the  house,  when  the  savages  allowed 
Marble  to  go  a  few  paces  ahead,  and  immediately  shof, 
him  down.  Mrs.  Marble,  who  was  looking  out  of  the 
cabin,  saw  her  husband  fall,  and  immediately  ran  to 
him.  The  Indians  seized  her  and  told  her  that  they 
would  not  kill  her,  but  would  take  her  with  them. 

They  carried  her  in  triumph  to  the  camp,  whither 
they  had  previously  taken  three  other  white  women, 
Mrs.  Noble,  Mrs.  Thatcher,  and  Miss  Gardner. 

Inkpadootah  and  party  now  proceeded  to  Springfield, 
where  they  slaughtered  the  whole  settlement,  about 
the  twenty-seventh  of  March.  When  the  United  States 
troops  arrived  from  Fort  Ridgely,  they  buried  two  bodies, 
and  the  volunteers  from  Iowa  buried  twenty-nine  others. 
Besides  these,  others  were  missing.  The  outlaws,  per- 
ceiving that  the  soldiers  were  in  pursuit,  made  their 
escape.  The  four  captive  women  were  forced  by  day  to 
carry  heavy  burdens  through  deep  snow,  and  at  night-fall 
they  were  made  to  cut  wood  and  set  up  the  tent,  and, 
after  dark;  to  be  subject  to  the  indignities  that  suggested 


mm 


024 


UI'STORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


theniselves  to  savages.     When  food  began  to  fail,  the 
white  women  subsisted  on  bones  and  feathers. 

Mrs.  Thatcher  was  in  poor  health  in  consequence  of 
the  recent  birth  of  a  child,  and  she  became  burdensome. 
Arriving  at  the  Big  Sioux  river,  the  Indians  made  a 
bridge  by  felling  a  tree  on  each  side  of  the  river  bank. 
Mrs.  Thatcher  attempted  to  cross,  but  failed,  and,  in 
despair,  refused  to  try  again.  One  of  the  men  took 
her  by  the  hand,  as  if  to  help  her,  and,  when  about 
midway,  pushed  her  into  the  strea'^.  She  swam  to  the 
shore,  and  they  pushed  her  off,  and  then  fired  at  her  a» 
if  she  was  a  target,  until  life  waa  extinct. 

"  In  the  early  spring  it  was  next  to  impossible  to 
make  any  considerable  efforts  for  their  rescue ;  and  it 
was  not  known  what  direction  the  captors  had  taken. 
Time  passed  on.  Two  military  expeditions  reached  the 
place  where  the  massacre  took  place,  but  did  nothing, 
except  to  bury  the  slain.  Early  in  the  month  of  May, 
two  young  men  from  Lac  qui  Parle,  who  had  been  taught 
by  the  mission  to  read  and  write,  and  whose  mother  is 
a  member  of  our  church,'  while  on  their  spring  hunt, 
found  themselves  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Inkpadoota 
and  his  party.  Having  heard  that  they  held  some 
Americim  women  in  captivity,  the  two  brothers  visited 
the  camp, — though  this  was  at  some  risk  of  their  lives, 
since  Inkpadootah's  hand  was  now  against  every 
man, — and  found  the  outlaws,  and  succeeded  in  bargain- 
ing for  Mrs.  Marble,  whom  they  first  took  to  their 
mother's  tent,"  and  then  brought  her  to  a  trading-house 
at  Lac  qui  Parle,  when  she  was  visited  by  those  con- 
nected with  the  mission  at  Hazelwood,  and  clothed  once 
more  in  civilized  costume.  On  her  arrival  at  the  hotel 
at  St.  Paul,  the  citizens  welcomed  her,  and  presented 

'  Letter  of  Dr.  Williamson. 


RESCUE  OF  WHITE  WOMEN  FROM  CAPTIVITY. 


fl2r) 


her  with  a  thousand  dolhirs.     The  desire  lo  reHoue  the 
two  surviving  white  women  now  became  intense. 

One  night  a  good  Indian,  named  Paul  by  the  white.«i, 
an  elder  of  the  mission  church,  came  into  the  mission- 
house  and  said : — 

"  If  the  white  chief  tells  me  to  go,  I  will  go."  *'  I 
tell  you  to  go,"  replied  Mr.  Flandrau,  then  Dahkotah 
Agent.  With  two  companies  he  started  next  day,  with 
a  wagon  and  two  horses,  and  valuable  presents.  After 
a  diligent  search  the  outlaws  were  found  on  the  James 
river  with  a  band  of  Yanktons. 

A  few  days  before  Mrs.  Noble  had  been  murdered,  a 
Yankton,  who  had  lost  his  legs  by  disease,  had  pur- 
iluused  the  two  women.  One  night  Mrs.  Noble  was 
ordered  to  go  out,  and  be  subject  to  the  wishes  of  the 
party.  She  refusing  to  go,  a  son  of  Inkpadootah  dragged 
lior  out  by  the  hair  and  killed  her.  The  next  morning 
a  Dahkotah  woman  took  Miss  Gardner,  the  sole  surviv- 
ing captive,  to  see  the  corpse,  which  had  been  horribly 
treated  after  death. 

Paul,  by  his  perseverance  and  large  presents,  at  length 
redeemed  the  captive,  and  she  was  brought  to  the  mis- 
sion-house, and  from  thence  she  visited  St.  Paul,  and 
\vaf<  restored  to  her  sister  in  Iowa. 

For  some  days  previous  to  the  first  of  July  it  had  been 
reported  that  one  of  Inkpadootah's  mns  was  in  a  camp 
on  the  Yellow  Medicine  river.  A  message  was  sent  to 
the  agent,  Flandrau,  who,  with  a  detachment  of  soldiers 
from  Fort  Ridgely,  and  some  Indian  guides,  soon  arrived 
and  surrounded  the  lodges.  The  alarm  being  given, 
Iuki),idootah's  son,  said  to  have  been  the  murderer  of 
Mrs.  Noble,  ran  from  his  lodge  followed  by  his  wife. 
He  concealed  himself  for  a  short  period  in  the  brush  by 

40 


626 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  water,  but  wn«  aoon  ferreted  out  and  shot  by  United 
States  soldiers. 

Tiie  rest  of  the  outlaws  are  said  to  be  west  of  the 
Missouri,  and  that  they  may  yet  meet  the  punishment 
which  they  so  richly  deserve  for  their  horrible  barbarity, 
is  the  wish  of  every  righteous  man. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  Februarj',  1857,  an  act  passed 
the  United  States  Senate,  to  authorize  the  people  of 
Minnesota  to  form  a  constitution,  preparatory  to  their 
admission  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  statew.  And  at  the  close  of  the  session  another 
act  passed,  making  a  grant  of  land  in  alternate  sections, 
to  aid  in  the  construction  of  certain  railroads  in  the  ter- 
ritory. ,v; 

Governor  Gorman  called  a  special  session  of  the  legis- 
lature, to  take  into  consideration  measures  that  would 
give  efficiency  to  these  acts.  The  extra  session  con- 
vened on  April  twenty-seventh,  and  a  message  was 
transmitted  by  Samuel  Medary,'  who  had  been  appointed 
governor  in  the  place  of  W.  A.  Gorman,  whose  term 
of  office  had  expired.  An  act  was  passed  to  execute 
the  trust  created  by  Congress;  and  the  lands,  under 
certain  conditions,  were  given  to  certain  chartered  rail- 
road companies.  The  extra  session  adjourned  on  the 
twenty-third  of  May ;  and  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  enabling  act  of  Congress,  an  election  was 
held  on  the  first  Monda}?  in  June,  for  delegates  to  a  con- 
vention which  was  to  assemble  at  the  capital  on  the 
second  Monday  in  July.  The  election  resulted,  as  was 
thought,  giving  a  majority  of  delegates  to  the  Republi- 
can party. 

At  midnight  previous  to  the  day  fixed  for  the  meet- 

'  He  acted  as  governor  for  a  few  months  only. 


ADOPTION  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 


687 


ing  of  the  convention,  the  lU^pubHcann  piwoodod  to 
the  capitol,  because  the  enabling  act  ha<l  not  fixed  at 
what  hour  on  the  second  Monday  the  convention  should 
assemble,  and  fearing  that  the  Democratic  delegates 
might  anticipate  them,  and  elect  the  officers  of  the 
body.  A  little  before  twelve,  a.  m.,  on  Monday,  the 
secretary  of  the  territory  entered  the  speaker's  ros- 
trum, and  began  to  call  the  body  to  order;  and  ai  the 
same  time  a  delegate,  J.  W,  North,  who  had  in  his  nos- 
session  a  written  request  from  the  majority  of  the  dele- 
gates present,  proceeded  to  do  the  same  thing.  The 
secretary  of  the  territory  put  a  motion  to  adjourn, 
and  the  Democratic  members  present  voting  in  the 
affirmative,  they  left  the  hall.  The  Republicans,  feel- 
ing that  they  were  in  the  majority,  remained,  and  in 
due  time  organized,  and  proceeded  with  the  business 
specified  in  the  enabling  act,  to  form  a  constitution,  and 
take  all  necessary  steps  for  the  establishment  of  a  state 
government,  in  conformity  with  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, subject  to  the  approval  and  ratification  of  the 
people  of  the  proposed  state. 

After  several  days  the  Democratic  wing  also  organized 
in  the  Senate  chamber  at  the  capitol,  and,  claiming  to 
be  the  true  body,  also  proceeded  to  form  a  constitution. 
Both  parties  were  remarkably  orderly  and  intelligent, 
and  everything  was  marked  by  perfect  decorum.  After 
they  had  been  in  session  some  weeks,  moderate  coun- 
sels prevailed,  and  a  committee  of  conference  was  ap- 
pointed from  each  body,  which  resulted  in  both  adopting 
the  same  constitution,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  August. 
According  to  the  provision  of  the  constitution,  an  election 
was  held  for  state  officers  and  the  adoption  of  the  con- 
stitution, on  the  second  Tuesday,  the  thirteenth  of  Oo- 


628 


■HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


tober.  The  constitution  was  adopted  by  almost  a  unani- 
mous vote.  It  provided  that  the  territorial  officers 
should  retain  their  offices  until  the  state  was  admitted 
into  the  Union,  not  anticipating  the  long  delay  whicli 
hna  been  experienced. 

The  first  session  of  the  state  legislature  commenced 
on  the  first  Wednesday  of  Deceral)er,  at  the  capitol.  in 
the  city  of  St.  Paul ;  and  during  the  month  elected 
Henry  M.  Rice  and  James  Shields  as  their  Representa- 
tives in  the  United  States  Senate. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  January,  1858,  Mr.  Douglas 
submitted  a  bill  to  the  United  States  Senate,  for  the 
admission  of  Minnesota  into  the  Union.  On  the  first  of 
February,  a  discussion  arose  on  the  bill,  in  which  Sena- 
tors Douglas,  Wilson,  Gwin,  Hale,  Mason,  Green,  Brown, 
and  Crittenden  participated.  Brown,  of  Mississippi,  was 
opposed  to  the  admission  of  Minnesota,  until  the  Kansas 
question  was  settled.  Mr.  Crittenden,  as  a  Southern 
man,  could  not  endorse  all  that  was  said  by  the  Senator 
from  Mississippi ;  and  his  words  of  wisdom  and  modera- 
tion during  this  day's  discussion,  are  worthy  of  remem- 
brance. On  April  the  seventh,  the  bill  passed  the 
Senate  witli  only  three  dissenting  votes ;  in  a  short  time 
the  House  of  Representatives  agreed  to  the  action  of  the 
Senate,  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  out  of  one  hundred 
and  ninety-six  votes  being  cast  in  favor  of  admission, 
and  on  May  11th  the  President  approved  the  Act,  and 
Minnesota  became  one  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


VINANOIAIi   CONDITION   OF  THK   NBW   8TATB. 


«8t 


.,-.  :  (   ,       i. 


.■.<J         -1' 


.  >.•^  >■  ii  /- 


io  n^*       CHAPTER   XXIX. 


'  ?..'■ 


PINAITOIAL    EMBARRASSMENT    FROM    1858    TO   1861,   AND   BDU* 
OATIONAIi    POLICY. 

The  transition  of  Minnesota,  from  Territorial  depend- 
ency, to  the  position  of  an  organized  and  self-support- 
ing Commonwealth,  equal  in  dignity  and  privilege  with 
the  then  thirty-one  United  States  of  America,  occurred 
under  adverse  circumstances. 

The  great  commercial  cities  of  the  Atlantic  coast 
were  suffering  from  financial  embarrassment,  and  the 
stringency  of  the  money  market  seriously  cramped 
those  who  had  hoped  to  develop  the  resources  of  a 
fertile  and  healthful  State,  by  the  aid  of  borrowed 
capital.  '  't'     "* 

The  exigencies  of  the  pioneer  settlers  were  such, 
that  they  were  ready  to  lend  a  willing  ear  to  any  one 
who  would  present  plans,  ostensibly  for  the  relief  of  a 
community  that  was  literally  without  money. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  approved  March  fifth,  1867, 
lands  had  been  granted  to  the  Territory  amounting  to 
4,500,000  acres,  for  the  construction  of  a  system  of 
railways. 

Immediately  a  number  of  shrewd  and  energetic  men 
combined  to  procure  the  control  of  the  land  grant, 
and  during  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  an  act 
Wiis  passed  on  May  twenty-second,  1857,  giving  the 


680 


BISTORT   OF  MINNESOTA. 


entir?  Congressional  grant  to  certain  chartered  railroad 
companies. 

A  icw  months  only  elapsed,  before  the  citizens  dis- 
covered that  those  who  obtained  the  lands  had  neither 
the  money  nor  the  credit  to  carry  on  these  great 
internal  improvements.  In  the  winter  of  1858  the 
Legislature  again  listened  to  the  siren  voices  of  the 
railway  corporations,  until  their  words  to  some  mem- 
bers seemed  like  "  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver,'* 
and  another  act  was  passed,  submitting  to  the  people 
an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which  provided  for 
the  loan  of  the  public  credit  to  the  land-grant  railroad 
companies  to  the  amount  of  $5,000,000,  upon  condi- 
tion that  a  certain  amount  of  labour  on  the  projected 
roads  was  performed.  The  time  specified  in  the  act 
for  the  voting  of  the  people  upon  the  amendment  was 
April  lifi^enth. 

Fjom(^  of  the  more  prudent  citizens  saw  in  this  mea- 
suiu  a  "cloud  no  larger  than  a  man's  hand"  which 
would  lead  to  a  terrific  storm,  and  a  large  public  meet- 
ing was  convened  at  the  Capitol  and  addressed  by  Ex- 
Governor  Gorman,  D.  A.  Robertson,  William  R.  Mar- 
.  shall,  and  others,  deprecating  the  engrafting  of  such 
a  peculiar  amendment  upon  the  Constitution;  but  the 
people  would  not  listen,  their  hopes  and  happiness 
seemed  to  be  bound  up  in  railway  corporations,  and  on 
the  appointed  day  of  election  25,023  votes  were  cast 
in  favour  of,  while  only  6733  were  deposited  against, 
the  amendment. 

Before  the  amendment  was  ratified,  the  Constitution 
prohibited  the  State  from  loaning  its  credit  to  aay  in- 
dividual or  corporation;  but  by  its  adoption,  section  lO, 
article  9,  was  made  to  read  as  follows: 


AMENDMENT  OP   THE   CREDIT  ARTICLE. 


681 


"The  credit  of  this  State  shall  never  be  given  or 
loaned  in  aid  of  any  individual,  association,  or  corpo- 
ration; except  that  for  the  purpose  of  expeditii.^^  he 
construction  of  the  lines  of  railroads,  in  aid  of  which 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  granted  lands 
to  the  Territory  of  Minnesota,  the  Governor  shall  cause 
to  be  issued  and  delivered  to  each  of  the  companies  in 
which  said  grants  are  vested  by  the  Legislative  As- 
sembly of  Minnesota,  the  special  bonds  of  the  State, 
bearing  an  interest  of  seven  per  cent,  per  annum,  pay- 
able semi-annually  in  the  city  of  New  York,  as  a  loan 
of  public  credit,  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  twelve 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  or  an  aggregate 
amount  to  all  of  said  companies  not  exceeding  five 
millions  of  dollars,  in  manner  following,  to  wit,"  etc. 

The  good  sense  of  the  people  soon  led  them  to 
amend  this  article,  and  on  November  sixth,  1860,  the 
section  was  made  to  read  as  follows: 

"The  credit  of  the  State  shall  never  be  given  or 
loaned  in  aid  of  any  individual  association  or  corpora- 
tion; nor  shall  there  be  any  further  issue  of  bonds  de- 
nominated Minnesota  State  Railroad  Bonds,  under  what 
purports  to  be  an  amendment  to  section  ten  (10)  of 
article  nine  (9;  of  the  Constitution,  adopted  April  fif- 
teenth, e.'ghteen  hundred  and  fifty -eight,  which  is 
hereby  expunged  from  the  Constitution,  saving,  ex- 
cepting and  reserving  to  the  State,  nevertheless,  all 
rights,  remedies,  and  forfeitures  accruing  under  said 
amendment." 

The  first  State  Lv.gislatu re  had  assembled  on  December 
second,  1857,  before  the  formal  admission  of  Minnesota 
into  the  Union,  and  on  March  twenty-fifth,  1858,  ad- 
journed until  June  second,  when  .<t  again  met. 


682 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley,  who  had  been  declared  Governor 
after  the  election  of  the  previous  October,  on  the  next 
day  delivered  his  inaugural  address. 

His  terra  of  office  was  arduous,  growing  out  of 
the  peculiar  position  of  the  State  in  consequence  of 
her  loan  of  credit  to  the  railway  corporations.  On 
August  fourth,  1858,  he  exnrrssed  his  determination 
not  to  deliver  any  State  bonds  to  the  railway  com- 
panies, unless  they  would  give  first  mortgage  bonds 
with  priority  of  lien  upon  their  lands,  roads,  and  fran- 
chises in  favour  of  the  State.  One  of  the  companies 
applied  for  a  mandamus  from  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State,  to  compel  the  issue  of  the  bonds  without  the 
restriction  of  the  Governor. 

In  November  the  court.  Judge  Flandrau  dissenting, 
ordered  the  Governor  to  issue  State  bonds  as  soon  as 
the  company  delivered  their  first  mortgage  bonds,  as 
provided  by  the  Constitution. 

But,  as  was  to  be  expected,  bonds  put  forth  under 
such  peculiar  circumstances  were  not  sought  after  by 
capitalists.  After  over  $2,000,000  of  bonds  had  been 
issued,  not  an  iron  rail  had  been  laid,  and  only  about 
250  miles  of  grading  were  completed.  In  his  annual 
message  to  the  second  Legislature  in  December,  1859, 
Governor  Sibley  said  of  the  loan  of  State  credit : 

"  I  regret  to  be  obliged  to  state  that  the  measure  has 
proved  a  failure,  and  has  by  no  means  accomplished 
what  was  hoped  from  it,  either  in  providing  means  foi 
the  issue  of  a  safe  currency,  or  of  aiding  the  com- 
panies in  the  completion  of  the  work  upon  the  roadt*. ' 

Notwithstanding  the  pecuniary  complications  of  the 
State  during  Governor  Sibley's  administration,  the 
Legislature   did  not  entirely  forget    that   there  were 


ELECTION  OF  GOVERNOR   RAMSEY. 


683 


some  interests  of  more  importance  than  railway  con- 
struction, and  on  August  second,  1858,  largely  through 
the  influence  of  the  late  John  D.  Ford,  M.D.,  a  public- 
spirited  citizen  of  Winona,  an  act  was  passed  for  the 
establishment  of  three  normal  schools  for  the  training 
of  public  school  teachers.  '^'^i  fM-r  iJ'K'tr?;*  i' :»> 

In  the  month  of  June,  1859,  an  important  route  of 
travel  was  opened  between  the  Mississippi  and  Red 
River  of  the  North. 

The  enterprising  firm  of  J.  C.  Burbank  &  Co.  having 
secured  from  Sir  George  Simpson,  the  governor  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the  transportation  of  their 
supplies  by  way  of  St.  Paul,  which  had  hitherto  been 
carried  by  tedious  and  tortuous  routes  from  York  River 
or  Lake  Superior,  purchased  a  little  steamer  that  had 
been  built  by  Anson  Northrup  and  was  on  the  Red 
River  of  the  North,  and  commenced  the  carrying  of 
goods  and  passengers  by  land  to  Breckinridge,  and 
from  thence  by  water  to  Pembina. 

At  an  election  held  in  the  fall  of  1859,  Alexander 
Ramsey  was  elected  Governor,  and  in  his  inaugural 
message  to  the  second  Legislature,  on  January  second, 
1860,  he  devotes  a  large  space  to  the  complications 
arising  from  the  loan  of  the  State  credit  to  railroad 
companies.  He  argued  that  something  should  be  done 
relative  to  the  outstanding  $2,300,000  of  Sta.te  rail- 
road bonds,  and  suggested  several  methods  which  might 
be  adopted  for  withdrawing  them.  In  the  course  of 
his  argument  he  remarked  :  "  It  is  extremely  desirable 
to  remove  as  speedily  as  possible  so  vexing  a  question 
i'rom  our  State  politics,  md  not  allow  it  to  remain  for 
years  to  disturb  our  elections,  perhaps  to  divide  our 
people  into  bond  and  anti-bond  parties,  and  introduce 


634 


HISTORY   OF  MINNESOTA. 


annually  into  our  legislative  halls  an  element  of  dis- 
cord and  possibly  of  corruption,  all  to  end  just  as 
similar  complications  in  other  States  have  ended :  the 
men  who  will  have  gradually  engrossed  the  possession 
of  all  the  bonds,  at  the  cost  of  a  few  cents  on  the  dol- 
lar, will  knock  year  after  year  at  the  door  of  the  Legis- 
lature for  their  payment  in  full;  the  press  will  be  sub- 
sidized ;  the  cry  of  repudiation  will  be  raised ;  all  the 
ordinary  and  extraordinary  means  of  procuring  legis- 
lation in  doubtful  cases  will  be  freely  resorted  to ;  until 
finally  the  bondholders  will  pile  up  almost  fabulous 
fortunes.  *  *  *  It  is  assuredly  true  that  the  present 
time  is,  of  all  others,  alike  for  the  present  bondholders 
and  the  people  of  the  State,  the  very  time  to  arrange, 
adjust,  and  settle  these  unfortunate  and  deplorable 
railroad  and  loan  complications." 

Initiatory  steps  were  taken  during  the  session  of  the 
second  Legislature  for  securing  an  efRcient  system  of 
public  instruction.  An  act  for  the  regulation  of  the 
State  University,  in  place  of  the  Territorial  University, 
was  passed ;  and  in  a  report  of  the  joint  committee  of 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  on  the  University, 
largely  written  by  the  recently  elected  head  of  the  i.. 
stitution,  the  following  views  were  presented: 

"  A  University  is  necessarily  of  slow  development. 
It  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  common  school  system. 
Ten  years  must  sometimes  elapse  before  there  is  suflfi- 
cient  strength  to  make  a  good  beginning,  and  then  in 
twice  ten  years  its  influence  will  begin  to  have  its  due 
efiect.  A  University  in  a  new  and  sparsely  settled 
State  must  not  precede,  but  succeed  the  common 
schools.  When  these  nurseries  of  education  are  fairly 
established,  and  begin  to  have  their  full  measure  of  in- 


REPORT  ON   THE    UNIVERSITY. 


68» 


fluence,  then  follows  a  demand  for  a  style  of  education 
which  no  one  locality  can  afford  to  give,  and  which  it 
is  the  peculiar  province  of  the  University  to  furnish. 
By  a  premature  organization  of  State  institutions,  the 
seeds  of  decay  have  been  sown  in  the  beginning.  In- 
cipient consumption  takes  place,  and  in  a  decade  of 
years  they  dwindle  down  to  large  infant  schools,  or  at 
best  to  academies  no  more  respectable  than  can  be 
found  in  other  localities  of  the  State. 

"  From  a  provision  in  the  enactment  of  the  present 
session  in  relation  to  donations  to  the  State  University, 
the  committee  are  very  hopeful  of  results. 

"  The  universities  of  our  Western  States  have  gen^ 
erally  excited  but  little  interest  among  the  friends  of 
education.  The  Legislature  has  been  the  only  '  alma 
mater'  to  which  they  could  look  for  nutrition,  and  too 
often  they  have  been  made  to  feel,  in  the  literal 
signification  of  the  word,  that  they  were  '  alumni.* 
Good  men,  fearing  constant  and  hasty  changes  in  policy 
by  succeeding  Legislatures,  have  preferred  to  endow 
institutions  of  learning  under  the  supervision  of  some 
branch  of  the  church.  Already  in  our  Commonwealth, 
Baldwin,  the  distinguished  manufacturer  of  locomo- 
tives, and  public-spirited  citizen  of  Philadelphia,  ha» 
given  thousands  of  dollars  to  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing at  St.  Paul,  and  Hamline,  an  honored  bishop  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  has  given  a  large  sum 
to  the  college  at  Red  Wing.  ,.,,  >,,  * 

"  Such  security  is  given  to  the  philanthropist,  in  the 
fifth  section  of  the  act  providing  for  the  government 
and  regulation  of  the  University  of  Minnesota,  that  it 
is  believed  that  in  the  course  of  three  or  four  years, 
the  State  may  expect  similar  endowments  from  iudi- 


«36 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


victuals  who  love  to  build  up  establishments  for  sound 
learning,  the  greatest  ornaments  a  republic  can  possess. 

"  Indeed,  we  do  not  see,  with  the  guards  thrown 
around  donations  by  the  provisions  of  the  sections 
alluded  to,  why  men  of  every  school  of  philosophy, 
and  shade  of  religious  belief,  should  not  become  zealous 
supporters  of  one  great  university,  which  shall  be 
known  far  and  wide  as  the  University  of  the  State. 

"  The  framer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
Thomas  JeflFerson,  at  the  close  of  his  life,  looked  back 
with  the  greatest  pleasure  to  the  share  he  had  in  the 
foundation  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  he  de- 
sired that  a  record  of  the  fact  should  be  engraved  on 
the  marble  that  marks  his  grave.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  is  a  wise  policy  for  every  State  so  to  con- 
ciliate all  of  her  best  citizens  as  to  enlist  their  sympa- 
thies in  behalf  of  her  eleemosynary  institutions. 

*'  Nothing  so  cultivates  a  proper  State  pride  as  un  in- 
stitution of  learning,  in  which  the  youth  of  the  State 
can  be  educated,  and  feel  that  their  advantages  have 
been  inferior  to  none. 

"  Time,  toil,  and  great  patience  will  be  needed  to  per- 
fect a  university  system.  The  oaks  of  California,  ma- 
jestic in  appearance  now,  required  centuries  for  de- 
velopment after  the  acorn  was  buried  in  the  soil.  For 
live  years  nothing  may  be  done  by  the  Regents,  which 
is  visible  or  tangible,  and  yet  these  silent  and  invisible 
processes  are  necessary  to  permanent  growth. 

"  The  general  government  for  years  employed  skilful 
engineers  in  throwing  vast  rocks  into  the  ocean,  at  the 
entrance  of  Delaware  Bay.     To  the  class  of  men  who 
looked  for  results  in  a  day,  it  seemed  a  foolish  and  ex 
pensive  work,  but  little  better  than  '  building  castles 


MEMORIAL   FOR   GRANT  OF   LAND. 


637 


in  the  air;'  but  now  that  these  piles  of  rock  have 
reached  the  surface  of  the  waters,  and  are  surmounted 
by  massive  walls  behind  which  ships  nestle  in  the 
fiercest  storm,  with  the  security  of  the  brood  under 
the  shadow  of  the  mother's  wing,  the  humblest  mari- 
ner appreciates  the  work,  and  as  he  sails  along,  prays 
'  God  save  the  Commonwealth.'  Let  us  lay  the  foun- 
dation stones  of  the  University,  and  the  generation 
which  follow  us,  when  they  behold  the  superstructure, 
will  be  sure  to  bless  the  foresight  and  the  persevering 
labour  which  has  secured  to  them  the  priceless  boon  of 
a  complete  education ;  a  breakwater  against  the  waves 
of  anarchy,  superstition,  and  *  science  falsely  so  called.' " 

For  the  sake  of  economy,  as  well  as  procuring  unity 
of  development  during  the  State's  infancy,  an  act  was 
passed  by  the  second  Legislature  making  the  Chan- 
cellor of  the  University  also  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Regents  of  the  State 
University,  on  April  fifth,  1860,  the  following  memo- 
rial was  adopted,  relative  to  a  grant  of  land,  which, 
after  long  delay,  was  secured : 


"  His  Excellency  Alex.  Ramsey,  Gov.  of  Minnesota : 

"  Dear  Sir, — In  February,  1851,  the  Territorial  Leg- 
islature passed  an  act  incorporating  *a  Territorial  In- 
stitution of  learning  under  the  name  of  the  University 
of  Minnesota,'  to  which  were  granted  *  the  proceeds 
of  all  lands  that  may  hereafter  be  granted  by  the 
United  States  to  the  Territory  for  the  support  of  a 
university.'  On  February  nineteenth,  of  the  same 
year,  it  was  enacted  by  Congress : 

'"That  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior   be,  and    he 


«38 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


hereby  is,  authorized  and  directed  to  set  apart  and  re- 
serve from  sale,  out  of  the  public  lands,  within  the 
Territory  of  Minnesota,  to  which  the  Indian  title  has 
been  or  may  be  extinguished,  and  not  otherwise  ap- 
propriated, a  quantity  of  land  not  exceeding  two  entire 
townships,  for  the  use  and  support  of  a  University  in 
said  Territory/,  and  for  no  other  use  and  purpose  what- 
ever, to  be  located  in  legal  subdivisions  of  not  less 
than  one  entire  section.' 

"  Shortly  after  this  Congressional  enactment  the  Re- 
gents of  the  Territorial  University  organized,  obtained 
a  site,  erected  a  building  thereon,  and  commenced  in- 
«truction  therein, — the  first  instance  on  record  of  a 
Territorial  University  going  into  operation  at  so  early 
A  period  in  tlie  history  of  a  Territory. 

"  The  Regents  also,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior,  proceeded  to  select  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  lands  granted  for  the  Territorial  institution. 
Subsequently  they  erected  a  costly  edifice  and  mort- 
gaged it,  by  virtue  of  a  power  granted  by  the  Terri- 
torial Legislature  of  1856,  for  $15,000,  to  secure  the 
payment  of  certain  bonds,  and  by  another  act  passed 
in  1858,  on  the  eighth  day  of  March,  before  the  ad- 
mission of  Minnesota  into  the  Union,  mortgaged  lands 
that  had  been  selected  by  the  Regents,  to  secure  the 
payment  of  a  further  sum  of  $40,000  borrowed  by  the 
Regents  for  the  Territorial  institution. 

"Heretofore  Congress  has  made  grants  to  Territories 
not  having  organized  any  Universities,  and  the  lands 
being  free  from  all  prospective  incumbrances,  the  En- 
abling Acts  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa  have 
used  the  following  similar  phraseology : 

" '  Seventy-two  sections  of  land,  set  apart  and  reserved 


HBlfORIAL  FOR  ORANT  OF  LAND. 


699 


for  the  use  and  support  of  a  University  by  an  Act  of 

Oongress  approved  on day  of are  hereby 

granted  and  conveyed  to  the  State,  to  be  appropriated 
solely  to  the  use  and  support  of  such  University  in 
such  manner  as  the  Legislature  may  prescribe.' 

"  The  condition  of  Minnesota  being  different,  so  far  as 
a  Territorial  University  was  concerned,  we  expect  and 
find  different  language  in  the  Enabling  Act.  There  is 
no  reference,  as  in  acts  alluded  to,  to  previous  reserves, 
but  it  is  prospective.  It  says,  if  certain  provisions  are 
accepted : 

"  *  That  seventy-two  sections  of  land  shall  be  set  apart 
and  reserved  for  the  use  and  support  of  a  State  Uni- 
versity to  be  selected  by  the  Oovemor  of  said  State,  sub- 
ject to  the  approval  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  Gen- 
eral Land  Office.' 

"  Although  a  Territorial  University  had  been  in  ex- 
istence for  years,  and  the  Regents  had  selected  lands, 
there  is  no  reference  thereto,  but  the  language  pre- 
scribes selections  for  a  future  State  University. 
-'  "  Certainly  it  was  not  the  intention  of  Congress  to 
turn  over  the  debts  and  prospectively  encumbered 
lands  of  an  old  and  badly  managed  Territorial  institu- 
tion, but  to  give  the  State,  that  was  to  be,  a  grant  for 
a  State  University,  free  from  all  connections  with  Ter- 
ritorial organizations. 

"  Will  you,  therefore,  take  the  steps  indicated  in  the 
Enabling  Act,  and  appoint,  at  an  early  day,  some  one 
to  select  two  townships  of  land  for  the  State  Univer- 
sity, incorporated  by  the  last  Legislature. 

"  In  behalf  of  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  the 
State  of  Minnesota. 

"  E.  D.  i-^EiLL,  Chancellor" 


64« 


HI8T0BT  07  MINNB30TA. 


\ 


On  March  twenty-third,  1860,  the  first  white  per- 
son'  executed  under  the  laws  of  the  State  was 
hung,  and,  from  the  fact  that  the  one  who  suffered 
the  penalty  was  a  tvoumn,  attracted  <>.on8iderable 
attention. 

Michael  Bilansky  died  on  March  eleventh,  1859, 
and  upon  examination  was  found  to  have  been  poisoned. 
Anna,  his  fourth  wife,  was  tried  fur  the  oflfence,  found 
guilty,  and  on  December  third,  1859,  sentenced  to  be 
liang.  The  opponents  of  capital  punishment  secured 
the  passage  of  an  act  by  the  Legislature  to  meet  her  case, 
which  was  vetoed  by  the  Governor  as  unconstitutional. 
Two  days  before  the  execution  the  unhappy  woman 
requested  her  spiritual  adviser  to  write  to  her  father 
and  mother  in  North  Carolina,  but  not  to  state  the 
cause  of  her  death.  The  scaffold  was  erected  in  St. 
Paul  near  the  county  jail. 

The  third  State  Legislature  assembled  on  January 
eighth,  and  adjourned  on  March  eighth,  1861.  As 
Minnesota  was  the  first  State  which  received  1280 
acres  of  land  in  each  township  for  school  purposes,  the 
Governor,  in  his  annual  message,  occupied  several  pages 
in  an  able  and  elaborate  argument  as  to  the  best 
methods  of  guarding  and  selling  the  school  lands,  and 
protecting  the  school  fund. 

The  comprehensive  views  set  forth  made  a  deep 
impression,  and  were  embodied  in  appropriate  legisla- 
tion, and  the  School  Land  policy  of  the  State  has 
called  forth  the  highest  commendation  from  educators 
in  other  States. 

The  educational  policy  of  the  State  was  freely  dis- 


i  An  Indian  was  hung  in  Deoembor,  1861.    See  p.  Qll. 


OFFIOB  OF   PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION. 


C4l 


cussed  during  the  third  session  of  the  Legislature.  The 
Senate  Committee,  in  presenting  a  bill  prescribing  the 
salary  of  Chancellor  of  the  University,  ex-officio  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  made  the  following 
report : 

*'  That  in  Wisconsin  the  Chancellor  of  the  University 
receives  for  services  rendered  to  the  State  the  annual 
compensation  of  three  thousand  dollars,  while  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  with  an  assistant 
and  one  clerk,  receives  thirty-six  hundred  dollars ;  also 
that  in  Iowa  the  Chancellor  of  the  State  University 
receives  two  thousand  dollars,  and  the  office  of  Public 
Instruction  twenty-four  hundred  dollars.  Our  own 
State,  profiting  by  the  counsels  of  experienced  edu- 
cators in  other  States,  has  recognized  the  unity  of 
educational  interests,  and  the  fact  that  there  must  be 
a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  primary,  secondary, 
and  high  schools  before  there  can  be  a  proper  university, 
and  therefore  the  last  Legislature  made  the  Chancellor 
of  the  State  University  ex-qfficio  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction.  Thus  one  of  the  most  delicate  and 
responsible  departments  of  the  State  government  is 
entrusted  to  one  who  is  presumed  to  be  and  ought  to 
be  acquainted  with  the  educational  systems  of  the  past 
and  present,  and  who  is  also  lifted  above  the  din  of 
party  strife  and  the  influences  which  so  often  lead  to  a 
caucus  nomination  and  an  election  by  a  political  party, 
or  their  representatives  assembled  in  joint  conven- 
tion." 

The  views  of  the  Committee  were  clamorously  assailed 

by  a  small  minority.  That  no  personal  prejudices  against 

tlie  head  of  the  educational  system  might  endanger  the 

important  cause  of  public  instruction^  the  Chancellor  of 

41 


M 


BISTORT  OF  MINNI80TA. 


the  Univereity  resigned.*  The  result  of  the  discussion 
was  that  a  law  was  passed  creating  a  separate  olBce 
of  public  instruction,  and  in  joint  convention  the  T<egis- 
lature,  five  members  only  dissenting,  elected  the  late 
Chancellor  of  the  University  as  the  head  of  the  new 
office.  The  Regents  of  the  University  at  their  next 
meeting  having  requested  Mr.  Neill  to  withdraw  his 
resignation,  he  again  became  chancellor,  and  so  con- 


> "  St.  Paul,  Feb.  26, 1861. 
"Hon.  Alex.  Rambet: 

"Dear  Sir:— In  tendering  my 
reiignation  as  Glianoellor  of  the 
University  of  Minnesota,  it  is  proper 
that  a  brief  allusion  should  be  made 
in  relation  to  my  connection  with  the 
educational  affairs  of  the  State. 

"In  the  year  1868,  during  the 
administration  of  your  predecessor, 
and  at  the  instance  of  Hon.  H.  M. 
Rice,  I  was  elected  chancellor.  After 
several  weeks  of  deliberation  I  ac- 
cepted the  office ;  for  although  I  dis> 
oovored  that  by  poor  management 
the  institution  had  incurred  a  heavy 
debt  by  the  erection  of  a  building  in 
Advance  of  the  wants  of  the  insti- 
tution, yet  I  supposed  that  by  strict 
watchfulness  the  debt  might  in  years 
be  liquidated,  and  the  University 
serve  its  purpose  at  its  proper  time. 

The  last  Legislature  repealed  the 
old  charter  of  the  Territorial  Univer- 
sity, and  passed  a  new  act  by  which 
the  old  Regents  as  well  aa  myself 
were  displaced.  They  also  enacted 
that  the  chancellor  under  the  new 
arrangement  should  be  ex-offieio  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion. The  new  Board,  with  one  ex- 
ception, were  of  different  political 
opinions  from  a  majority  of  the  old 


Board,  but  at  their  flrst  meeting 
they  re-elected  me  chancellor. 

"  The  action  of  the  last  Legislature 
commended  itself  to  me,  for  it  made 
a  unit  of  educational  interests  too 
often  separated.  Believing  that  a 
State  University  should  be  kept  in 
the  closest  sympathy  with  thenormal 
and  public  schools,  and  that  tbero 
never  could  be  a  university  worthy 
of  the  name  unless  the  publ*''  i^choois 
were  made  etDcient,  I  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  the  office  with  enthu- 
siasm, and  the  hearty  '  Ood-speed,' 
as  I  supposed,  of  men  of  all  creeds 
and  parties.  Thu  correspondence  on 
file  in  the  office  giids  abundant  evi- 
dence that  the  position  has  not  been 
a  sinecure.  But  a  respectable  number 
of  the  present  Legis'ature  desire  to 
modify  the  system  lately  inaugu- 
rated, and  which  has  been  com- 
mended by  distinguished  educators 
abroad,  and  bring  the  office  of  8u- 
peH'-.tendent  of  Public  Instruction 
nearer  to  political  influences.  In 
order  that  they  may  have  do  ob- 
stacles to  the  reconstruction  of  the 
educational  system  as  their  wisdom 
and  matured  experience  may  sug- 
gest, I  think  it  better  that  I  should 
retire. 

"  Since  1868 1  have  performed  the 


UNIVBR0ITY  OHANCBIiLORSHIP. 


•48 


tinued  until,  during  his  abeenee  in  the  public  service, 
his  office  was  vacated  by  legislation. 


duties  of  the  ohnncellonhip,  and 
nince  March,  1860,  those  of  the 
8tato  luporintendcnoy,  without  any 
oomponaation,  and  have  been  obli)rocl 
to  fiirniah  the  office  with  dosks, 
poAtnge,  itationery,  and  a  part  of 
thu  time  employ  a  cleric,  ami  aUo 
pity  nil  my  travelling  expenses  while 
ill  the  girvice  of  the  State. 

"  By  law  the  Lcgislaturo  is  re- 
quirod  to  provide  suitable  compen- 
tation,  and  I  have  no  doubi  that  if 
this  Legislature,  owing  to  the  extreme 
poverty  of  the  State,  fail  to  remu« 


nerata  me  fur  the  urvioM  performed 
and  money  expended  in  bfhulf  of 
(he  Commonwealth,  that  the  duy  will 
come  when  1  will  be  paid  in  full, 
with  interest.  Assure  the  ilugonts 
of  my  high  personal  regard,  and  thi ', 
while  no  longer  holding  r.ny  official 
connection,  I  am  still,  as  ever,  ready 
to  co-operate  in  any  movement  that 
will  tend  to  give  our  Stata  a  name 
for  intelligence. 
"  Yours  truly, 

"  Eow.  D.  Null  " 


644 


BISTORT  OF  MINNESOTA. 


•;:'-i;;/y.'('Mt,1  fljiiJlj;  ,;  .  'i:^y!i'^y 


;(-t 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

MINNKSOTA'P  part  in  suppressing  slaveholders'  REBELLION: 
OCCURRENCES   OP   1861. 


The  people  of  Minnesota  had  not  been  as  excited 
as  those  of  the  Atlantic  States  relative  to  the  ques- 
tions that  were  disc  ^sed  previous  lo  the  presidential 
election  of  November,  1860.  A  majority  had  calmly 
declared  ^heir  preference  for  Abraham  Lincoln  as 
Presiden    cf  the  republic. 

Thfc  sources  of  the  Mississippi  River  being  in  tjie 
State,  its  waters,  after  rolling  by  the  capital,  also  wash 
the  borders  of  the  former  slave  States  of  Missouri, 
Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and  Louisiana,  and 
passing  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  are  lost  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Living  upon  the  banks  of  the  same  river, 
in  the  summer-time,  the  slaveholder  would  leave  his 
plantation  and  breathe  the  bracing  atmosphere  of  the 
valley  Ox^  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  while  he  dis- 
covered that  the  citizens  of  Minnesota,  with  but  *ew 
exceptions,  considered  the  holding  of  persons  of  Afri- 
can descent  in  slavery  8S  a  foul  blot  upon  the  repu- 
tation of  States  that  belonged  to  a  so-called  free  re- 
public, yet  he  was  treated  with  kindness,  and  was 
convinced  that  there  was  no  disposition  upon  the  part 
of  the  inhabitants  to  use  unlawful  measures  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery. 


ATTACK  ON  FORT  SUMTER. 


645 


But  the  blood  of  her  quiet  and  intelligent  population 
was  stirred  on  the  morning  of  April  fourteenth,  1861, 
by  the  intelligence  communicated  in  the  daily  papers 
of  the  capital,  that  the  insurgents  of  South  Carolina 
had  bombarded  Fort  Sumter,  and  that  after  a  gallant 
resistance  of  thirty-four  hours.  General  Anderson  and 
the  few  soldiers  of  his  command  had  been  obliged 
to  haul  down  their  country's  flag  and  evacuate  the 
fort. 

The  sad,  thoughtful  countenances  of  the  congrega- 
tions worshipping  in  the  churches,  the  groups  of  earnest 
men  talking  at  the  corners  of  the  streets  on  that  event- 
ful Sunday,  indicated  their  conviction  that  the  existence 
of  the  nation  was  imperilled,  and  that  the  honour  of 
the  flag  must  be  sustained  by  the  expenditure  of  life 
and  much  treasure. 

Governor  Ramsey  was  in  Washington  at  this  period, 
and  on  Sunday  called  upon  the  President  of  the  re- 
public with  two  other  citizens  from  Minnesota,  and 
was  the  first  of  the  State  governors  to  tender  the 
services  of  the  people  he  represented  in  defence  of 
the, republic.        ■  f i*'  »A»T;*fr, *,!< > 

The  offer  of  a  regiment  was  accepted,  and  the  Gov- 
ernor sent  a  dispatch  to  Lieutenant-governor  Donnelly, 
which  caused  the  issuing  on  Tuesday,  the  sixteenth,  of 
the  following  proclamation:  "Whereas,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  in  the  due  enforcement  of 
the  laws  has  for  several  months  past  been  resisted  by 
armed  organizations  of  citizens  in  several  of  the  South- 
ern States,  who  precipitating  the  country  into  revolu- 
tion, have  seized  upon  and  confiscated  the  property  of 
the  nation  to  the  amount  of  many  millions  of  dollars; 
have  taken  possession  of  'ts  forts  and  arsenals;  have 


646 


HISTORY   OF  MINNESOTA. 


fired  upon  its  flag,  and  at  last  consummating  their 
treason,  have,  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  indignity 
and  humiliation,  assaulted  and  captured  a  Federal  fort,^ 
occupied  by  Federal  troops.  And  whereas,  all  these 
outrages,  it  is  evident,  are  to  be  followed  by  an  at- 
tempt to  seize  upon  the  national  capital  and  the  offi- 
cers and  archives  of  the  government.  And  whereas, 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  recurring  in  this 
extremity  to  the  only  resource  left  him,  the  patriot- 
ism of  a  people  who  through  three  great  wars,  and 
all  the  changes  of  eighty-five  years,  have  ever  proved 
true  to  the  cause  of  law,  order  and  free  institutions, 
has  issued  a  requisition  to  the  governors  of  the  seve- 
ral States  for  troops  to  support  the  government. 

*'  Now  therefore,  in  pursuance  of  law  and  of  the  re- 
quisition of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  I  do 
hereby  give  notice  that  volunteers  will  be  received  at 
the  city  of  St.  Paul  for  one  regiment  of  infantry,  com- 
posed of  ten  companies,  each  of  sixty-four  privates, 
one  captain,  two  lieutenants,  four  sergeants,  four  cor- 
porals, and  one  bugler.  The  volunteer  companies  al- 
ready organized,  upon  complying  with  the  foregoing 
requirements  as  to  numbers  and  officers,  will  be  en- 
titled to  be  first  received. 

•*  The  terra  of  service  will  be  three  months,  unless 
sooner  discharged.  Volunteers  will  report  them- 
selves to  the  adjutant-general,  at  the  capital,  St. 
Paul,  by  whom  orders  will  at  once  be  issued,  giving 
all  the  necessary  details  as  to  enrollment  and  organ- 
ization." 

Business  during  the  week  was  almost  suspended. 
The  national  flag  displayed  over  the  stores  and  the 
roofs  of  private  residences  evinced  that  there  was  a 


TROOPS    QUICKLY   RAISED. 


647 


determination  to  preserve  what,  with  all  of  its  blem- 
ishes, was  still  the  best  of  earthly  governments. 

All  political  party  ties  were  obliterated,  and  the 
public  meetings  at  the  capital  and  at  St.  Anthony, 
Minneapolis,  Red  Wing,  Winona,  and  in  all  thej)rin- 
cipal  towns,  indicated  a  surprising  unanimity  and  re- 
solve to  use  every  effort  to  conquer  the  slaveholders' 
rebellion. 

Under  the  call  issued  by  the  lieutenant-governor, 
acting  in  the  absence  of  the  Governor,  recruiting  was 
begun  with  alacrity.  On  Monday  morning,  the  six- 
teenth, companies  of  the  artillery  of  the  regular  army 
arrived  at  St.  Paul  from  Fort  Ridgley  in  charge  of 
Major  Pemberton,  hastening  to  Washington  to  aid  in 
protection  of  the  capital ;  but  this  officer,  before  he 
reached  the  destination,  resigned  his  command,  and, 
although  a  native  of  one  of  the  free  States,  offered  his 
sword  in  defence  of  the  confederacy  of  slave  States. 

The  first  company  raised  under  the  call  of  the  State 
was  composed  of  the  most  energetic  of  the  young  men 
of  St.  Paul,  and  its  captain  was  the  esteemed  William 
H.  Acker,  who  had  been  the  adjutant-general  of  the 
State  militia.  Other  companies  quickly  followed  in 
tendering  their  services. 

On  the  last  Monday  of  April  a  camp  for  the  1st 
Regiment  was  opened  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  Captain 
Anderson  D.  Nelson,  U.  S.  A.,  in  two  or  three  days 
mustered  in  the  companies,  and  on  the  twenty -seventh 
ol  the  month  Adjutant-General  John  B.  Sanborn,  in 
behalf  of  Governor  Ramsey,  ex-qfficio  commander-in- 
chief  of  Stivte  troops,  issued  the  following  order: 

"  The  commander-in-chief  expresses  his  gratification 
at  the  prompt  response  to  the  call  of  the  President  of 


«48 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  United  States  upon  the  militia  of  Minnesota,  and 
his  regret  that  under  the  present  requisition  for  only 
ten  companies  it  is  not  possible  to  accept  the  services 
of  all  the  companies  offered. 

"  The  following  companies,  under  the  operation  of 
General  Order  No.  1,  have  been  accepted  :  Company  B, 
2d  Regiment,  Capt.  Lester ;  Company  A,  6th  Regiment, 
Capt.  Pell ;  Company  A,  7th  Regiment,  Capt.  Colville ; 
Company  A,  8th  Regiment,  Capt.  Dike ;  Company  A, 
13th  Regiment,  Capt.  Adams;  Company  A,  16th  Regi- 
ment, Capt,  Putnam;  Company  A,  17th  Regiment,  Capt. 
Morgan;  Company  A,  'AM  Regiment,  Capt.  Wilkin; 
Company  B,  23d  Regiment,  Capt.  Acker ;  Company  A, 
25th  Regiment,  Capt.  Broomley.  Each  officer  and 
private  is  recommended  to  provide  himself  with  a 
blanket.  Captains  of  the  above  companies  will  report 
their  respective  commands  to  the  adjutant-general  at 
Fort  Snelling. 

"  The  commander-in-chief  recommends  the  com- 
panies not  enumerated  above  to  maintain  their  organi- 
zation and  perfect  their  drill,  and  that  patriotic  citizens 
throughout  the  State  continue  to  enroll  themselves  and 
be  ready  for  any  emergency."       jpHv''  '^-^ 

More  companies  having  offered  than  were  necessary 
to  fill  the  quota  of  the  l«<t  Regiment,  on  May  third 
the  Governor  sent  a  telegram  to  the  President  offering 
a  second  regiment. 

The  authorities  at  Washington  were  soon  convinced 
of  the  magnitude  of  the  rebellion,  and  on  May  seventh 
Mr.  Cameron,  secretary  of  war,  sent  the  following 
telegnim  to  Governor  Ramsey: 

"  It  is  decidedly  preferable  that  all  the  regiments 
mustered  into  the  service  of  the  government  from  your 


FLAG   PRESENTATION. 


649 


State  not  already  actually  sent  forward  should  be  mus- 
tered into  service  for  three  years  or  during  the  war. 
If  any  persons  belonging  to  the  regiments  already 
mustered  for  three  months,  but  not  yet  actually  sent 
forward,  should  be  unwilling  to  serve  for  three  years 
or  during  the  war,  could  not  their  places  be  filled  by 
others  willing  to  serve?"  ti,'/ ;t«ii»rtb 

On  May  eleventh  Lieutenant-governor  Donnelly 
telegraphed  to  Governor  Ramsey,  then  in  Washington 
on  official  business :  "  The  entire  1st  Regiment,  by 
its  commissioned  officers,  is  this  day  tendered  to  the 
President  for  three  years  or  during  the  war.  The  men 
will  be  mustered  in  to-day  by  Capt.  Nelson.  In  case 
of  deficiency  in  the  ranks,  what  course  would  you  re- 
commend ?     Answer."  ;S<^^r'.'*- 

The  same  day  the  Governor  replied:  "Adjutant- 
General  Thomas  authorizes  me  to  say  that  Captain 
Nelson  may  muster  in  Colonel  Gorman's  regiment  at 
once  for  three  years  or  during  the  war.  Do  this  at 
once  under  dispatch  of  May  seventh."        ^'^  *« 

The  ladies  of  St.  Paul  having  purchased  a  hand- 
some silk  flag  lor  the  rtgiment,  on  May  twenty-fifth 
they  came  to  receive  the  present.  After  a  six  miles' 
march  from  Fort  Snelling,  the  regiment  arrived  in  the 
f<uburbs  of  the  city  about  10  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Before  they  reached  the  capitol  the  grounds  surround- 
ing and  adjacent  streets  were  crowded  with  spectators. 
The  troops  having  been  formed  in  hollow  square  in 
front  of  the  building,  the  wife  of  the*trovernor  appeared 
on  the  steps  with  the  flag  in  her  hand,  and  Captain 
Stansbury,  of  U.  S.  A.  Topographical  Engineers,  made 
the  presentation  speech  in  behalf  of  the  ladies,  after 
which  Colonel  Gorman  replied  most  appropriately. 


650 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


On  June  fourteenth,  the  Governor  received  a  di». 
patch  from  the  secretary  of  war  ordering  the  regiment 
to  Washington.  Messengers  were  immediately  sent  by 
Colonel  Gorman  to  the  companies  temporarily  garrison- 
ing Forts  Ripley  and  Ridgley  to  report  at  Fort  Sneiiing. 

On  the  twenty-first,  at  an  early  hour  they  embarked 
in  the  steamers  Northern  Belle  and  War  Eagle.'  Before 
marching  out  of  the  fort  to  the  boats,  their  chaplain 
delivered  the  following  address  : 

"  Soldiers  of  M  innesota !  This  is  not  the  hour  for 
many  words.  The  moment  your  faces  are  turned 
toward  the  South  you  assume  a  new  attitude.  Gray- 
haired  sires,  venerable  matrons,  young  men  and  fair 
maidens  will  look  upon  you  with  pride  as  you  glide 
by  their  peaceful  homes.  From  week  to  week  they 
will  eagerly  search  the  newspapers  to  learn  your  posi- 
tion and  condition.        ^c  «iv«i:K'«*^"- 

"  To-day  the  whole  State  view  you  as  representative 
men,  and  you  no  doubt  realize  that  the  honour  of  our 
Commonwealth  is  largely  entrusted  to  your  keeping. 

"  Your  errand  is  not  to  overturn,  but  to  uphold  the 
most   tolerant  and   forbearing   government  on  earth. 


>  Stafv  Officebs. 

Willis  A.  Gorman,  Colonel.  Promo- 
ted to  Brigadier-General  by  advice  of 
General  Winfleld  Scott,  Oct.  7,  1801. 

Stephen  Miller,  LieuUnant-Col- 
imel.  Made  Colonel  of  7th  Regi- 
ment, Aug.  1862. 

William  H.  Dike,  ifiijor.  Ke- 
iiigned  Out.  22,  1861. 

William  B.  Leacfa,  Adjutant.  Made 
CapUin  and  A.  A.-G.  Feb.  22,  1862. 

Mark  W.  Downic,  Quarternuuter. 
Promoted  Oaptain  Company  B,  July 
16,  1861. 


Jacob  H.  Stewart,  Surgeon.  Pris- 
oner of  war  at  Bull  Run,  July  1861. 
Paroled  at  Richmond. 

Charles  W.  Le  Boulillier,  Assistant- 
Surgeon.  Prisoner  of  war  at  Bull 
Run.  Surgeon  9th  Regiment.  Died 
April  1863. 

Edward  D.  Neill,  Chaplain.  Re- 
signed July  18,  1862,  and  commis- 
sioned by  President  Lincoln  as  Hos- 
pital Chaplain  U.  S.  A.  In  1864 
resigned,  and  commissioned  as  one 
of  the  secretaries  to  President. 


DEPARTURE  OF   FIRST   REGIMENT. 


6M 


You  go  to  war  with  misguided  brethren,  not  with 
wrathful,  but  with  mourning  hearts.  Your  demeanour 
Uom  the  day  of  enUstment  shows  that  you  are  fit  for 
something  else  than  '  treason,  stratagem,  and  spoils.' 

"  To  fight  for  a  great  principle  is  a  noble  work.  We 
are  all  erring  and  fallible  men ;  but  the  civilized  world 
feel  that  you  are  engaged  in  a  just  cause,  which  God 
will  defend. 

"  In  introducing  myself  to  you,  I  would  say,  I  come 
not  to  command,  but  to  be  a  friend,  and  to  point  to  you^ 
the '  Friend  of  friends,'  who  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother, 
who  pities  when  no  earthly  eye  can  pity,  and  who  can 
save  when  no  earthly  arm  can  save. 

"  As  far  as  in  me  lies,  I  am  ready  to  make  known 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel,  the  simple  but  sublime 
truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  religion  I  shall  in- 
culcate will  make  you  self-denying,  courageous,  cheerful 
here,  and  happy  hereafter. 

"  Soldiers !  if  you  would  be  obedient  to  God,  you  must 
honour  him  who  has  [)een  ordained  to  lead  you  forth. 
The  colonel's  will  must  be  your  will.  If,  like  the  Roman 
centurion,  he  says,  '  go,'  go  you  must.  If  he  says  '  come,' 
come  you  must.  God  grant  you  all  the  Hebrew's  endur- 
ing faith,  and  you  will  be  sure  to  have  the  Hebrew's 
valor.     Now  with  the  Hebrew  benediction  I  close. 

"  The  Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you.  The  Lord 
make  his  face  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious  unto 
you.  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  you  and 
give  you  peace.     Amen  !" 

At  7.30  A.M.  the  troops  arrived  at  the  upper  landing 
of  St.  Paul,  and  amid  the  tears  and  cheers  of  its  citizens^ 
marched  through  the  city  to  the  lower  landing,  and 
again  embarked  for  the  seat  of  war. 


ess 


HISTORY  OF   MINNESOTA. 


While  this  regiment  did  not  contain  any  braver  or 
better  men  than  those  which  were  subsequently  raised, 
yet  because  it  was  the  First,  and  also  the  only  one,  from 
Minnesota,  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  engaged  in  de- 
fence of  the  national  capital,  its  course  during  the  war 
was  watched  with  deep  interest.  Their  journey  to  Wash- 
ington so  soon  after  the  call  for  troops,  and  their  fine, 
healthful  appearance,  were  commended  by  the  public 
press.  Mi-jf*-  I  .uf»?.ai'i 

The  Chicago  Tribune,  June  twenty-third,  said  :  "  Gal- 
lant Minnesota  deserves  high  credit  for  her  noble  sons 
and  their  appearance  yesterday.  They  have  enjoyed  in 
their  make-up  that  rare  and  excellent  process  of  selec- 
tion and  culling  from  the  older  States  which  has  thrown 
into  the  van  of  civilization  the  hardy  lumbermen  and 
first  settlers  of  the  wilds.  There  are  few  regiments  we 
ever  saw  that  can  compete  in  brawn  and  muscle  with 
these  Minnesotiano,  used  to  the  axe,  the  rifle,  the  oar, 
the  setting  pole,  and  thus  every  way  splendid  material 
for  soldiers." 

Another  paper  of  the  same  city,  in  an  editorial  with 
the  caption  "  Northern  Hive,"  thus  descants :  "  The 
advent  of  the  Minnesota  regiment  on  Sunday  on  their 
way  to  the  seat  of  war  was  suggestive  of  many  curious 
reflections.  It  carried  the  mind  back  to  the  twilight 
of  modern  civilization,  to  the  days  when  not  hireling 
mercenaries,  but  companions  in  arms,  free  men  of 
northern  Europe,  burst  from  their  icy  homes  and  over- 
whelmed their  effeminate  southern  neighbors.  The  old 
story  of  the  world's  history  seemed  to  be  repeated ;  and 
chronicle  and  tradition  alike  teach  us  what  the  result 
must  be.  As  we  beheld  the  men  march  by,  their  stal- 
wart forms,  wild  dress,  martial   bearing,  and  healthy 


FIRST   RBOIMKNT   AT   ALKXANORIA. 


668 


complexions  gave  reality  to  the  reflection,  that  this,  after 
all  was  repetition  of  the  scene, — that  these  were  forms  as 
brawny,  faces  as  intelligent,  expressions  as  resolute,  as 
in  the  days  of  old  issued  from  the  Northern  Hive  to 
plant  the  foundations  of  all  that  we  now  know  of  free- 
dom and  civilization." 

After  remaining  a  few  days  encamped  at  Washington, 
the  regiment  was  ordered  to  cross  the  Potomac.  A 
correspondent  of  the  St.  Paul  Press  writes  as  follows 
from 

"  Camp  Minnesota,  rear  or  Alexandria, 
"  Fourth  of  July  night. 

"  The  Minnesota  Regiment,  since  yesterday  after- 
noonj  has  not  been  'in  clover,'  but  in  a  field  of  timothy. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  3d  we  pulled  up  stakes  in 
the  rear  of  the  Capitol,  and,  marching  down  to  the 
Washington  Navy  Yard,  were  received  by  Commodore 
Dahlgren,  a  noble  specimen  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  true 
patriot,  who  had  two  staunch  steamers  all  ready  to 
convey  us  to  Alexandria.  As  I  renewed  acquaintance 
with  the  commodore,  I  could  but  realize  the  painful 
estrangements  that  have  taken  place  in  a  few  month^«. 
The  last  time  I  had  met  him  was  at  a  small  evening 
party,  at  the  hospitable  house  of  Senator  Toombs,  then 
recognized  as  a  patriot,  and  particularly  as  a  friend  of 
our  young'  State,  now  known  the  world  over  as  one  of 
a  few  fanatics  who  have  conspired  to  overthrow  the 
most  beneficent  government  ever  devised  by  man. 

"Arriving  at  Alexandria  in  less  than  an  hour, 
we  marched  to  General  McDowell's  head-quarters, 
and  received  directions  to  retire  to  our  camping- 
ground,  and  were  reviewed  by  him  and  other  military 
officers. 


im 


HISTORY  OF   MINNESOTA. 


"The  reception  in  Alexandria  formed  the  widest 
•contrast  to  that  in  Chicago.        « 

"The  latter  was  enthusiastic,  and  the  filled  streets, 
although  it  was  the  peaceful  Sabbath  eve,  waved  with 
a  forest  of  clapprng  hands;  but,  in  the  former,  vacant 
houses,  with  here  and  there  a  half-opened  shutter,  re- 
vealing a  curious,  peeping  female,  and  in  the  streets  a 
knot  of  sullen  or  expressionless  faces,  were  all  the 
manifestations  witnessed. 

"  The  spot  selected  for  our  encampment  was  a  large 
field  of  waving  timothy,  yesterday  belonging  to  a  man 
of  secession  proclivities,  but  to-day  it  has  withered 
under  the  Alaric  heel  of  oVir  Northmen. 

"  It  was  after  night  before  all  the  tents  arrived,  and 
it  was  pleasant  to  see  the  cheerfulness  with  which  the 
soldiers  bore  the  loss  of  their  usual  meals. 

"  During  the  afternoon  we  had  ocular  evidence  that 
we  were  in  'Ole  Virginny,'  as  the  negroes  say.  Our 
arrival  was  soon  chronicled  among  the  sable  popula- 
tion, and  soon  a  »mall  army  of  venders  of  gingerbread 
made  their  appearance. 

"  Lads  of  all  hues,  from  the  darkest  ebony  to  the 
lightest  cinnamon,  basket  in  hand,  grinned  at  you  in 
the  bewitching,  good-humoured  way  peculiar  to  negro 
boys,  that  is  irresistible  and  forces  you  to  buy  a  cake 
and  dispense  with  any  change  that  is  due.  Fat,  shining, 
waddling,  turbaned,  composed,  thick-lipped  Dinahs  stop 
in  front  of  you  so  graciously  and  courtesy  so  low  that 
you  must  take  their  glass  of  lemonade,  which  is  only 
three  cents.  Toward  night,  dealers  in  large  craft, — 
Sambo,  who  is  too  big  a  gentleman  to  carry  bundles, 
has  harnessed  up  master's  large  horse  to  the  heavy 
wood-cart,  and  has  driven  out  with  the  ponderous  load 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  IN  VIRGINIA. 


666 


of  two  or  three  baskets  of  pies  and  sweet  things,  and, 
with  a  due  sense  of  importance,  awaits  customers. 

"  The  Fourth  of  July,  with  more  than  one  thousand 
Minnesotians  near  Alexandria,  with  the  Massachusetts 
5th  on  the  other  side  of  the  road,  and  Ellsworth's 
Zouaves  adjoining  them,  and  a  Pennsylvania  and 
Michigan  regiment  on  a  hill  near  by,  shows  that  the 
times  are  sadly  out  of  joint,  and  that  '  there  is  some- 
thing rotten  in  Virginia.' 

**  Yet,  all  day  long,  we  have  felt  as  if  the  spirit  of 
Washington  was  with  us,  and  if  he  was  to  arise  from 
his  tomb  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  move  with  his  wonted 
stately  step  through  the  streets  of  Alexandria,  once 
so  familiar  to  him,  that  he  would  look  around  as  Jesus 
once  gazed  on  the  Jews,  with  righteous  indignation. 

"He  lived  not  for  Virginia,  nor  for  the  South,  but 
denied  and  sacrificed  to  make  one  great  nation  out  of 
several  petty,  jealous,  and  insignificant  colonies.  As 
he  urged  the  suppression  of  the  Shays  rebellion  by  the 
force  of  arms,  so  we  feel  sure  that  he  approves  of  the 
occupancy  of  Virginia  soil  on  this  Fourth  of  July  by 
government  troops  to  suppress  the  Davis  insurrection. 

''Being  dead,  he  yet  speaks  to  us  and  tells  us  that 
our  nation  is  one,  and  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  formed  a  perpetual  Union,  which  no  State 
authority  can  abrogate. 

"  But  I  must  restrain  my  patriotism,  as  I  am  writing 
a  familiar  letter  on  the  top  of  a  trunk,  and  not  deliver- 
ing a  Fourth  of  July  oration. 

"  This  morning  about  3  o'clock  the  camp  was  called 
to  arms  by  the  rapid  beat  of  the  drum,  as  the  discharge 
of  muBketry  indicated  that  the  rebel  pickets  were  firing 
upon  ours  some  two  or  three  miles  distant. 


'-3 


•66 


UI8T0RY   07  MINNESOTA. 


"  Chaplain  Da  Costa,  of  the  5th  Massachusetts  Begi- 
ment,  visited  us  this  evening.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Episcopal  branch  of  the  church  catholic,  and  a  genial 
Christian  gentleman.  He  has  to-day  received  what  he 
has  long  waited  for,  a  piece  of  contraband  property, 
a  first-rate  block  servant,  trained  in  all  the  arts  and 
mysteries  of  his  profession. 

"  His  master's  residence  was  near  by,  but  he  has  been 
some  time  absent  as  captain  of  a  rebel  troop.  A  few 
days  ago  he  wrote  to  have  his  man  sent  to  him.  Two 
constables  to-day  went  out  from  Alexandria  to  see 
Sambo  at  his  master's  place,  and  convey  him  to  a 
Mock-up'  for  safe-keeping  until  there  was  a  favourable 
opportunity  to  forward  the  chattel. 

"  Sambo  liked  his  master  well  enough,  but  did  not 
relish  leaving  the  old  home  and  going  into  a  strange 
country  among  a  people  who  were  doing  very  strange 
things.  So,  watching  his  opportunity,  he  turned  a 
short  corner,  and,  dodging  his  pursuers,  threaded  the 
lane*?  a  id  alleys  of  Alexandria,  and,  with  the  speed  of 
a  dor,  bounded  into  the  Massachusetts  camp,  and  is 
now  the  happy  drawer  of  water  and  blacker  of  boots 
of  Chaplain  Da  Costa. 

"  Would  that  some  other  injured  individual  would 
take  to  his  heels  and  fly  to  the  tent  of  the  Minnesota 
chaplain,  who  is  sadly  in  need  of  a  Gibeonitel" 


i  f^fi 


The  same  correspondent  again  writes : 


"Oamp  Gorman,  nkar  Alexandria, 
"  July  10,  1861. 


"  Last  Sunday,  our  first  in  Virginia,  was  to  me  a 

calm,  pleasant,  holy  day.     At  the  appointed  hour  the 

-egiment  formed,  and,  preceded  by  the  band,  marched 


SUNDAY  SERVICE. 


65: 


to  a  clump  of  oaks  a  short  distance  from  the  camp, 
which  formed  a  Bethel  in  the  original  Hebrew  signifi- 
cation, and  would  have  delighted  a  Ruskin,  or  any 
other  lover  of  the  aesthetic. 

"  The  trees  were  not  more  than  twenty  in  number, 
hilt  lofty  and  venerable,  and  so  arranged  as  to  leave 
III!  open  and  shady  centre  just  sufficient  to  accommo* 
date  the  regiment.  While  the  companies  under  their 
respective  officers  were  filing  into  the  grove,  the  birds, 
poised  amid  the  graceful  arches  of  nature's  leafy  temple, 
sang  a  cheerful  voluntary,  which  sounded  far  more  like 
an  anthem  of  praise  than  the  artistic  performances  of 
mere  heartless  hirelinj;'^  on  the  solemn-toned  organ  in 
some  modern  sanctuaries. 

"  The  prayers,  the  hymns,  and  the  discourse  were 
conformed  to  the  occasion,  and  it  is  said  that  the 
audience  was  not  weary.  While  the  chaplain  was 
invoking  the  blessing  of  Heaven  upon  our  nation's 
arms,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leftwich,  pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Alexandria,  in  his  own  pulpit 
offered  earnest  prayer  for  the  success  of  those  in  armed 
rebellion  against  the  government. 

"  After  the  services  were  over.  Colonel  Heintzelman, 
the  commanding  officer  in  Alexandria,  sent  for  and  re- 
monstrated with  him.  He  acknowledges  the  charge,  and 
says  he  must  obey  God  rather  than  man.  The  church 
had  a  military  guard  around  it  that  night,  and  evening 
services  were  postponed.  In  the  Washington  Star  of 
to-night  Mr.  Leftwich  has  a  note,  in  which  he  com- 
plains of  the  interference  with  him  as  tyrannical ;  but 
he  forgets  that  if  he  conscientiously  uses  the  privilege 
ot  publicly  praying  for  treason  in  the  face  of  a  govern- 
ment order,  he  must,  like  Daniel,  who  only  prayed  in 
42 


€58 


HISTORY  OF  MINNICSUTA. 


his  own  home,  be  ready  to  suffer  the  penalty,  antl  be 
ready  to  go  to  the  prison-house.  The  concluding  sen- 
tences of  his  letter,  while  beautiful,  show  how  the 
people  of  this  vicinity  are  estranged.  I  send  them  for 
your  readers : 

*•  *  As  to  the  alleged  division  of  sentiment  in  my 
church,  all  that  I  shall  say  is,  that,  unless  the  signs 
are  strangely  deceptive,  my  prayers  carry  weekly  to 
God  the  earnest  and  honest  desires  of  a  united  and 
devoted  people.  If  there  be  more  than  one  supporter 
of  the  Administration  in  my  congregation,  I  am  yet  to 
\ee:u  his  name.  I  am  not  alone  in  this  kind  of  oflfence, 
if  o£fence  it  can  be  called.  As  I  look  at  these  hills, 
now  whitened  with  tents,  I  feel  assured  that  beyond 
them  there  is  scarcely  a  brook-side  on  which  some 
Jacob  is  not  wrestling  for  the  results  which  I  have 
invoked,  and  in  all  those  sweeping  ranges  scarcely  a 
mountain  from  which  good  men,  with  eyes  rapt  as 
were  Moses'  upon  Nebo,  are  not  fondly  beholding 
visions  of  success.' 

"  How  changed  is  this  neighbourhood  since  the  days 
following  the  Revolution!  It  is  difficult  to  realize, 
after  reading  the  sentiments  we  have  just  quoted,  that 
it  was  in  Alexandria,  in  the  spring  of  1785,  that  com- 
missioners from  Maryland  and  Virginia  met  to  devise 
remedies  to  overcome  the  acknowledged  defects  arising 
from  thirteen  independent  States,  and  that  their  recom- 
mendations induced  Virginia,  in  1786,  to  ask  the  other 
States  to  appoint  delepiates  to  assemble  and,  among 
other  subjects,  consider  *how  far  a  uniformity  of  their 
commercial  regulations  may  be  necessary  to  their 
common  interest  and  permanent  harmony,'  which  re- 
commenclition  resulted  in  the  memorable  Convention 


A   CONTRABAND    IN  CAMP. 


659 


of  1787,  which  framed  the  glorious  Constitution  which 
Virginians  now  wish  to  subvert. 

"When  I  hear  of  Brent,  a  native  of  this  city, 
formerly  a  lawyer  in  St.  Paul,  now  a  major  of  rebel 
cavalry,  I  can  but  say  with  Washington,  at  the  time 
of  the  civil  discord  in  Massachusetts : 

"  '  What,  gracious  God,  is  man,  that  there  should  be 
fuch  inconsistency  and  perfidiousness  in  his  conduct? 
Tt  was  but  the  other  day  that  we  were  shedding  our 
blood  to  obtain  the  constitutions  under  which  we  now 
live, — constitutions  of  our  own  choice  and  making, — 
and  now  we  are  unsheathing  the  sword  to  overturn 
them !  The  thing  is  so  unaccountable  that  I  hardly 
know  how  to  realize  it,  or  to  persuade  myself  that  I 
um  not  under  the  illusion  of  a  dream.' 

"But,  as  usual,  I  am  branching  off  into  a  disqui- 
sition, while  your  St.  Paul  readers,  like  the  ancient 
Athenians,  are  continually  inquiring  of  you  'for  some 
new  thing.'  Ahis!  news  is,  scarce  with  us  jubt  now, 
Wa  are  expecting  to  move  every  day,  but  as  yet  we 
remain. 

"This  morning  I  was  in  the  Massachusetts  camp,  and 
saw  the  contraband  who  arrived  there  on  the  Fourth 
of  July,  an  Independence  Day  he  will  never  forget. 
His  name  is  Henry,  and,  to  use  the  language  of  Southern 
advertisements,  '  he  is  a  likely  lad,  sound  in  body,  well 
disposed,  and  a  capital  house  servant.'  His  face  is 
black  as  an  ace  of  spades,  his  lips  are  as  thick  as  a 
buffalo's,  and  his  grin  forces  you  to  do  likewise.  He 
lias  no  fault  to  find  with  old  friends,  but  he  is  very 
happy  with  his  new  ones,  and  anxious  to  see  the  in- 
stitutions of  Massachusetts.  May  Henry  not  be  dis- 
appointed in  his  expectations,  is  my  only  wish.     Too 


660 


HISTORY  OF  Mir  JSOTA. 


many  have  fled  from  servitude,  to  find  themselves 
wholly  unprepared  for  the  toils  and  trials  incident  to 
freedom." 


After  the  army  crossed  the  Potomac  the  following 
circular,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  sur .,'  mi  ^q  prepared 
on  the  ninth  of  July,  at  Camp  Goru-tiu,  aear  Alexan- 
dria : 

"  To  the  churches  of  Christ  in  Minnesota,  of  every 
name,  greeting. 

"  Grace  be  with  you,  mercy  and  peace  from  God  the 
Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  Father,  in  iruth  and  love. 

"By  the  request  of  Surgeon  Stewart  and  Assistant 
Surgeon  Le  Boutillier  i  send  this  circular.  A  regiment 
during  the  first  months  of  its  organization  is  necessarily 
destitute  of  adequate  hospital  funds,  and  owing  to  the 
pressure  on  the  department  at  Washington,  c  ^r'-Mty 
medical  supplies  are  limited.  Soldiers  expose  ♦  :'.e 
heat  of  the  noon-day  sun  and  the  malaria  tha:;  w  ■  jt' 
in  darkness,  frequently  find  their  way,  after  the  niji,a  3 
watch,  to  the  hospital.  Careful  nursing,  and  food  more 
delicate  than  army  ratitmi^  are  the  remedies  prescribed 
for  recovery. 

"  The  surgeons  feel  that  the  various  branches  of  the 
church  in  Minnesota,  whose  children  are  all  represented 
in  the  regiments,  will  esteem  it  a  privilege  to  contribute 
something,  even  the  widow's  mite,  to  prOv"  a  lemon, 
or  orange,  or  cup  of  cold  water  or  other  r  i.  i^hmtnt, 
for  a  soldier  debilitated  by  cvriosure  to  Southern  suns, 
and  they  have  selected  the  writer  as  a  medium  of 
commutiication. 

"  Contributions  should  be  made  for  the  Hospital  Fund 


HOSPITAL   FUND. 


661 


of  the  Ist  Minnesota  Regiment,  and  forwarded  in 
Eastern  exchan^t.  All  receipts  will  be  publicly  ac- 
knowledged by 

Edward  D.  Neill,  CkapUxm!* 

The  response  to  this  circular  was  so  prompt,  hearty, 
and  abundai}t  that  it  was  necessary  to  request  the  citi- 
zens to  refrain  from  further  contributions.'  The  funds 
received  were  sacredly  guarded  by  the  appointed  cus- 
todian. Upon  his  resignation  as  chaplain,  he  placed 
in  the  State  Treasurer's  hands,  for  safe-keeping,  the 
unexpended    balance,*    and    in    a  communication    to 


"  WASHINaTON,  Aug.  13. 

"  To  GtoVERNOR  Ramsky  : 

"  Don't  kill  us  with  kindness.  Tell 
liberal  men  and  noble  women  to  send 
no  more  money  nor  clothing.  God 
bless  them. 

"E.  D.  Nkill.'' 

•Some  of  the  reports,  as  showing 
the  sources  of  the  Hospital  Fund 
and  its  expenditures,  may  not  be  ■— 
interesting. 


un- 


"HOSPITAL  FUND  OF  THE  FIRST 
MINNESOTA  REGIMENT. 

"Camp  Stone,  nkar  Edward's 

Ferry,  Md. 

"Monday  Night,  Fob.  24,  1862. 

"  His  Exckllbwcy  Alkx.  Ramsey, 

"GoVKRKOROF  Minnesota: 

"  DbarSir, — It  seems  proper  that, 

llirough  you,  a  semi-annual  report  on 

llie  condition  of  the  noble  Hospital 

Fund  of  the  1st  Regiment,  contrib- 

iited  with  many   kindly  words  and 

Hissings,  should  be  rendered  to  the 

(Iniiora  resident  in  different  localities. 

"We  would   recall  the  origin  of 

lliis   fund.     While  encamped   n"ar 


Alexandria,  Surgeon  Stewart  and 
Assistant  Surgeon  Le  Boutillier  re- 
quested the  chaplain  to  appeal  to 
the  various  branches  of  the  church 
in  Minnesota,  for  a  small  fund  that 
would  enable  them  to  aid  the  sink 
without  the  delay  incident  to  a  re- 
quisition on  the  Medical  Bureau. 

"  The  appeal  was  limited  to  the 
organizations  of  the  church,  not  to 
exclude  others,  but  because  these  are 
necessarily  benevolent,  and  widely 
distributed  throughout  the  State. 

"Shortly  after  its  publication,  the 
battle  and  repulse  of  July  2l8t  oc- 
curred, and  the  1st  Minnesota  being 
in  the  extreme  right  of  our  army 
and  in  the  closest  proximity  to  the 
extreme  left  of  the  rebels,  our  brave 
soldiers  were  by  scores  either  killed 
or  wounded. 

"  As  soon  as  our  citizens  recovered 
from  the  shock  of  the  sad  intelligence, 
they  manifested  tender  sympathy, 
and  contributions  for  our  Hospital 
Fund  were  forwarded  from  all  parts 
of  the  State  by  churches  and  associa- 
tions, and  men  of  different  \  -XvitxA 
nationality. 


6S2 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


Governor  Swift  made  the  suggestion   that  it  should 

be  expended  in  procuring  a  monument  with  appropriate 

"  The  chaplain  has  of  course  been  Aag.  ITtb.  Boman    OathoUo   CatbednU 

a  dimple  treasurer,  making  disburse-     ,  ^      Congregation |30.oo 

.     ,  ,  '     ,  °  ,      July  27th.  Hope  Engine  Company 20.00 

i.i.mts  by  order  of  the  surgeons,  and  ..    ^^^  Cterman.,  par  Cha».  Uinau.-  47.60 

thpy  have  husbanded  the  fund  with       «       «   Morria  Lamprey,  Kaq 100.00 

great  care,  not  knowing  bow  soon  it  Aug.    lat.  Citizena,  per  Mra.   Bodney 

may  be  before  an  engagement  will    _         .        P'"''""' W.OO 

u         u  J      rf  -^      -11      Sept    lat  Ciaiena, per  .ame 76.00 

occur,  when  heavy  drafts  on  It  Will        „      ..    m„.  d.  a.  iiobertaon lo.oo 

be  necessary.  ••        ••    Mm.  W.  L.  Bannlnga'  domes. 

"  It  is  believed  that  all  the  funds  ties _ «..     m 

forwarded  have  been  received,  with     ^"8-  »*.  Philip  Bohr'.  Concert 67.15 

..  ..  ,    a„       J    „  ,  "        -    8t  Paul  Female  Bemiuary 7.0(J 

the  excnption  of  fifty  dollars   from        „      ..    w.  C.  Thompaon.  Bkj 10.00 

Northfleld ;  and  this  we  have  been 

tnld  was  used  for  the  benefit  of  one  atillwatkb. 

of  tho  compHnics,  by  the  gentleman  Aug.    2d.  Citizena,i»-rMe88r8.  Bart  and 

to  whom  it  was  entrusted.  Eobertaoj ....22£.oa 

"Mr.  Schelfer forwarded  from  Still-  „„    .„_,„„„„ 

water  $44.07,  which,  by  request  of  . 

,    ^           '            ,                  ,         .  Augu«t2d..Citlieni,perO.O.Merriman..  22.00 

the  donors,  was  subsequently  given        ..       sd.Oougrega.ional  Cliurt:h „    9.00 

to  Lieutenant  Muller  for  the  benefit       •<        "  Hethodtit Church „  lo.oo 

of  Company  B.  I^o^-     2d.  Citizens,  per  JKaJor  Morgan...     8.10 
"  This  brief  report  has  been  written 

.  ,     '^                         .              ,  MIMNKAP0LI8. 

in  a  tent,  with  a  strong  spring  gale 

,,       .  ,         -J     ,1   .1  Z     •  July  29th.  Plyiiioutli  Church 17.00 

blowing,  and  amid  all  the  confusion  .         -j  m.u  j:.r.i      v                  ioi» 

t"  Aug.     3d.  Methodist  Church 16.40 

incident  to  an  order  to  march  early        ..     sth.  BapUst Church 21.00 

to-morrow;  but  I  hope  and  believe        **     7th.  Ladioe' Aid  Society 71.30 

that  the  figures  are  correct,  and  you 

.          .            ,       ■         ...  HA8TINa.S. 

Will  confer  a  favor  by  having  it  pub- 

.,.,,..,                                  .          ..  f  Aug.    1st  OllixenB,  per  J.  L.Thome.....    40.00 

hshed  m  the  newspapers,  to  satisfy        Jt Foliet  *  Benick  w.oo 

the  contributors. 

"  Edward  D.  Nkill,  Chaplain."  rkd  wino. 

July  29th.  Citii.eDB,  per  C.  Qumee 51.00 

Voluntary  Contribution^  to  Hospital     Aug.  6th.  Methodist  Church 22.84 

Fund,  \st  Minnesota  Regiment.  "      "    Collected  by  T.  McCord 1.7S 

"        "     Sands' Circus,  per  F.Sandford.   42.25 
ST.    PAUL.  •       "     OMh  for  freight -..     Ti» 

July  20tb.  Market  Street  Method-  WINONA. 

''■•*C""'"='' •25.00  ^„j     2d.  Mothodl-t  Church _-   27JS6 

Aug.    let.  Soandlnavian  Church...     3.00  u       u     Baptist  Church 2035 

•■        »     Juckson  Street  Church.    23.00^^  ^         «    17th.  Presbytorian  Church 7.30 

July  29th.  First  Presbyterian  Ch..  J27.68  -.„,„.„,... 

..       A      .      .  rAKlBAUL.1. 

"       "     Central        "  "       20.00 

"       "     House  of  Hope  Church.    11.00  Aug.    lit.  Citizens,  per  0.  Bniwn  and 

168.68  BIsh'-,)  Whipple llOflO 

July  27tb.  Plymouth  Congregation 26.00         •*        ■•    Episcopal  Mite  Society 20.00 

Aug.     3d.  Trinity  Lutheran 6.00         •    21it  Methodist  Church 10.10 


MONUMENT   AT   GETTYSBURG. 


663 


designs,  to  designate  the  spot  in  the  Gettysburg  Ceme- 
tery where  the  honored  dead  of  the  1st  Regiment  who 
fell  in  battle  have  been  interred. 


MANKATO. 

Sept.  28th.  Lndiea'  collection S52.00 

SHAKOPEE 

Ang.    let.  Olttzens,  per  Jatnea  Ashley..,.   63.40 
"        "    Presbyterian  Cliurcb lOJO 

ST.  CLOUD. 

Aug.   6th.  Proabyterlan  Church 12.80 

"        -    Cltliens 12.00 

MISOKLLANKOUS. 

July  29th.  Baptist  Church.Weet  St.  Paul.     1.20 

"       "     01ti7.en»  of  Anoka 11.60 

Aug.    lat.  Congregational  Church,  Lake 

aty 6.00 

"      6th.  Citizens  of  Morristown 32.00 

"      6th.  Citizens    of   Wilton,  Dodge 

county 6.00 

"        "     Citizens  of  Elgin,  Wabasha 

county 38.00 

"        **    Congregational  and  Methodist 

Churches,  and  Citizens  of 

Princeton 17.20 

**        "    Cltizensof  Spring  I'»kc,  Scott 

county 

"        "    Baptist  and   Methodist  Chfl. 

and  citizens  of  Lcbnnon .3.30 

"       7th.  Citizens  of  Newport  and  Cot- 
tage Grove 22.00 

"      8th.  Cottnge  Grove,  per  Rev.  IT. 

Welford 

"    10th    Congregational     Church     at 

Clearwater 

"    12th.  Bliiomington       Presliytcriaii 

Church,  Rev.  0.  H.  Pond.... 
"        "    Belle  Pralrlo  Congregational 

Chui-ch 

"        "    Citizens  of  Little  Falls 

"    15th.  StocktonSundaySchool 

"  "  Bockford,  per  Key.  N.  Lathrop 
"  nth.  East  Prairie, per  D.N. Russell 
"    20th.  8.  A.  Goodrich,  Bloomington. 

"     Slst.  Stockton  E.  Society 

"        "     PreatonChwrch,perBeT.Bur- 

bank 

"        "    Lower  Qulncy,  Olmsted  CO 

"      23d.  Northfleld,  per  D.  H.  Frost... 

"    26th.  Mr.  Pettljohn,  Pf^jutazee 

Sept.     3d.  Ladles  of  Cannon  Falls 

"         "    Citizens    of  Henderson,   per 

PendargHst 14.76 


Sept  3d.  Ohuka,  Oarrcr  co.,  per  Wa> 
ner » ^ 


•18.80 


BEOAPITULATION. 

St  Paul „ (573.83 

Stillwater 226.00 

St.  Anthony 49.10 

Minneapolis 126.70 

Hastings lOO.OO 

Bed  Wing 124.64. 

Winona 58.20 

Faribault » 170.10 

Hankato 82.00 

Shakopoe 63.70 

St.  Clond 24.80 

Hiicetlaneotu 363.66 

Total J1917.72 


July  29th. 

"      8lBt. 

Aug.    1st. 


4th. 


6th. 


U 

7th. 

7.30 

M 

ith. 

7.00 

M 

10th. 

13.00 

u 

12th. 

u 

M 

10.00 

(1 

13th. 

13.26 

H 

" 

d.66 

1.00 

U 

14th. 

30.66 

1.26 

H 

18th. 

6.00 

«• 

U 

18.80 

16.00 

M 

16th. 

13.67 

W 

W 

1.00 

M 

17th. 

40.48 

•1 

19th. 

EXPENDITURES. 
Wm.  Colling  in   Columbian 

Hospital $2.00 

Ambulance  drivers .60 

A.  6.  Scofleld,  Compiiny  F, 

Alexandria  Hospital 10.00 

Theodore  Wood,  Company  F..  5.00 
Martin     Hcaly,     discharged 

soldier 2.60 

Chaa.  E.  Hcst,  wounded 6.09 

Exchange  paid  by  Q.  W.  In- 

gersoU ,85 

Hospitiil  Steward,  for  tea 1.00 

Johu  11.  Jones,  debilitated....  2.60 
Freight  paid  by  D.  W.  Inget^ 

soil 31.60 

Hospital  cook,  for  bread 1;00 

Samuel  Dayton,  Company  H.  10.00 

Hospital  Steward 3.00 

Telegram  to  Governor 4.9S 

Charles  Dorothy,  Alexandria 

Hospital 2J(0 

Express  charges  on  package 

to  Mis.  Scofleld l.OO 

Dr.  Rand,  for  hosplial  stores.  26.00 
Hotel  and  traveling  expenses, 

visiting  wounded  at  Wash- 

ington  and  Alexandria 11.00 

Dinner  for  sick  soldier 50 

Dinner  for  ambulance  driver.  .60 

Hospital  Stonard,  for  bread...  1.00 
Dr.  Hand,  fbr  medldnei  and 

expenses „..„  8.00 

Hospital  Steward m 3.0O 


664 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


On  July  sixteenth,  the  regiment  began  to  take  part 
in   the  movement  that  culminated  in   the  battle  of 


Bept 


lint. 

26th. 

lit 

3d. 


Aug.  20th.  Expenaea    for    DuBoU    and 

McMallen $1.03 

B.  0.  Knapp,  Companj  K 10.00 

Gum  BougfM 2.00 

Ezpenaea  to  Waahingtrn  and 

Annapolis 16.96 

Brandy  and  proTisiuns  fur- 
nished to  fatigued  aoldiera 
after  battle,  by  Sutler  King.  43.60 

"      6th.  Repairing  truaa 1.00 

"        "     Chicken*  fur  Biddle 1.00 

"       "     Dinner  for  ambulance  horaea 

and  driver 2.00 

"       «     Driver's  Iwsrd  in  VTaahington.     2.00 
"       *'     Uonie.doctor  and  medicine....     1.60 

"        "     Mending  harness _       .75 

"       -     Ambulance  livery  bill 3X0 

"        "     Vaccine  vlnm 3.00 

"       "     Medicines *.28 

"        "     Wines  and  liquors 12.00 

BoBi>ltal  Stevard 1.68 

Chargt'S  on  box,  care  of  Co.  D.     6.66 

Chickens  for  hospital 1.00 

Wounded  at  Alexandria 20.00 

HospitHl  Steward 66 

Ten    hospital  cots,  per  Major 

Dike 25.00 

Hospital  Steward i-Cj 

Chickens  for  hospital 3.00 

"        "     Postage  sumps 2.00 

"       "     Oscar  Gross,  Company  G,  per 

Capt.  Mess  ck 5.00 

*       "     Ten  hospital  cota,  per  Oscar 

King 25.00 

•*       "     Hospital  Cook 2.25 

"        "     Hospital  Nurse .50 

"    27th.  Hardware,  washing,  and  ne- 
cessaries      4.00 

*•      "      Board  of  Drs.  Hurpby  and 
Hand,  to  be  refunded  when 

paid  for  senices 56.08 

KoT.    4th.  Broom  for  hospital 26 

"      5th.  Chaa.    Ricketts,    Alexandria, 

per  Capt.  Downie 10.00 

"      7th.  Randolph,  Company  C,    per 

Lieut.  Hoyt 2.50 

"     2Ist.  Sundries,  per  Dr.  Hand 3.60 

••       "     Ruler  and  blank  book 2.60 

"       ••     Livorrblll 8.00 

"       "     Medicines „ 2.00 

"        "     Brandy -       .50 

"       **     Expenses  of  ambulance  driver    1.60 

••        "     Chickens 60 

•       "     Candles IJSO 


6th 

H 

8th 


10th 
16th 


17th 
2.3d, 


Nov.  21st.  Oysters  for  Gummings »..t  M 

"        "     Hardware 1.26 

"       "     Wlce  for  Gummings 1.00 

"        "     Hardware 1,00 

"       "     Ambulance    and    horses    In 

Washington 5,00 

"       "     Repair  of  cols 1.00 

"       "     BUnkbook -  1.00 

"        "     Stove  and  pipe 7JS0 


H 

26tb. 
26th. 

10th. 

t( 

1862. 

24th. 

24th. 

30th 

u 

»4 

18th. 
24th 

Chickens 

.76 
12.17 

Dec. 

14 

Richmond  prisoners  of  war... 

Ulram  Wentwortfa,  per  Capt. 

Coates 

100.00 
25.00 

Inn 

Chickens        ». 

2.60 

u 

1.00 

„ 

Milk 

l.no 

•4 

C.  0.  Marr,  Richmond  pris- 

5.00 

Feb 

Dr.  Morton,  for  hospital  use.. 
James  Scurry,  sick  soldier  on 

5.00 
30.00 

44 

David  Marshall,  wounded  sol- 
dier                  

30.00 

U 

Counterfeit  bill  contributed... 
Hospital  washing,  261  pieces. 

5.00 
10.44 

Total  expenditures 665.98 

Cash  on  hand 1251.74 


11917.72 

for  want  of  space  two  reports  that 
were  published  nre  omitted. 

"United  States  Army  Hospital, 
'"  South  Street,  Phila., 

"OcX  16,  1868. 

"Governor  H.  A.  Swift: 

"Dear  Sir,— Shortly  after  the 
wounded  of  the  Ist  Minnesota  were 
received  in  the  hospitals  of  this 
city  from  the  field  of  Gettysburg, 
I  wrote  to  the  Surgeon  of  the  Regi- 
ment, proposing  that  I  should  give 
to  each  of  the  wpupded  five  dollars 
of  the  Relief  Fund  that  was  forwarded 
to  me  by  the  churches  and  citizens  of 
Minnesota,  just  after  the  first  battleof 


MARCH  TO  BULL  RUN. 


665 


Bull  Run.  We  continue,  as  more  graphic  than  the 
Bober  words  of  the  historian,  the  views  of  a  letter- 
writer,  July  seventeenth,  at  Sangster's  Station : 


Bull  Run — the  unexpended  balance 
of  which  had  been  placed  by  me  in 
the  hands  of  the  State  Treasurer  for 
safe  keeping,  after  my  resignatioji  aa 
rcgimontal  chaplain. 

"  Twoor  three  weeks  ago  T  received 
a  letter  from  Dr.  Le  Blond,  approving 
the  proposition,  and  adraft  was  drawn 
on  tlic  Stnto  Treasurer  for  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars. 

"Since  the  first  of  the  month  the 
following  soldiers  have  each  received 
five  dollars,  and  in  one  case,  by  mis- 
take, a  payment  of  ten  dollars  was 
made  : 

Cluis.  Mullor,  Company  A $5,00 


D.  8.  Wearta,  Compaoy   L fS.OO 


Adnni  Marty, 

F.  P.  Schoubavli, 
E.  F.  Neystadt, 
Fred.  Marty, 
Andri'W  P,  Qiiiat, 
Bartli.  CariKHlt, 
P.'lii-  Krersoii, 
0.  I..  Squires. 
Andrew  Kreiger, 
J.  W.  Kauti, 

E.  I>.  Perkina, 
Jh».  Walsh, 
Bonj.  F.  Noel, 
Dhan.  W.  Geer, 
I,.  B.  Geer, 
W.  C.  Smith, 
Henry  Fisher, 
fl.  Weaver, 
Marion  Abbott, 
Romnlns  Jacks, 
Geo.  Magee, 

G.  S.  Hopkins, 
Killinn  Drindle, 
Lewis  Breisch, 
John  H.  Docker, 
I'.  Uess, 

•  '.  B.  Berk, 
J.  DonoTan, 
Wni.  D.  Howell 
Ernest  Miller, 
CI.  M.  Kni|;lit, 
W.  K.  Richard, 


B.. 
B.. 
B.. 
B.. 
B.. 
B.. 
B.. 
C. 
C. 
».. 
O.. 
D.. 
D.. 
D.. 
D.. 
D.. 
E.. 
E.. 
F.. 
F.. 
G.. 
G.. 
H.. 
H.. 
H.. 
H.. 
H.. 
I... 
1... 
I... 
I... 
I... 


5.0O 
5.(10 
5.00 
6.00 
5.00 
6.00 
5.00 
6.00 
6.00 
5.00 
6.00 
5.00 
5.00 
5.00 
5.00 
6.00 
5.00 
6.00 
6.00 
6.00 
6.00 
6.00 
6.U0 
6.00 
6J00 
6.00 
6.00 
6.00 
10.00 
6.00 
6.00 
6.U0 


D.  Barton, 
J.  8.  Katon, 
Wm.  Klnyon, 
C.  B.  Boardman, 
V.  B.  Baker, 
W.  H.  Oolemao, 


I.. 

K., 


K..., 
L.... 


6.00 
6.00 
6.00 
6.00 
S.00 
6.00 


Julian  Rauch,  Ist  Company  Sharp- 
•booten '6.00 

t210.0A 
HECAPlTai-ATION. 

Draft  on  Charles  SchefTor $260.00 

Paid  soldiers 91210.00 

Telegram  for  soldiers 2.63 

Exchange 2.50 

Expenses  of  delivery 60 

216.63 


Balance  on  hand 134.37 

"  Before  this  you  will  have  proba- 
bly received  the  oflSi'iil  announce- 
ment of  the  contemplated  dedication 
of  the  battle-field  cemetery  at  Gettys- 
burg on  November  nineteenth  ;  and, 
feeling  assured  that  it  will  meet  a 
hearty  response  from  every  donor 
of  the  fund,  I  would  respectfully 
suggest  that  you  forward  a  draft  for 
$500  (presuming  that  there  still  re- 
mains that  amount  in  the  hands  of 
the  State  Treasurer)  to  be  expended 
in  procuring  a  monument,  with  ap- 
propriate designs,  to  designate  the 
spot  in  that  cemetery  where  the  hon- 
ored dead  of  the  1st  Minnesota  are 
interred. 
•'  Yours,  very  respectfully, 

"  Edwabd  D.  Nkill, 
"Chaplain  U.  S.  A.' 

"  Philadelphia,  Dec.  80, 1868, 
"  To  THE  Governor  of  Minnesota 

"  Dear  Sir,— Expecting  in  a  few 
days  to  resign  my  position  as  chap- 
lain in  the  army,  I  forward  my  final 
report  of  the  funds  entrusted  to  me 


'I 


666 


HISTORY   OP  MINNESOTA, 


"On  the  top  of  an  old,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  empty^ 
whisky  barrel,  I  write  that  after  a  trarop  of  sixteen 
miles  by  all  sorts  of  ways,  highways,  by-ways,  and  no 
ways,  we  are,  not  encamped  (for  we  have  no  tents),  but 
are  reclining  in  a  field  near  a  saw-  and  grist-mill,  which 
was  to-day  suddenly  deserted. 

"  Yesterday,  about  ten  o'clock,  we  marched  from  our 
camp  near  Alexandria,  and  in  a  few  hours  there  was 
a  column,  under  Colonel  Heintzelman,  moving  in  a 
direction  to  leave  Fairfax  Court-House  on  our  right; 
General  McDowell  marching  at  the  same  time,  by 
another  road,  for  that  point,  now  become  so  familiar 
to  every  one  interested  in  the  war. 

"  The  regiments  of  Heintzelman's  division  marched 
yesterday  in  the  following  order:  Colonel  Franklin's 
Brigade,  consisting  of  the  Massachusetts  6th,  Pennsyl- 
vania 4th,  Minnesota  Ist,  and  Ricketts'  United  States 
Artillery ;  then  followed  Michigan  Ist,  United  States 
Cavalry,  New  York  Zouaves,  Michigan  4th,  New 
York  38th,  Maine  4th,  Vermont  2d,  Maine  5th,  and 
Maine  3d. 

"  All  day  yesterday  we  marched  through  a  country 


by  the  churches,  etc.,  for  relief  of 
soldiers. 

"  A  reference  to  my  last  report, 
published  in  the  papers  of  St.  Paul, 
and  dated  October  sixteenth,  will 
show  that  then  the  sum  of  thirty-four 
dollars  and  thirty-seven  cents  re- 
mained in  my  bands. 

"Since  that  period  I  have  presented 
the  following  sums :  Charles  Drake, 
Company  A,  South  Street  Hospital, 
$3 ;  Dana  Barton,  Company  G,  Chest- 
nut Hill  (additional),  $3;  Chas.  Ely, 
Company  K,  Broad  Street,  $6;  Ohaa. 


Steen,Company  A,  York,  $5.   Totul, 
$16. 

"  The  amount  left  in  my  hands  is 
therefore  eighteen  dollars  and  thirty- 
seven  cents,  for  which  a  check  in  favor 
of  the  State  Treasurer  is  enclosed. 

"  For  the  information  of  the  donor* 
to  the  fund,  and  for  my  own  protec- 
tion, you  will  confer  a  favor  by  pub- 
lishing  this,  as  all  previous  reports 
have  been,  in  the  Press  and  Pioneer. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  Edward  D.  Nkill, 
"  Chaplain  U.  8.  A.'» 


POOR   WHITES    OF   VIRGINIA. 


66T 


diversified  by  pine  forests  and  a  few  valleys,  but  sparsely 
settled.  Toward  night  the  country  became  more  broken, 
and  the  valley  of  the  Accotink  Creek  was  quite  pleasing. 
After  sunset  we  reached  the  Pohick,  a  small  stream, 
and  on  the  hillside  of  the  valley,  toward  the  west,  we 
rested  for  the  night. 

"  After  sleeping  under  the  hospital  ambulance,  with 
a  horse  tied  to  each  hind  wheel,  who  stood  as  a  body- 
guard all  night,  I  arose  quite  refreshed,  and  after  a  cup 
of  coffee  with  some  pilot  bread  soaked  therein,  was 
ready  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  war.  During  the  night, 
another  regiment,  the  11th  Massachusetts,  joined  oui 
column.  Before  sunrise  we  were  all  'on  our  winding 
way,'  the  ponderous  artillery  immediately  in  front  oi 
our  regiment. 

"  The  face  of  the  country  is  now  more  broken. 
Travelled  all  the  forenoon  through  a  wooded  country^ 
with  here  and  there  a  clearing,  with  a  poor  log  farm- 
house and  an  apology  for  a  barn,  in  the  shape  of  a  few 
pine  logs  loosely  put  together  and  half  decayed.  The 
inmates  are  what  the  Virginians  call  '  poor  whites.' 
The  mother  stands  at  the  door,  a  tall,  vacant,  gaunt, 
care-worn  woman ;  the  children  pale  and  buttonless ;  the 
father  ill  clad,  and  looking  as  if  he  was  half  ashamed 
to  hold  his  head  up  in  the  presence  of  decent  people. 

"About  two  miles  on  our  march  we  passed  an  aguish- 
looking,  badly  frightened  man,  whose  horse  had  been 
shot  last  night  by  our  pickets,  and  who  had  received  a 
wound  on  his  own  head,  not  very  serious. 

"Two  women  were  by  his  side,  one  white  and  coars© 
featured,  the  other,  more  refined,  a  plump  matronly 
quadroon,  who  seemed  to  show  quite  a  conjugal  interest 
in  the  captured  man.    She  told  ine  that  he  was  hunting 


€68 


HISTORY  OF   MINNESOTA. 


for  a  colt  when  the  soldiers  challenged,  and  not  un- 
derstanding them,  he  did  not  stop,  and  they  fired. 

"  Our  march  to-day  was  truly  cautious.  Like  a  serpent 
(and  with  our  different  uniforms  as  variegated)  we  have 
crept  through  the  thick  woods  by  unfrequented  paths, 
and  with  serpent  wisdom,  determined  not  to  be  caught 
by  the  enemy.  At  midday  we  reached  an  improved 
country,  and  the  farm  of  an  intelligent  person,  originally 
from  Rensselaer  county,  New  York.  The  aged  grand- 
father, his  son  and  son's  wife,  a  pretty  grandJaughter 
of  sixteen,  and  a  grandson  of  twelve  years,  stood  at  the 
gate,  and  their  eyes  beamed  and  every  feature  was 
bright  with  joy  as  we  passed.  They  shook  hands, 
they  talked,  they  laughed,  for  they  felt  that  the  hour 
of  deliverance  had  come.  During  the  week  some  of 
their  neighbors  had  been  drafted  and  unwillingly  forced 
into  the  rebel  army,  but  now  they  knew  that  the  reign 
of  terror  must  soon  cease. 

"  While  standing  at  the  farm  gate,  the  news  comes 
down  the  road  that  the  enemy  are  at  Fairfax  Station, 
and  the  pickets  near  by.  Orders  are  soon  given  for  the 
axemen  to  go  forward  to  cut  out  the  obstructions  the 
enemy  has  placed  in  the  road.  The  work  is  speedily 
executed.  The  New  York  Zouaves  are  hurried  up,  and 
go  by  us,  jumping  like  squirrels,  to  strike  the  railway 
near  the  supposed  rebel  camp,  while  we  move  along 
with  the  Massachusetts  5th  and  U.  S.  Artillery,  to 
attack  the  left  flank. 

"Deserted  pickets  now  appear,  and  in  a  little  while 
we  discover  at  a  camping  ground  of  a  detachment  of 
rebels,  half  a  mile  distant,  a  dense  smoke,  and  learn 
that  they  had  left  in  haste  this  morning,  and,  as  they 
could  not  carry  them,  had  burned  up  all  their  stores. 


MitRCH   TO  CENTREVILLB. 


6e» 


"  On  we  hasten  till  we  reach  a  high  plateau,  looking 
into  the  valley  through  which  the  railways  pass,  imd 
over  toward  the  Blue  Ridge,  when  we  perceive  smoke 
again,  and  in  a  half  hour  arrive  at  Sangster  Station, 
six  miles  southwest  of  Fairfax  Court-House,  and  only 
eight  from  Manassas  Junction,  and  find  that  the  rebels 
as  usual  have  retreated,  and  in  passing  down  from 
Fairfax  Court-House  to-day  have  burned  all  the  railroad 
bridges. 

"Could  we  have  been  here  but  four  or  five  hours 
sooner  we  could  have  caught  them  all. 

*'  After  a  tramp  of  sixteen  miles  in  the  hot  sun,  we 
reached  here  at  four  o'clock,  and  officers  and  men  are 
all  well." 

The  same  person  wrote,  July  nineteenth,  to  the  St. 
Paul  Pioneer  and  Democrat  from  Centreville,  Va. : 

"A  three  days'  march  has  brought  us  to  this  place, 
where  we  found  the  rear  of  General  McDowell's  di- 
vision. 

"The  first  day,  without  peril  or  obstruction,  we  ad- 
vanced from  Alexandria  to  Pohick  Creek,  and  on  the 
second  day  tramped  by  a  roundabout  road  sixteen  or 
seventeen  miles,  to  a  station  on  the  Orange  Railway, 
twenty  miles  from  Alexandria,  where  we  arrived  about 

4  P.M. 

"  General  McDowell  had  reached  Fairfax  Court-House 
before  dinner,  and  a  number  of  Alabama  and  other 
troops  passed  by  this  station,  flying  to  Manassas  Junc- 
tion, two  hours  before  we  reached  the  spot,  and  in  their 
rear  left  burning  bridges,  to  prevent  pursuit. 

*'  Yesterday  morning  Captain  Wilkin  was  sent  up  the 
railway  with  twenty  men,  to  scout.  He  returned  in 
about  two  hours  and  a  half  with  intelligence  that  three 


«Y0 


HISTORY  OF  MINNB80TA. 


miles  distant  he  perceived  about  five  hundred  of  the 
enemy  on  a  hill  commanding  the  road. 

'*  In  the  afternoon  Lieutenant-Colonel  Miller,  with 
companies  A  and  B,  was  ordered  to  proceed  on  the 
railway,  and  discover  if  the  bridge  at  Union  Mills  was 
burned.  They  proceeded  about  the  same  distance,  and 
with  the  aid  of  a  glass  Lieutenant-Colonel  Miller  and 
Lieutenants  Downie  and  Thomas  all  distinctly  saw  a 
battery  of  five  or  six  guns  at  the  point  seen  by  Captain 
Wilkin  in  the  morning. 

"While  they  were  absent  the  lon^  was  sounded, 

and  the  brigades  of  Colonel  Heintzehnan's  division  were 
quickly  on  the  inarch  again.  Just  at  dark,  not  far 
from  this  place,  we  heard  that  there  had  been  a  bloody 
engagement  at  Bull  Run,  where  a  detachment  under 
General  Tyler  had  been  mowed  down  by  a  masked 
battery. 

"  Shortly  after  this  rumor,  it  began  to  rain,  and  we 
were  drenched  by  a  nice  little  shower.  Without 
provisions,  surrounded  by  twenty  hungry  and  wet 
regiments,  and  with  nothing  but  the  bad  news  of  the 
afternoon  fight  to  digest,  we  went  supperless  to  bed,  if 
sleeping  in  the  open  air  can  be  thus  designated. 

"This  morning  the  rumor  of  last  night  is  confirmed. 
Yesterday  about  midday,  Sherman's  Artillery,  the 
12th  and  another  New  York  regiment,  marched  into 
the  mouth  of  a  masked  battery.  The  men  behaved 
bravely,  but  they  could  not  stand  before  the  galling 
and  unexpected  fire,  and  after  a  time  they  retreated, 
with  at  least  sixty  killed. 

"  It  is  hinted,  by  those  who  profess  to  know,  that  this 
mishap  was  occasioned  by  Tyler,  who  is  an  officer  of 
tlie  regular  army,  not  strictly  following  orders. 


REBEL   PICKET   CAPTURED. 


ni 


"  A  negro  who  escaped  from  the  rebel  army,  and  waa 
picked  up  by  Lieutenant  Thomas  yesterday  afternoon 
towards  dusk,  s%ys  that  his  master,  a  captain,  was 
killed,  and  hundreds  of  others  by  the  fire  of  our  artil- 
lery. He  also  states  that  Beauregard  was  there,  and 
that  a  shot  struck  a  white  house,  in  the  porch  of  which 
the  general  was  viewing  the  engagement,  and  knocked 
out  one  end. 

"This  morning,  ami*^  t  anathemas  fierce  and  loud 
from  long  lines  of  Zouaves  and  others,  a  band  of  eight 
rebel  soldiers  was  marched  through  the  camp  up  to 
General  McDowell's  tent.  They  were  a  picket  sta- 
tioned near  Fairfax  Court-House,  which  the  rebels  in 
their  haste  had  forgotten  to  call  in. 

"  Their  uniform  was  rather  Falstaffian.  Their  heads 
were  covered  with  apologies  for  caps  and  hats.  Two 
wore  dark  brown  blouses,  and  the  rest  were  dressed  in 
iron-gray  satinet,  with  green  trimmings,  and  belong, 
I  believe,  to  tin  Alabama  regiment. 

"To-day  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  General  Bum- 
side,  one  of  the  most  gentlemanly  and  efficient  officers. 
Having  resigned  the  army  several  years  ago,  he  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  small  arms,  which  he  had  im- 
proved. About  six  years  ago  the  firm  with  which  he 
was  connected  failed.  An  industrious  man,  he  came 
out  to  St.  Paul,  and  passed  a  short  period  in  the  hope 
of  identifying  himself  with  some  of  our  then  projected 
railways.  Finding  insufficient  encouragement,  he  be- 
came, through  the  influence  of  McClellan,  first,  assist- 
ant treasurer,  and  then  treasurer  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad. 

"  The  war  breaks  out,  and  these  two  friends  and  noble 
mea  leave  situations  yielding  them  an  income  of  thou- 


mn 


M 


6t2 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


sands  of  dollars,  to  serve  their  country.  Their  services 
have  been  appreciated, — McClellan  ranking  as  major- 
general  of  the  United  States  army,  and  Burnside  as 
brigadier  in  command  of  the  Rhode  Island  fbrces. 

"To-day  we  are  at  a  'stand-siill,'  probably  awaiting 
more  troops,  to  render  success  more  sure,  and  save  the 
shedding  of  more  blood." 

As  it  is  impossible  foi*  any  person  to  see  the  entire 
battie-field,  it  is  always  better  to  present  the  statement 
of  several  eye-witnesses,  made  from  different  stand- 
points. 

Using  the  reports  of  the  division,  origade,  and  regi- 
mental commander  on  the  conduct  of  the  1st  Minne- 
sota Regiment  in  battle  on  Sunday,  July  twenty-first, 
at  Bull  Run,  we  have  added  thereto  in  footnotes'  the 
statements  of  others. 


'  Javan  B.  Irvine,  of  St.  Paul,  ar- 
rived a  few  days  before  the  battle  on 
a  visit  to  his  brother-in-law,  Mr. 
Halsted,  of  Company  A.  In  civilian's 
dress,  he  took  a  musket  and  went  into 
action,  and  captured  the  officer  of  the 
highest  rank  among  all  the  prison- 
ers taken  by  the  various  brigade. 
For  his  bravery,  he  was  made  First 
Lieutenant  18'h  iJnUc-d  States  In- 
fantry on  October  twenty-sixth,  1861. 
He  is  still  a  captain  in  the  regular 
army.  Mr.  Irvine's  letters  to  his 
wife,  published  in  one  of  the  St.  Paul 
papers,  were  among  the  best  written 
after  the  fight,  and  are  worthy  of 
preservation.     He  says: 

"  We  took  a  circuitous  route 
through  the  woods,  and  arrived  in 
vicinity  of  the  enemy  at  about  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  While  on 
the  march,  the  battle  was  commenced 
by  the  artillery  who  were  in  the  ad- 


vance, and  the  roar  of  which  we 
could  distinctly  hear  some  three  or 
four  mile:!  off,  and  the  smoke  rising 
at  every  discharge  of  the  same. 

"You  can  form  some  idea,  per- 
haps, of  our  forces,  when  I  tell  you 
that  our  lines  were  some  flvo  or  six 
miies  in  length,  and  the  Minnesota 
Regiment  was  as  difficult  to  find  as 
it  would  be  to  And  a  single  person 
in  a  very  large  crowd  of  men. 

"  At  about  eleven  o'clock  wo  halted 
in  a  ravine,  to  give  the  men  an  op- 
portunity to  fill  their  canteens  with 
water.  At  this  time  the  firing  had 
become  pretty  general,  and  the  roar 
of  artillery  and  the  rattle  of  mus- 
ketry was  heard  only  about  a  mile 
distant.  You  have,  no  doubt,  mad 
of  the  agitation  and  fimr  which  coma 
over  i}idividuals  on  the  approach  of 
battle,  but  I  must  swy,  and  I  .say  it 
not  intbespiritof  braggadocioeitber, 


BULL  RUN  BATTLE. 


tis 


Colonel  S.  P.  Heintzelman,  of  17th  United  States  In- 
fantry, was  the  commander  of  the  division  to  which 
the  Minnesota  Regiment  was  attached. 

He  says  in  his  report  of  the  battle :  "  At  Sudley's 
Springs,  while  waiting  the  passage  of  the  troops  of 
the  division  in  our  front,  I  ordered  forward  the  1st 
brigade  to  fill  their  canteens.  Before  this  was  ac- 
complished the   leading  regiments  of   Colonel   Hun- 


that  I  experienced  no  sach  fears  ur 
K^jitiitioQ  duriuj;  the  conflict.  I  was 
surprised  at  this  myself,  for  I  cer- 
tainly thought  that  I  should  feel  as 
writers  have  so  often  described. 

"  While  halting  here,  1,  together 
with  others  of  the  boys,  coolly  went 
to  picking  blackberries,  with  which 
the  whole  country  abounds.  We  soon 
took  up  our  line  of  march,  and  drew 
near  to  the  battle-field  (at  double- 
quick  time),  and  were  stationed  in  n 
field,  sheltered  by  a  strip  of  woods, 
about  one-half  mile  from  whore  our 
forces  were  fighting.  Here  we  di- 
ve? ad  ourselves  of  our  blankets,  and 
111  versacks  of  provisions,  and  what- 
ever might  impede  us  in  fighting, 
rMtftining  however,  of  course,  our 
anus  and  ammunition. 

"You  have  no  idea  how  desperate 
inoii  will  act  while  approaching  or 
ntiring  from  a  battle-field.  They 
appeared  to  have  no  care  or  anxiety 
for  anything  except  their  arms;  all 
else  was  thrown  oS  and  strewn  along 
the  road. 

"  We  did  not  remain  long  in  the 
fit'Ul  where  we  were  stationed,  before 
the  order  came  to  advance,  which  we 
did  through  the  woods  at  double- 
quick,  and  soon  came  up  to  the 
field  whore  the  conflict  was  raging. 
Bere  we  halted  in  the  edge  of  the 
43 


woods,  in  the  presence  of  the  dead' 
and  wounded,  who  were  lying  all 
around  us,  until  about  5000  troops 
filed  past  us  to  take  their  position. 

"  As  they  passed  the  general  jffl- 
cers  and  staff  they  cheered  in  the 
wildest  and  most  enthusiastic  man- 
ner. After  they  had  passed,  we  took 
our  position  in  the  open  field  in  sight 
of  the  enemy's  batteries.  Wp  were 
soon  ordered  to  advance  from  this 
position  and  file  around  to  the  left, 
for  the  purpose  of  outflanking  and 
taking  them.  While  doing  this  the 
cannon-balls  and  bomb-shells  flew 
around  us  thick  and  fast.  Fortu- 
nately they  were  most  of  them  aimed 
♦,00  high,  and  we  passed  unharmed, 
>jt  not  without  frequent  dodging  by 
some  of  the  boys  as  the  balls  and 
shells  v;histled  by.  Our  battery  had 
engaged  them  by  this  time  in  front 
while  we  were  passing  to  the  left. 
We  ran  down  a  hill  and  crossed  a 
small  stream.  I  being  a  little  in  ad- 
vance,  stopped  to  pick  a  few  black- 
berries to  quench  my  thirst  while  the 
regiment  came  up.  We  soon  came 
to  a  road  where  we  were  mot  by  an 
aid  to  the  commanding  officer,  who 
desired  us  to  foliow  him  and  take  up 
a  position  where  he  could  get  no 
othp  troops  to  stand.  We  told 
him  we  would  follow  !>im,  and  he 


674 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


ter's  division  became  engaged.  General  McDowell, 
who,  accompanied  by  his  staflF,  had  passed  us  a  short 
time  before,  sent  back  Captain  Wright  of  the  engineers, 
and  Major  McDowell,  one  of  his  aids,  to  send  forward 
two  regiments.  *  *  *  *  Captain  Wright  led  forward 
the  Minnesota  Regiment  to  the  left  of  the  road  which 
crossed  the  run  at  this  point.  *  *  *  *  I  accompanied 
this  regiment.     At  a  little  more  than  a  mile  from  the 


gave  ve  a  position  to  the  left  of  the 
battery  and  directly  opposite  to  it. 
Here  we  formed  in  line  of  battle,  with 
a  strip  of  woods  between  us  and  about 
four  thousand  secessionists.  We  had 
just  formed  when  we  were  ordered 
to  kneel  and  fire  upon  the  rebels, 
who  were  advancing  under  cover  of 
the  woods.  We  fired  two  volleys 
through  Ihe  woods,  when  we  were 
ordered  to  rally  in  the  woods  in  our 
rear,  which  all  did  except  the  first 
platoon  of  our  own  company,  who 
did  not  hear  the  order  and  stood 
their  ground.  The  rebels  soon  came 
out  from  their  shelter  between  us  and 
their  battery.  Colonel  Gorman  mis- 
took them  for  friends  and  told  the 
men  to  cease  firing  upon  them, 
although  they  had  three  seoession 
flags  flying  directly  in  front  of  their 
advancing  columns.  This  threw  our 
men  into  confusion,  some  declaring 
they  were  friends,  others  that  they 
were  enemies.  I  called  to  our  boys 
to  give  it  to  them,  and  fired  away 
myself  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The 
rebels  themselves  mistook  us  for 
Georgia  troops,  and  waved  their 
hands  at  us  to  cease  firing.  I  had 
just  loaded  to  give  them  another 
charge  when  a  lieutenant-colonel  of 
a  Mississippi  regiment  rode  out  be- 
tween us,  waving  his  hand  for  us  to 


stop  firing,  I  rushed  up  to  him  and 
asked  if  he  was  a  secessionist,  fie 
said  '  he  was  a  Mississippinn.'  I 
presented  my  bayonet  to  his  breast 
and  commanded  him  to  surrender, 
which  he  did  after  some  hesitation. 
1  ordered  him  to  dismount,  and  led 
him  and  his  horse  from  the  field,  in 
the  meantime  disarming  him  of  his 
sword  and  pistols.  I  led  bim  ofl' 
about  two  miles  and  placed  him  in 
charge  of  a  lieutenant,  with  an  escort 
of  cavalry,  to  be  taken  to  General 
McDowell.  He  requested  the  officer 
to  allow  me  to  accompany  him,  as  he 
desired  my  protection.  The  officers 
assured  him  that  he  would  be  safe  in 
their  hands,  and  he  rode  oflf.  I  re- 
tained his  pistol,  but  sent  his  sword 
with  him." 

In  another  letter,  on  July  twenty- 
fifth,  Mr.  Irvine  writes: 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  a  visit 
to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Boone,  who  is 
confined  in  the  old  capitol.  I  founil 
him  in  a  plea<jant  room  on  the  third 
story,  surrounded  by  several  southern 
gentlemen,  among  whom  was  Sena- 
tor Breckinridge.  Ho  was  glad  to 
see  me,  and  appeared  quite  v.-ell  after 
the  fatigue  of  the  battle  of  Sunday. 

"There  were  with  me  Chaplain 
Neill,  Captains  Wilkin  and  ColviUe, 
and  Lieutenant  Coates,  who  were  in- 


HEINTZELMAN'S  REPORT. 


676 


ford  we  came  upon  the  battle-field.  Ricketta's  Battery 
was  posted  on  a  hill  to  the  right  of  Hunter's  Division, 
and  to  the  right  of  the  road.  After  firing  some  twenty 
minutes  at  a  battery  of  the  enemy  placed  just  beyond 
the  crest  of  a  hill,  the  distance  being  too  great,  it  was 
moved  forward  to  within  about  one  thousand  feet  of 
the  enemy's  battery.  Here  the  battery  was  exposed 
to  a   heavy  fire  of  musketry,  which  soon  disabled  it. 


troduced  to  the  colonel.  "We  had  a 
■verj'  pleasant  interview,  and  invited 
the  colonel  to  call  on  us  at  our  camp 
when  he  ohtained  his  parole.  Ho  is 
a  flne-appearing  and  pleasant  man. 

I  also  saw  the  two  other  prisoners. 
They  are  fine-looking  follow-  md 
one,  Mr  Lewis,  of  the  P«lm<-  '■- 
Acs  of  South  Carolina,  very  niu.  n 

II  gentleman.  The  otiier  man's  name 
is  Walker,  of  Missi.?3ippi.  *  *  *  * 
As  to  the  fighting  qualities  of  the 
Ist  Minnesota,  Company  A  took  its 
position  as  you  will  see  on  the  plan, 
and  the  fir.st  platoon  never  moved 
from  it  until  ordered  to  retreat. 
Captain  Wilkin  fought  like  a  hero. 
H(!  s(Mzed  a  rifle  and  shot  down  four 
nr  Cvo  of  th''  •  ■•bels,  and  took  one 
prisoner.  The  drummer  boy  Hincs 
[Cciinpany  A]  took  an  officer's  horse, 
with  sword,  pistol,  and  trappings. 

"  Much  praise  is  awarded  to  Lieu- 
tenant Welch,  of  Red  Wing,  for  the 
giilliintry  and  intrepidity  ho  dis- 
I'liivod  in  rallying  and  cheering  his 
nion. 

'•  Lieutenant  Harris,  of  the  same 
cdinpany,  also  behaved  nobly. 


"  Captain  McKune,  of  the  Fari- 
bault Company,  while  leading  his 
men,  was  shot  dead. 

"The  regimental  flag  presented  by 
t'  ■  ladies  of  Winona  was  pierced  by 
tliirteen  balls,  "iiu  a  cannon-ball 
through  the  bluo  field,  making  a 
hole  about  a  foot  long. 

****** 

"  I  have  not  hoen  mustered  in  yet, 
and  think  I  shall  not  b<>.  I  phall 
fight  on  m\  wn  hook,  al-  vs,  how- 
ever, going  into  tlio  field  with  Com- 
pany A,  and  sticking  to  them." 

EXTRACTS  FROM       lAPLAIN'S 
JOURN. 

"Saturday,  July  twentieth. — In 
company  with  Chaplain  Da  Costa 
and  Assistant-Surgeon  Keoii  f  the 
Massachusetts  6th,  walkiil  to  the 
scene    of    Thursday's  .gement. 

When  we  came  in  sight  of  the  ene- 
my's hospital,  our  advance  pickets 
stopped  us,  as  it  was  dangerous  to 
proceed  nearer. 

"Captain  Adams,  of  Company  H, 
afterward  obtained  permission  to 
pass  the  picket,  and  was  flred  upon 
by  the  enemy. 

"This  afternoon  a  flag  taken  at 
Fairfax  was  paraded  under  an  escort 
of  Fire  Zouaves  and  Michigan  Ist. 
It  is  of  silk,  and  bears  the  inscrip- 


6:6 


HISTOEY   OP   MINNESOTA. 


Franklin's  Brigade  was  placed  on  the  right  of  the 
woods  near  the  centre  of  our  line,  and  on  ground  rising 
toward  the  enemy's  position." 

Colonel  W.  B.  Franklin  of  the  regular  army,  brigade 
commander,  in  his  report,  after  stating  that  Kicketts's 
Battery  in  its  second  position  was  soon  disabled,  says 
he  ordered  the  5th  and  11th  Massachusetts  Regiments 
to  save  the  battery,  but  that  it  was  impossible  to  get 


tion,  *Teneas  Bifles,' — a  Louisiana 
corps.  Un  the  central  stripe  is  a 
representation  of  a  cutton-balc. 

"General  McDowell  has  issued 
orders  directing  us  to  bo  ready  to 
march  at  six  o'clock  p.m.  After  all 
things  were  ready,  un  aid  came  with 
an  order  postponing  the  march  until 
two  o'clock  to-morrow. 

^^  Sunday,  July  twenty-first. — Ser- 
geant Young  came  and  told  me 
that  it  was  time  to  rise.  The  night 
was  cold,  and  after  I  rose  1  has- 
tened to  one  of  the  few  carap-Qrcs 
that  hi  been  lighted,  to  warm  my- 
self. 'J  he  moon  shone  brightly,  and 
men  moved  about  without  much 
•peaking,  feeling  that  this  might  be 
their  last  .Sunday  on  earth. 

"  About  three  o'clock  a.m.  we  left 
camp,  and  wound  up  the  hill  to  Cun- 
treville.  At  the  end  of  the  village 
we  halted  until  daylight,  being  de- 
layed by  the  pascage  of  Colonel 
Hunter's  column,  which  had  pre- 
ceded us  by  another  r<>'<l  to  this  point. 

"  Following  the  column  of  Hunter, 
we  passed  it  bridge  iH<ar  Centrevillo, 
I  believe  on  the  V  irrenton  road. 
While  Tyler's  division  kept  on  this 
road,  those  of  Unuter  and  Heintsel- 
man  soon  turned.  For  several  miles 
we  passed  through  woodlands  of  oak 
and  hickory,  where  no  springs  could 


be  found  that  were  serviceable,  and 
the  men  suffered  much  for  water 
and  were  quite  fatigued,  as  it  was 
warm;  many  of  them  had  neither 
had  breakfast  nor  supper  the  night 
before. 

"  Emerging  into  an  open  country 
and  looking  to  our  left,  we  could  see 
the  smoke  of  artillery  rising  from 
the  woods  about  a  mile  or  two  dis- 
tant, indicating  that  the  action  with 
the  enemy  had  fairly  commenced. 
About  eleven  o'clock  we  crossed  a 
small  branch  which  I  supposed  was 
Bull  Kun.  As  Company  A  was 
crossing.  Colonel  Gorman,  who  was 
on  the  other  side,  in  a  loud  voice 
urged  the  regiment  to  close  up  luij 
hurry  on.  With  alacrity  the  men 
obeyed,  and  with  double-quick  step 
they  ran  up  the  hill-side,  which  wub 
through  woodland.  Just  before  wo 
reached  the  summit,  we  met  ambu- 
lances and  soldiers  carrying  down 
wounded  and  dying  men  to  a  church 
called  Sudley  Church,  which  was  on 
the  roadside  between  the  scene  of 
action  and  the  ford.  As  we  turned 
into  the  wood  n.'ar  the  battle-field 
an  officer  in  uniform,  and  wounded 
badly  in  the  neck,  passed  in  a  vehicle. 
With  a  smile  of  enthusiasm  he  threw 
out  his  arms  and  urged  us  on;  he 
was  said  to  be  Hunter.     After  pass- 


BULL   RUN   BATTLE. 


671 


jountry 
Buld  see 
,g  from 
two  dis- 
,on  with 
Bienced. 
rosaed  ft 
}ged  wai 
A   was 
who  was 
id  voice 
mi  iiiid 
the  men 
lick  step 
hich  will' 
lefore  wo 
et  ambu- 
jg  down 
a  church 
;h  WHS  on 
scene  of 
e  turned 

.ttle-fifild 
wounded 

11  vehicle. 

he  threw 
i»  on;  he 

fter  pass- 


the  men  to  draw  oflF  the  guns."  He  then  continues: 
"The  Minnesota  Regiment  moved  from  its  position  on 
the  right  of  the  field  to  the  support  of  Ricketts's  Bat- 
tery, and  gallantly  engaged  the  enemy  at  that  point. 
It  was  so  near  the  enemy's  lines  that  friends  and  foes 
were  for  a  long  time  confounded.  The  regiment  he- 
haved  exceedingly  well." 
Colonel  Gorman,  in  his  report  to  General  Frank- 


ing through  the  woods  several  rods, 
we  camo  to  a  clearing,  and  our  regi- 
ment formed  in  column  and  stood 
alone,  the  other  regiments  of  the 
brigade  having  passed  at  a  later 
period  directly  up  the  road  from  the 
forr .  As  the  regiment  waited  for  a 
fpv  moments,  Colonel  Heintzelnian, 
the  commander  of  our  division,  and 
another  officer,  wont  to  an  eminence 
near  by,  and  with  a  telescope  took  a 
view.  As  the  wounded  men  of  the 
regiments  began  to  appear  on  the 
edge  of  the  woods.  Surgeon  Lo  Boutil- 
licr  requested  me  to  go  aiid  uzV  Dr. 
■Stewart  to  come  up  with  the  hospital 
attendants  and  the  litters.  1  went 
tiiick  as  requested,  and  saw  the  doctor ; 
lie  told  me  that  the  modical  director 
lind  requested  iiim  to  stay  at  and 
ni'ar  Sudley  Church.  With  privates 
Denglo  and  Williams,  attached  to  the 
assistant-surgeon,  I  hurried  back 
with  the  litters,  and  found  the  regi- 
nii'iit  had  loft  the  clearing.  Passing 
through  a  narrow  strip  of  woods, 
1  (lime  to  open  and  cultivated  land, 
and  found  the  regiment.  They  occu- 
pied ground  lately  occupied  by  the 
enemy,  who  had  been  driven  back 
by  the  Rhode  Island  Brigade.  The 
enemy's  batteries  were  planted  on 
till'  heights  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  open  valley.    Captain  Ricketta's 


U.  8.  Buttery,  belonging  to  our  bri- 
gade, was  ordered  to  engage  f.h« 
enemy,  and  the  Minnesota  Regiment 
to  support  it.  As  they  hurried 
through  an  old  gate-way  to  take 
position  opposite  the  enemy's  rifled 
cannon,  it  was  difficult  for  the  sol- 
diers to  push  through,  and  I  busied 
myself  in  pulling  down  fence  rails, 
so  they  could  move  faster  and  not 
break  column. 

'<  After  Ricketts's  U.  S.  Artillery 
began  to  fire  I  did  not  follow  our 
regiment,  but  remained  on  the  field 
at  the  point  where  the  artillery  un- 
?'mb.ired. 

"  As  1  stood.  General  Burnside,  of 
Rhode  Island,  whoso  acquaintance  I 
had  made  in  the  winter  of  '59-'G0,  at 
the  house  of  General  McClellan,  in 
Chicago,  rode  up  on  horseback,  ani 
I  learned  from  him  the  history  of  tb. 
engagement  of  the  Rhode  Island  A  • 
tillery  with  the  enemy.  He  suppose 
that  the  enemy's  battery  wa3  on  th. 
opposite  sideof  the  road  from  where  he 
found  it,  and  when  he  came  in  sight, 
he  was  obliged  to  reply,  and  at  half- 
wheel  engage  them.  After  a  hot 
contest,  he  dislodged  them  from  their 
position. 

"  Whili'talkingwith  General  Burn- 
side,  General  McDowell  rode  on  to 
the  elevated  field   on  t!<e  left  hand 


6)8 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


lin,  remarks:  "Immediately  upon  Ricketts's  Battery 
coming  into  position  and  we  in  line  of  battle,  Colonel 
Heintzelman  rode  up  between  our  lines  and  that  of  the 
enemy,  within  pistol-shot  of  each,  which  circumstance 
staggered  my  judgment  whether  those  in  front  were 
friends  or  enemies,  it  being  equally  manifest  that  the 
enemy  were  in  the  same  dilemma  as  to  our  identity; 
but  a  few  seconds,  however,  undeceived   both,  they 


side  of  the  roii'',  and  with  several 
members  of  the  stuff,  sat  in  their 
saddles  and  viewed  the  action.  Rick- 
etts's Battery  now  ceased  firing,  and, 
attaching  their  caissons  came  out  of 
the  field  where  they  were  first  posted, 
and  wheeling  inti>  the  road,  descended 
to  a  position  nearer  the  regiment  and 
the  enemy,  and  while  there  suffered 
severely.  One  of  his  lieutenuntii, 
Douglas  Ramsey,  a  nephew  of  one 
with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  had  his 
head  shot  off. 

"  As  I  stood  I  could  see  the  locality 
where  the  Minnesota  1st  and  the 
Fire  Zouaves  were  fighting.  With  a 
piece  of  woods  on  their  right,  they 
had  reached  the  ascei  t  of  the  slope,  on 
the  crest  of  which  was  the  principal 
battery  of  the  Confederates  ;  but  the 
woods,  as  the  clouds  of  dust  indi- 
cated, were  fast  being  filled  with 
fvee\  troops  of  the  enemy  As  the 
cam  ')n-balls  flew  past  me  I  changed 
my  pjsition  froiifl  time  to  time,  and 
once  came  to  a  small  one-story  house 
on  our  left  filled  with  wounded  of 
other  reginienis.  Even  here  the 
shots  from  the  rifled  cannon  came. 
Just  before  the  retreat  from  the  field, 
I  went  into  the  woods  that  skirted 
over  near  where  stood  the  ambu- 
lances. One  of  these  attached  to  our 
brigade  was  foremost,  and  a  horse  with 


saddle  on,  that  was  next  the  ambu- 
lance, was  shot  while  I  was  talking 
to  the  driver.  I  had  been  here  but 
a  few  minutes  when  a  young  man 
named  Workman,  a  member  of  the 
Regimental  Band,  came  up  and  told 
me  that  there  were  several  of  our 
regiment  wounded  and  on  the  field 
not  far  distant,  and  that  he  feared 
unless  we  could  roach  them  soon  they 
would  be  captured.  In  the  absence 
of  the  surgeons,  I  told  the  driver  of 
the  ambulance  to  take  Workman  and 
myself  to  the  spot  indicated.  Drove 
up  to  a  fence  of  a  small  farm-house, 
and  into  the  yard  of  a  house,  where  lay 
numbers  of  wounded  men ;  all  were 
eager  to  be  placed  in  the  ambulance, 
but  I  was  obliged  to  tell  them  it  wns 
reserved  for  the  wounded  of  thb 
Minnesota  Regiment.  Receiving 
four  of  our  men,  I  drove  off  the  ^oM 
to  Sudley  Church,  which  was  used  ns 
a  Iiospital. 

"  Here  was  a  scene  bafiSing  all  de- 
scription. The  benches  from  this 
rude  country  church  had  all  been 
removed,  and  its  floor  was  strewn 
with  wounded  and  dying.  The  t;iil- 
lery  also  was  full.  Ascending,  I 
found  Dr.  Stewart.  Stretchpd  on  his 
back  was  an  elderly  man  of  Company 
B,  begging  for  water;  his  look  was 
ir.esistible,   and  picking   up  a  cup 


QOKMANS   REPORT. 


6^9 


displaying  the  rebel,  and  we  the  Union  flag.  Instantly 
a  blaze  of  fire  was  poured  into  the  forces  of  the  com- 
batants, each  producing  terrible  destruction,  owing  to 
the  close  proximity  of  the  forces,  which  was  followed 
by  volley  after  volley,  in  regular  and  irregular  order 
;i8  to  time,  until  Ricketts's  Battery  was  disabled  and 
cut  to  pieces,  and  a  large  portion  of  its  officers  and 
men  had  fallen,  and   until  Companies  H,  J,  K,  C,  G, 


besmeared  with  blood,  I  went  to  ft 
brook  some  distance  oft'  and  brought 
liirn  what  was  mud  and  water ;  but 
this  impure  potion  was  eacorly 
quaffed.  Finding  John  T.  Halsted, 
of  St.  Paul,  I  led  him  up-stairs  to  the 
doctor,  as  the  Angers  of  his  loft  hand 
were  shattered  by  a  ball.  While 
Ills  right  arm  was  round  my  neck, 
he  manifested  some  feeling,  and  when 
T  told  him  his  wound  Wiis  not  serioiis 
he  said, '  Oh,  lam  not  thinking  of  that, 
but  of  k(jw  many  of  our  brave  men  have 
been  cut  down  by  the  enemy !' 

"Captain  Acker,  of  St.  Paul, 
sliijhtly  wounded  in  the  eye,  was 
lying  on  the  church  floor  near  the 
jiulpit.  As  the  groans  of  those  mor- 
tnlly  wounded  were  dreadful,  he 
walked  out  to  the  open  air  leaning 
on  my  arm.  As  I  sat  with  him  near 
a  tree,  I  noticed  my  trunk  containing 
my  entire  wardrobe  not  far  distant, 
also  those  of  Doctors  Stewart  and  Le 
Boutillier,  all  of  which  became  spoil 
of  the  enemy.  While  under  the  tree 
a  private  of  Company  K  called  my 
attention  to  a  prisoner  he  had  taken, 
a  soldier  of  a  Mississippi  regiment. 
The  prisoner  first  address!  nt^  me  as 
captain,  I  told  him  I  was  a  chaplain  ; 
ho  grasped  my  hand,  and  said  he 
lioped  'he  was  a  Christian,  and  had 
enlisted  from  con8ci«ntiou»  motives, 


ashe  thought  Southern  rights  had  been 
infringed  upon.'  He  then  begged  mc 
to  protect  him  from  ill-usage,  and  not 
force  him  toflghtagainsthisbrethron. 
I  assured  him  there  was  neither 
danger  of  ill-treatment  from  our 
troops,  nor  compulsion  by  the  U.  S. 
government  to  mr  ice  him  bear  arms 
on  our  side. 

"  Captain  Acker,  fearing  capture, 
told  me  he  would  like  to  find  our  re- 
giment. Taking  my  arm  we  walked 
down  to  the  ford,  not  far  from  the 
church,  and  there  learned  that  CoU 
onel  Gorman,  with  such  officers  and 
soldiers  as  he  could  find,  had  re- 
turned towards  Centreville.  Meeting 
Gates  Gibbs,  a  son  of  Justice  Gibbs 
of  St.  Paul,  and  one  of  my  Sunday- 
school  scholars  when  I  preached  in 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  driv- 
ing an  empty  ambulance,  I  placed 
therein  Captain  Acker.  Had  not 
proceeded  far  before  I  found  soldier* 
carrying  Lieutenant  Harley,  of  Cap- 
tain Pell's  company,  on  a  litter. 
He  was  taken  up,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes had  our  ambulance  full  of  our 
wounded,  and  among  others,  Robert 
Ste))hons,  who,  in  1849,  when  a  lud, 
assisted  in  plastering  my  house,  tho 
first  brick  edifice  built  in  Minnesota, 
now  occupied  bj'  John  W.  Bond,  at 
St.  Paul. 


«80 


HISTORT  OF   MINNESOTA. 


and  those  immediately  surrounding  ray  regimental  flag, 
were  so  desperat3ly  cut  to  pieces  as  to  make  it  more 
of  a  slaughter-house  than  an  equal  combat.  *  *  *  ♦ 
I  feel  it  due  to  my  regiment  to  say  that,  before  leaving 
the  extreme  right  of  our  line,  the  enemy  attempted  to 
make  a  charge  with  a  body  of  cavalry,  who  were  met 
by  my  command  and  a  part  of  the  Fire  Zouaves  and 
repulsed  with  considerable  loss  to  the  enemy,  but  with- 


"  While  on  the  Warrenton  Turn- 
pike, in  the  woods,  about  two  miles 
south  of  the  bridge  over  Cub  Run, 
the  soldiers  in  foot  of  the  iimbu lance 
appeared  to  be  in  great  confusion  ; 
was  told  that  the  enemy  hud  flanked 
us.  Fearing  that  a  charge  might  be 
made,  I  asked  the  driver  for  some- 
thing red  to  hang  out  of  the  ambu- 
lance as  a  hospital  flag.  A  youth  of 
the  Faribault  Company,  by  the  name 
of  Kerrot,  hearing  my  question, 
although  lying  in  the  bottom  of  the 
ambulance,  wounded  in  the  leg,  and 
very  weak,  sat  up  and  tore  off  his 
red  flannel  shirt  and  gave  it  to  me. 
Placing  it  on  a  sabre  bayonet,  I  held 
it  for  a  time  over  the  ambulance. 
As  we  neured  Cub  Run  Bridge,  there 
was  evidence  of  a  panic.  Baggage- 
wagons  were  overturned,  muskets 
and  blankets  strewn  on  the  road,  and 
cavalry  and  infantry  mingled  to- 
gi'tlier  without  any  officers  to  restore 
contldonce.  Just  at  the  bridge  were 
broken  artillery  wagons,  and  a  horse 
lying  on  the  road  with  a  wound  in 
the  breiiflt.  When  we  crossed  at  tlusk 
by  the  ford  adjoining  the  bridge, 
which  was  done  with  difficulty,  we 
saw  in  an  open  field  a  regiment 
drawn  up  in  line,  and  the  stars  and 
stripes  indicated  they  were  a  reserve 
of  friends. 


"Just  after  dark  reached  old  camp- 
ing-ground at  Centrevillu.  Met  Ad- 
jutant Leach,  and  was  told  that  the 
fleld-oflBccrs  and  a  portion  of  the  re- 
giment was  in  the  field  near  the  old 
quarters  of  General  McDowell.  Pre- 
pared to  go  to  sleep  on  some  blankets 
I  had  borrowed,  when  an  order  was 
given  for  us  to  retire  to  Washington. 
By  the  kindness  of  the  wagon-mas- 
ter, the  well-known  old  settler,  An- 
son Northrop,  I  obtained  a  tin  cup 
of  coffee,  with  some  pilot  bread,  and 
I  think  it  was  the  most  refreshing 
meal  T  ever  had.  About  half-past 
nine  o'clock  the  regiment  formed 
and  began  its  march  to  Washington, 
beyond  Fairfax  Court-House;  a  por- 
tion, by  mistake,  took  the  Vienna 
road.  This  was  the  front  with  the 
field  oflicers.  Reached  Vienna  about 
half-past  three  Monday  morning. 

"  Monday  mornin<i,  July  tweity- 
aecond. — As  the  men  had  been  on 
their  feet  twenty-four  hours,  halted 
at  Vienna  \intil  five  o'clock.  Major 
Dike  and  I  lay  on  the  grass,  with  his 
saddle  for  a  pillow,  but  as  it  rained 
I  did  not  sleep  half  an  hour,  began 
to  march  for  Georgetown,  fifteen 
miles  distant;  when  ten  or  eleven 
miles  off  hired  a  blacksmith,  with  a 
rickety  one-horse  wagon,  for  six  dol- 
!•»»,  to  take  Captain  Putnam,  Lieu- 


GORMAN'S  REPORT. 


681 


out  any  to  us.  *  *  *  *  I  regard  it  as  an  event  of 
rare  occurrence  in  the  annals  of  history  that  a  regi- 
ment of  volunteers,  not  over  three  months  in  the 
service,  marched  up  without  flinching  to  the  mouth  of 
batteries  supported  by  thousands  of  infantry,  and  opened 
and  maintained  a  fire  until  one-fifth  of  the  whole  regi- 
ment was  killed,  wounded,  or  made  prisoners,  before 
retiring,  except  for  purposes  of  advantage  of  position. 

"  My  heart  is  full  of  gratitude  to  my  officers  and 
men  for  their  gallant  bearing  throughout  the  whole  ot 
tlii.s  desperate  engagement,  and  to  distinguish  the 
merits  of  one  from  another  would  be  invidious,  and 
injustice  might  be  done. 

"  Major  Dike  and  my  adjutant  bore  themselves  with 
coolness  throughout.  My  chaplain.  Rev.  E.  D.  Neill, 
was  on  the  field  the  whole  time,  and,  in  the  midst  of 
danger,  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  wounded.  Dr. 
Stewart  while  on  the  field  was  ordered  to  the  hospital 
by  a  medical  officer  of  the  army.  Dr.  Le  Boutillier 
continued  with  the  regiment." 

After  the  battle,  the  regiment  returned  to  Washing- 
ton to  recruit.    On  the  second  of  August  they  marched 


tonant  Coates,  and  Zeinrenberg  to 
Goorgotown.  He  drove  i<o  slow  it 
wag  some  time  before  we  reached 
Captain  Putnana  ;  by  the  time  the 
wagon  reached  Falls  Church,  a 
wounded  Zouave  and  a  soldier  of 
the  New  York  Highland  Kegiment 
bogged  a  place,  and  it  was  impossible 
to  refuse  them.  Finding  Captain 
Putnam,  I  relinquished  my  seat  to 
the  driver,  and  was  glad  to  be  on  my 
foct  again. 

"  About  eleven  o'clock,  in  the  rain, 
called  at  Fort  Corcoran,  with  Colonel 


Gorman  and  Major  Dike.  The  com- 
manding oflScer,  W.  T.  Sherman,  was 
not  very  obliging.  With  some  difB- 
culty  the  guard  allowed  me  to  pass, 
under  an  order  from  Colonel  Gorman, 
to  Georgetown  Ferry.  Taking  an  om- 
nibus at  Georgetown  went  to  Wash- 
ington, called  and  informed  Mrs. 
Dike  and  Mrs. Leach  that  their  hus- 
bands were  safe,  and  in  the  afternoon 
went  to  Philadelphia  to  replenish  my 
own  wardrobe,  and  procure  suppliea 
for  our  wounded." 


682 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


k)  the  Upper  Potomac,  and  on  the  seventh  went  into 
camp  near  Seneca  Mills,  where  they  remained  until  the 
fifteenth,  and  then  moved  to  a  point  between  Pooles- 
ville  and  Edward's  Ferry,  which  proved  to  be  their 
winter  quarters.  They  were  attached  to  Gorman's 
Brigade,  in  Stone's  Division,  and  commanded  by  Colonel 
N.  J.  T.  Dana,'  who,  on  October  second,  was  mustered 
in  as  colonel. 

No  event  of  importance  occurred  during  the  remainder 

^of  the  year  except  in  connection  with  the  movement  on 

October  twenty-first,  toward  Leesburg,  which  resulted 

in  the  death  of  Colonel  E.  D.  Baker,  late  U.  S.  Senator 

from  Oregon. 

About  one  p.m.  on  Sunday,  October  nineteenth,  the 
regiment  was  ordered  to  Edward's  Ferry,  and  Colonel 
Dana  was  directed  to  send  two  companies  to  the  Vir- 
ginia side  in  three  flat-boats.  The  companies  of  Cap- 
tain Morgan  and  Captain  Lester  crossed,  protected  by 
the  fire  of  our  artillery,  but  in  fifteen  minutes  were 
recalled,  and  the  regiment  was  sent  back  to  camp. 
A  little  after  midnight  Colonel  Dana  received  orders 
to  move  again  to  the  Ferry  at  daybreak.  By  half-past 
eight  A.M,  the  whole  regiment  had  crossed  the  Potomac, 
and  was  formed  in  line  of  battle,  its  left  resting  on 
Goose  Creek.  For  three  days,  exposed  to  cold  rains, 
this  position  was  held.  On  Monday  night  other  troops 
that  had  followed  were  ordered  back  to  their  camps, 
and,  while   they  were   recrossing,  the   Ist  Minnesota 


•  Napoleon  Jackson  Tecumseh 
Dana,  son  of  an  army  officer,  was 
born  in  Maine.  Cadet  1838 ;  second 
lieutenant,  7tb  Infantry,  July,  1842  j 
first  lieutenant,  February,  1847.  April 
18,  1847,  severely  wounded  at  Cerro 


Gordo,  in  Mexico.  Captain  and  as- 
sistant quartermaster,  March,  1848. 
Kesigned  commission  in  Regular 
Army,  1856.  Brigadier-general  ot 
volunteers,  1862.  Major-general  of 
volunteers,  November,  29,  1862. 


COLONEL   D.«Aa   RKPORT. 


68& 


were  kept  in  line  and  protected  them.  On  Tuesday 
afternoon  Company  I,  commanded  by  Second  Lieu- 
tenant Halsey,  was  attacked  by  the  enemy,  and  one 
killed  and  one  wounded.  On  Wednesday  night,  at 
half-past  nine  o'clock,  General  Stone  appointed  Colonel 
Dana  to  superintend  the  withdrawal  of  our  troops  from 
Goose  Creek,  to  the  east  side  of  the  Potomac.  Colonel 
Dana  in  his  report  says : 

"As  the  first  streak  of  dawn  made  its  appearance, 
Minnesota  again  alone,  with  General  Stone,  stood  updh 
the  Virginia  shore,  and  everything  else  having  been 
placed  on  board,  the  men  were  ordered  to  follow.  I 
coveted  the  honor  to  be  the  last  man  upon  the  bank, 
but  the  gallant  general  would  not  yield  his  place,  and 
I  obeyed  his  order  to  go  on  board  and  leave  him 
alone."' 

Other  troops  from  Minnesota  began  to  enter  the 
field  about  this  time.     The  2d  Regiment,*  which  had 


>  A  writer  in  the  Faribault  Repub- 
lican speaks  of  a  Sunday  in  camp 
ut'tor  Ball's  Bluff  disaster  : 

"  To-day  tho  chaplain  preached  to 
U8  out  in  tho  woods.  The  cold  winds 
brought  thi  dead  leaves  down  in 
sho-wera  and  swept  them  in  heaps. 
Tho  chaplain  could  scarcely  raise  his 
voice  above  the  rustling  of  the  leaves, 
but  wu  heard  him  say :  '  That  death 
was  essential  to  life  and  prosperity. 
It  was  so  in  the  natural  world.  We 
could  see  around  us  that  these  trees, 
late  densely  covered  with  verdure, 
were  now  sapless  and  naked.  But 
after  the  storms  of  the  coming  winter 
life  would  clothe  with  brighter  ver- 
dure these  s.ime  trees.  So  would  it 
be  with  our  nation.  Dangers  and 
difficulties  must    be  mot.     A  long 


period  of  stormy  adversity  must  be 
ff.ibed  through  to  prepare  the  nation 
ibr  greater  excellency.  Nations  must 
be  baptized  in  blood,  and  subjected 
to  defeat,  before  sufficient  strength 
of  purpose  and  character  is  obtained 
to  ensure  permanent  prosperity.'  " 

'  Staff  Officers  2d  Rkoiment. 

Horatio  P.  Van  Cleve,  Colonel. 
Promoted  Brigadier-Qeneral,  March 
21,  1862. 

James  George,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
Promoted  Colonel ;  resigned  June  29, 
1864. 

Simeon  Smith,  Major.  Appointed 
Paymaster  U.  S.  A.,  September, 
1861. 

Alex.  Wilkin,  Major.  Colonel  9tb 
Minnesota,  August,  1862. 


684 


HIBTORT   OF   MINNESOTA. 


been  organized  in  July,  left  Port  Snelling  on  the  thir- 
teenth of  October,  and,  proceeding  to  Louisville,  were 
incorporated  with  the  Army  of  the  Ohio. 

A  company  of  sharp-shooterB,  under  Captain  F.Peteler, 
proceeded  to  Washington,  and  on  the  eleventh  of  Octo- 
ber was  assigned  as  Company  A,  2d  Regiment  U.  S. 
Sharp-shooters. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  November,  the  3d  Regiment'  left 
the  State  and  proceeded  to  Tennessee. 

In  December,  the  Ist  Battery  Light  Artillerv  left 
and  reported  for  duty  at  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

In  October  and  November,  three  companies  of  ca  .'airy 
were  organized,  and  proceeded  to  Benton  Barracks,  Mis- 
souri, and  were  ultimately  incorporated  with  the  5th 
Iowa  Cavalry. 

The  following  paragraph  of  Gorman's  Report  should  have 
appeared  on  page  681. 

"  A  portion  ol  the  right  wing,  owing  to  the  configuration  of 
the  ground,  bocatne  detached,  under  Lieut.  Col.  Miller,  whose 
gallantry  was  conspicuous  •  *  *  and  who  contested  every  inch 
of  the  ground." 


Reginald  Bingham,  Surgeon.  Dig- 
xiissed  May  27,  1802. 

M.  C.  Tollman,  Assistant-Surgeon. 
Promoted  Surgeon. 

Timothy  Crcssey,  Chaplain.  Re- 
ligned  October  10,  1863. 

Daniel  D.  Heaney,  Adjutant.  Pro- 
jnoted  Captain  Company  C. 

William  8.  Grow,  Quartermaster. 
Resigned  January,  1863. 

'  Staff  Okfickrs  3d  Rkqimknt. 
Henry  C.    Lester,   Colonel.      Dis- 
missed December  1,  1862. 


Benjamin  F.  Smith,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel.     Resigned  May  9,  1882. 

John  A.  Hadley,  Major.  Pro- 
moted Lieutenant-Colonel,  May  29, 
1862. 

B.  C.  Olin,  Adjutant. 

C.  H.  Blakeley,  appointed  January 
9,  1862. 

Levi  Butler,  Surgeon.  Resigned 
September  80,  1868. 

Francis  R.  Milligan,  Assistant- 
Surgeon.     Resigned  April  8,  1862. 


8VU0M>   MINNKdOTA    RBOIMENT. 


68& 


CHAPTER   XZXI. 

MINNESOTA   TROOPS   IN    1862 — THBIB   POSITION   AND   8ERVI0B8. 


Before  the  month  of  January,  1862,  expired,  the  2d 
Minnesota  Regiment  won  a  distinguished  reputation. 
On  Sunday,  the  nineteenth,  not  far  from  Somerset, 
about  forty  miles  from  Danville,  Kentucky,  they  were 
engaged  in  the  battle  of  Mill  Springs.  Colonel  Robert 
L.  McCook,  the  brigade  commander,  says : 

''The  position  of  the  Minnesota  regiment  covered 
the  ground  formerly  occupied  by  the  4th  Kentucky  and 
10th  Indiana,  which  brought  their  flank  within  about 
ten  feet  of  the  enemy,  when  he  had  advanced  upon 
the  4th  Kentucky.  *  *  *  *  Qjj  ^jjg  right  of  the 
Minnesota  regiment  the  contest  was  almost  hand  to 
hand,  and  the  enemy  and  2d  Minnesota  were  poking 
their  guns  at  each  other  through  the  fence." 

Colonel  Van  Cleve  made  the  following  report: 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  report  the  part  taken  by  the 
2d  Minnesota  Regiment  in  the  action  of  the  Cumber- 
land, on  the  nineteenth  inst.  About  seven  o'clock  in 
the  morning  of  that  day,  and  before  breakfast,  I  was 
informed  by  Colonel  Manson,  of  the  10th  Indiana,  com- 
manding the  Second  Brigade  of  our  division,  that  the 
enemy  were  advancing  in  force,  and  that  he  was  hold- 
ing them  in  check,  and  that  it  was  the  order  of  General 


'ese 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


Thomas  that  I  should  form  my  regiment  and  march 
immediately  to  the  scene  of  action.'      '  » 

"  Within  ten  minutes  we  had  left  our  camp.  Arriv- 
ing at  L'^-o'an's  Field,  by  your  order  we  halted  in  line 
of  bail^le,  sap^)orting  Standart's  Battery,  which  was  re- 
turning the  fire  of  the  enemy's  guns,  whose  balls  and 
shells  w^re  falling  near  us. 

"  As  bOon  as  the  9th  Ohio  came  up,  and  had  taken 
its  position  on  our  right,  we  continued  the  march,  and 


>  A  correspondent  of  Cincinnati 
Oommercial  writes  :  "  General  ZoUi- 
coffer's  body  lay  upon  the  ground  in 
front  of  one  of  the  Minnesota  tents 
surrounded  by  some  twenty  soldiers. 
Two  soldiers  were  busy  washing  off 
the  mud  with  which  it  hud  been  cov- 
ered. It  was  almost  as  white  and 
transparent  as  wax.  The  fatal  wound 
"was  in  the  breast,  and  was  evidently 
made  by  a  pistol-ball.  This  was 
Zollicofler  I  He  whose  name  had  so 
long  been  a  terror  to  men  who  loved 
their  counU'y  on  the  banks  of  the 
Cumberland." 

Geo.  D.  Strong,  of  Company  D, 
writes:  "  We  were  just  in  the  edge 
of  the  woods,  close  to  a  fence,  the 
other  side  of  which  were  t\ «  rebel 
forces  resting  their  guns  on  the  fence. 
My  position  was  next  to  the  regi- 
mental -  lors,  and  only  fifteen  to 
twenty  feet  from  the  foe.  We  all 
dropped  on  our  knees  and  behind 
rotten  logs,  loading  and  firing  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  pouring  in  a 
fearful  flro,  which  told  upon  them. 
A  momentary  silence  cau«ed  me  to 
look  round,  when  I  saw  one  of  our 
company,  W.  H.  H.  Morrow, 
wounded.  I  tssisiud  in  carrying 
him  to  a  safe  place.  He  was  shot  in 
the  right  shoulder,  the  ball  turning 


towards  the  breast.  He  died  two 
hours  after  I  left  him." 

W.  S.  Welles,  of  Company  I, 
writes:  "Lieutenant  Bailie  Peyton 
wap  shot  by  Adam  Wichet,  a  Ger- 
man, in  Company  I.  Peyton  stood 
exactly  in  front  of  the  flag,  while 
Company  D  was  on  the  right,  and 
Company  I  on  the  left  of  it. 

"  Peyton  stood  about  two  rods  from 
our  line,  firing  right  oblique  into 
Company  I.  A  bullet  from  his 
revolver  had  jus-  -.everely  wounded 
Lieutenant  Stout.  At  this  moment 
Lieutenant  Uline  caught  a  glimpse 
of  him  through  the  smoke,  and  as 
his  revolver  was  useless,  he  ordered 
Wichet,  who  stood  by,  to  shoot  him. 
Wichet  fired,  and  Peyton  breathed 
his  last.  The  whole  charge,  a  bullei, 
and  three  buckshot,  entered  the  left 
side  of  his  face,  taking  out  the  eye, 
and  coming  out  just  below  the  left 
ear." 

A  correspondent  of  the  St.  Paul 
Press  says!  "Wm.  H.  Blake,  the 
little  drummer-boy  of  Company  H, 
dropped  his  drum  and  seizing  the 
gun  of  a  wounded  man,  fought  it  out 
with  us  stoutly." 

A   DBAD   BROTHER. 

"Dear  Parents,—!  am  weary 
and  lonesome,  and  hardly  know  what 


BATTT.K   OF   MILL   SPRINGS 


687 


after  proceeding  about  a  half-  mile  came  upon  the 
enemy,  who  were  posted  behind  a  fence  along  the 
read,  beyond  which  was  an  open  field  broken  by 
ravines.  The  enemy  opening  upon  us  a  galling  fire, 
fought  desperately,  and  a  hand  to  hand  fight  ensued, 
which  lasted  about  thirty  minutes.  The  enemy,  met 
with  80  warm  a  reception  in  front, — and  afterwards 
being  flanked  on  their  left  by  the  9th  Ohio,  and  on 
their  right  by  a  portion  of  our  left,  who  had,  by  their 
well-directed  fire,  driven  them  from  behind  their  hid- 
ing-places— that  they  gave  way,  leaving  a  large  number 
of  their  dead  and  wounded  on  the  field.  We  joined  in 
the  pursuit,  which  continued  till  near  sunset,  when  we 
arrived  within  a  mile  of  their  intrenchments,  where  we 
rested  upon  our  arms  during  the  night.  The  next 
morning  we  marched  into  their  works,  which  we  found 
deserted.  Six  hundred  of  our  regiment  were  in  the 
engagement,  twelve  of  whom  were  killed  and  thirty- 
three  wounded." 


to  write  to  you.  We  have  hnd  a  great 
battle  with  Zollicoffer's  forces,  one 
milo  and  a  half  fiom  this  camp,  but 
I  am  safe  and  wmI.  Ten  of  oifr  poor 
boys  are  killed,  and  some  ten  or 
fifteen  wounded.  Dear  father  and 
mother,  how  can  I  tell  you, — but  you 
will  hear  of  it  before  this  gets  to  you, 
— 8amuel  has  gone  to  his  God.  He 
now  sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows  no 
"aking  on  this  earth,  beneath  the 
cold  soil  of  Kentucky.  He  died 
charging  boldly  on  the  enemy,  from 
a  bayonet  wound  in  the  left  groin, 
which  passed  through  the  kidneys. 
Ho  died  in  about  fifteen  minutes  after 
ri'cniving  the  thrust.  Ho  died  calmly 
nn  !  easily,  without  nuich  pain.  One 
of  the  drummer-boys  offered  to  call 


the  surgeon,  but  he  said.  '  Tf  you  call 
him  he  will  leave  some  poo."  fellow 
that  will  die,  and  it  may  as  well  be 
me  as  any  one.'  When  he  was  laid 
in  his  grave  he  looked  as  if  asleep.  I 
cannot  write  you  the  particulars  of 
the  battle,  for  I  am  so  lonesome  and 
sad  that  I  have  no  mind  to  do  any- 
thing. I  have  a  board  at  the  head 
of  his  grave,  with  his  name,  regi- 
ment, and  company  cut  upon  it.  Oh, 
dear  father  and  mother,  may  God 
help  us  to  bear  up  under  this  our 
affliction  1  Qood-hyc,  my  dear  pa- 
rents. 

"  From  your  sorrowing  son, 

"  Al.BBRT. 

"Oamp  Looan,  Jnnuary  20,  1802." 


688 


HISTORY   OP   MINNESOTA. 


The  1st  Minnesota  Battery  was  present  at  the  great 
battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  which  occurred  on  Sun- 
day, the  sixth  of  April.  Lieutenant  W.  Pfaender,  com- 
manding the  battery,  in  a  communication  to  Governor 
Ramsey,  says : 

"  The  people  of  our  State  are  probably  anxious  to 
learn  the  fate  of  the  Minnesota  volunteers  who  fought 
at  the  late  battle  of  Pittsburg,  Tennessee ;  and  as  the 
1st  Minnesota  Battery  was  the  only  representative  of 
our  State  in  the  terrible  fight,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to 
send  you  a  short  account. 

"  At  our  arrival  here,  on  the  eighteenth  of  March, 
we  were  attached  to  the  Fourth  Brigade  of  General 
Sherman's  Division,  but  afterward  we  were  attached 
to  General  Prentiss's  D*"'sion ;  and  on  Saturday,  the 
fifth,  removed  to  our  new  camp,  immediately  on  the 
right  of  General  Prentiss's  head-quarters.         *         * 

"  At  our  arrival  it  the  scene  of  action,  our  infantry 
were  already  retreating.     *     *     *     *     Qjjg  ^f  q^j,  ^gj^ 

and  two  horses  were  already  killed  before  we  com- 
menced firing;  another,  and  third  one,  all  belonging 
to  my  section,  were  killed  in  quick  succession. 

"  Now  Captain  Munch's  horse  was  shot  in  the  head, 
and  immediately  afterward  the  captain  was  severely 
wounded  in  the  leg.  My  horse  was  wounded  in  both 
fore-legs.  Several  other  horses  had  received  injuries, 
and  our  position  became  critical.  *  *  *  *  Qur 
division  now  fell  back  behind  the  line  coming  to  our 
support  under  General  Hurlbut,  and  after  a  short  rest 
G«  neral  Prentiss  formed  tht  remainder  of  our  division 
again  on  the  left  centre  of  our  line.  *  *  *  *  Lieu- 
tenant Peebles  maintained  his  position  on  our  left 
nobly,  and  at  a  charge  of  a  Louisiana  regiment  com- 


,^^'^' 


BATTLE   OF   PITTSBURG   LANDING. 


pletely  mowed  them  down  with  canister.  The  enemy, 
however,  also  took  good  aim;  two  of  our  cannoniers 
were  here  killed.  Lieutenant  Peebles  severely  wounded 
in  the  jaw.  Sergeants  Clayton  and  Conner  severely 
wounded,  and  a  number  of  horses  killed.         *        * 

"  Arriving  at  the  bluffs  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  I  tried 
to  get  the  whole  battery  in  the  best  possible  condition 
again,  and    succeeded,  by  dismounting  and  changing 
pieces,  to  get  five  pieces  in  good  shape,  at  least  able  to 
open    fire    again.     *     *     *     *     -^^^g   located   our  five 
pieces,  together  with  Margreff's  Ohio  Battery,  on  a 
hill   commanding   a   long   ravine.     *     *     *     *     q^j^^ 
rebels  knew  that  this  last  attack  would  decide  the  day, 
and,  about  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  opened  on  us 
again.      *     *     *     *      ^jjg    jg^     Minnesota    Battery 
poured  in  such  a  cannonade  as  has  never  before  been 
witnessed  on  this  continent.     It  was  really  majestic, 
and  no  army  would  have  been  able  to  take  that  posi- 
tion.    *     *     *     *     ^  heavy  rain-storm  had  drenched 
us  thoroughly  during  Sunday  night,  yet  the  Minnesota 
Battery  was  ready  for  another  trial ;  and  being  without 
an  immediate  commander,  as  General  Prentiss  had  been 
taken    prisoner,    1    reported    to   General   Grant,   who 
ordered  me  to  keep  position  until  further  orders;  and 
as   Monday's   fighting   was    mostly  done    by  General 
Buell's  forces,  which  had  been  crossing  all  night,  and 
steadily  poured  in,  we  remained  there  until  we  were 
removed  to  our  old  camp  again.'" 

'  Liuutenant    Oooke    writes   to  a    was  asked  by  hundreds  of  anxious 

friend  : 

"Our  buttery  took  breakfast  ear- 

li'i'  than  usual,  and  had  just  finished 

wliiii   we    heard     occiisional    firing 

in  front.     What  does    this   mean? 

44 


voices.     Wlio  could  unswor?  •    • 
But  hark  I  the  long  roll  beats      The 
bugle  sounds  'to  arms,'  'to  horse.' 
A  mounted  orderly  then  rode  to  our 
bead-quarters,   and   tlie  battery   re- 


690 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


The  Ist  Minnesota  Regiment,  after  remaining  in 
camp  near  Edward's  Ferry  during  the  winter,  moved, 
with  Gorman's  Brigade,  to  Harper's  Ferry,  and  crossing 
the  Potomac  on  a  pontoon,  were  attached  to  Sedg- 
wick's Division,  and  on  the  thirteenth  of  March, 
marched  to  the  suburbs  of  Winchester,^  when  an  order 
came  to  return,  and  by  the  last  of  the  month  they  had 


ceived  orders  to  repair  to  the  front 
and  commence  firing  immediately. 
In  less  time  than  I  give  you  the  de- 
tails we  were  flying  to  the  scene  of 
action,  which  was  not  five  hundred 
yards  distant.  •  •  *  We  poured  a 
galling  fire  into  them,  until  they 
wore  nearly  close  enough  to  make 
tt  charge  and  capture  our  pieces. 

" '  Limber  to  the  front,'  and  away 
we  went  into  another  position.  By 
the  way,  our  captain  and  one  corpo- 
ral were  wounded  as  we  were  exe- 
cuting the  above  command.  We 
had  one  man  killed  before  we  fired  a 
gun.  Bravo  boy  I  one  of  the  men 
picked  him  up,  and  he  remarked, 
'  Don't  stop  with  me — stand  to  your 
posts  like  men.'  He  expired  eocn 
after.  He  was  from  Minneapolis. 
•  •  *  *  Just  about  noon  I  was 
struck  on  the  thigh  by  a  six-pound 
epent  ball.  It  hit  the  ground  about 
twenty  or  thirty  feet  from  me,  then 
rising,  camo  near  taking  me  off  the 
Baddle.  It  struck  me  right  on  the 
joint,  making  me  sick  and  causing 
me  to  vomit.  1  sat  down  by  a  tree, 
and  was  called  by  Lieutenant  Pee- 
bles to  get  some  ammunition.  I 
cuuld  not  use  my  limb.  Two  of  the 
boys  helped  me,  I  hobbled  to  the 
caisson,  and,  sitting  down  on  the 
trail,  issued  ammunition.  •  «  • 
Soon  after,  Johnson  was  wounded  se- 
verely by  a  musket-ball.   A  moment 


or  two  afterwards  TiUon  was  killed, 
shot  through  the  head.  Then  Ser- 
geant Clayton  was  wounded;  then 
Saxdale  was  killed ;  then  Sergeant 
Conner  was  wounded,  and  immedi- 
ately after  Lieutenant  Peebles." 

The  St.  Anthony  News  publishes 
letter  of  J.  F.,  to  his  mother : 

"Sunday  morning,  justafter  break- 
fast, an  officer  rode  up  to  our  captain's 
tent  and  told  him  to  prepare  for  ac- 
tion. ♦  «  »  We  wheeled intobattery 
and  opened  upon  them.  *  *  »  The 
first  time  we  wheeled  one  of  our  dri- 
vers was  killed  ;  his  name  was  Colby 
Stinson.  Hey  wood's  horse  was  shotai 
almost  the  same  time.  The  second 
time  we  came  into  battery  the  captain 
was  wounded  in  the  leg,  and  his  horeo 
shot  under  him.  They  charged  on 
our  guns,  and  on  the  sixth  platoon 
howitzer,  but  they  got  hold  of  thf 
wrong  end  of  the  gun.  We  thft:  lim- 
bered up  and  retreated  within  ihe 
line  of  battle.  While  :ve  were  re- 
treating they  shot  one  cf  ou'  hoisof, 
when  we  had  to  stop  and  t..ke  bini 
out,  which  let  the  rebels  come  u|> 
rather  close.  When  within  about 
six  rods,  they  fired  and  wounded 
Corporal  Davis,  of  the  gun  detacli- 
ment,  breaking  his  leg  above  the 
ankle." 

"  While  on  the  march.  Col.  Alfred 
Sully  took  command  in  place  of 
Dana,  promoted. 


SIEGE  OP  YORKTOWN. 


esi 


joined  tlie  Army  of  the  Potomac,  near  Fortress  Monroe, 
and,  by  the  middle  of  April,  were  taking  part  in  the 
fliege  of  Yorktown,  and  stationed  on  a  road  that  led 
from  Warwick  Court-House  to  Yorktown. 

The  chaplain  of  the  regiment,  in  one  of  the  St.  Paul 
papers,  gave  the  following  account  of  the  gradual  ad- 
vance from  Yorktown  to  within  sight  of  the  spires  of 
Richmond:        •  tivd^  ^''f!   fv**.- 

"As  the  telegraph  informed  you  from  day  to  day, 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  advanced  toward  Yorktown 
during  the  first  week  in  April.  Our  line  extended  in 
front  of  the  enemy's  works,  which  were  a  continued 
chain  from  the  Warwick  to  York  River. 

"  Until  near  the  middle  of  April  the  soldiers  were 
busily  employed  in  cutting  new  roads  through  the 
woods,  so  as  to  enable  our  wagons  and  artillery  to  move 
without  being  exposed  to  the  enenr.y's  fire.  By  the  last 
of  April  the  preparation  for  a  siege  was  fast  being  com- 
pleted, gabions  had  been  platted,  trenches  dug,  and 
batteries  erected.  Sedgwick's  Division  occupied  a  posi- 
t  on  midway  between  Warwick  Court-House  and  York- 
town,  on  the  old  Warwick  Road.       -^   '■^yrr/    >  •' 

*'  Smith's  Division  was  on  our  immediate  left,  and 
watched  the  enemy  at  Lee's  Mills  while  we  annoyed 
them  with  our  artillery  and  sharp-shooters  at  Wynne's 
Mills. 

"  Battery  No.  8  was  erected  by  our  engineers  to  com- 
mand the  enemy's  fortifications  at  Wynne's  Mills,  and 
would  have  opened  fire  in  a  day  or  two  had  they  not 
tied.  While  for  two  weeks  there  were  frequent  dis- 
charges of  artillery  during  the  night,  on  the  evening  of 
Saturday  the  3d  of  May  there  was  an  inci^sant  booming 
of  cannon,  which  suddenly  ceased  just  before  the  day- 


692 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


break  of  Sunday.  The  pickets  of  General  Dana's 
Brigade,  noticing  the  stillness  and  perceiving  no  move- 
ment, cautiously  approached,  and  were  astonished  to 
find  that  an  evacuation  had  taken  place.  By  sunrise 
the  whole  of  the  brigade  was  within  the  works  of  the 
enemy  or  bivenn/.ed  on  the  fields  in  the  rear.  After 
breakfast  they  were  relieved  by  Gorman's  Brigade,  who 
passed  the  day  in  searching  for  some  memento  of  the 
place  to  send  home  to  friends.  The  correspondence 
left  by  the  troops  excited  much  attention,  and  was  of 
every  description,  'from  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to 
severe,'  and  very  much  of  it  was  not  fit  to  be  read  in 
the  presence  of  ears  polite. 

"  It  was  distressing  to  see  a  spirit  of  vandalism  mani- 
fested on  the  part  of  the  troops  in  searching  the  houses 
of  rebels ;  ojfficers  in  some  cases  showed  neither  the  dig- 
nity nor  discretion  of  ordinary  boys.  One  major  of  a  New 
York  regiment  rode  into  camp  on  Sunday  night  with  a 
large  looking-glass,  which  could  be  of  no  manner  of 
use ;  and  another  f  om  the  same  State,  and  of  similar 
rank,  brought  in  a  mahogany  rocking-chair,  trimitied 
with  red  velvet,  to  be  lolled  in  for  the  night  and  aban- 
doned or  destroyed  in  the  morning. 

"  On  Monday  in  a  soaking  rain  the  whole  division  pro- 
ceeded to  Yorktown,  and  bivouaced  on  the  field  where, 
in  1781,  the  troops  of  Cornwallis  surrendered  to  the 
allied  American  and  French  forces.  '^ 

'*  The  fortifications  near  and  about  Yorktown  im- 
press you  with  their  magnitude.  For  months  hun- 
dreds of  negroes  had  toiled  under  task-masters  as 
bard  as  the  Egyptians,  in  throwing  up  these  walls  of 
earth. 

"All  day  Monday  we  could  hear  the  discharge  of 


■Vf. 


BATTLE   OF   WEST    POINT. 


693 


artillery,  indicating  that  our  advance  was  in  proximity 
to  the  rebel  rear.  Just  before  dusk  an  order  came  for 
the  division  to  march  toward  Williamsburg,  but  the 
troops  had  not  proceeded  a  half-mile  before  a  halt  was 
ordered.  The  wagon  train  had  blockaded  the  road 
for  miles,  and  the  increasing  rain  and  Egyptian  dark- 
ness of  the  night  made  it  impossible  to  move.  Hour 
after  hour,  drenched  to  the  skin,  the  soldiers  stood  in  the 
mud,  but  no  advance,  and  toward  midnight  the  order 
came  to  return  to  camp. 

"  The  next  afternoon  the  division  began  to  embark 
in  transports  for  the  bend  of  York  River,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  intercepting  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  if  pos- 
sible. in>v!-:'ij   -.■iifi-,Fii , 

'*  Dana's  Brigade  first  moved  off,  and  then  Gorman's, 
and  last  Burns's.  About  eleven  o'clock  on  Wednesday, 
Gorman's  Brigade  came  in  sight  of  West  Point.  The 
sound  of  musketry,  and  smoke  arising  above  the  woods 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Pamunky,  indicated  that  a 
portion  of  Franklin's  Division,  which  had  preceded 
Sedgwick's,  was  engaged  with  the  enemy.  The  1st 
Minnesota  was  ordered  to  leave  their  transports  and 
land  in  batteaux  as  soon  as  possible.  The  wide  plain 
on  the  lower  side  of  the  Pamunky  was  soon  filled  with 
re^^iments  drawn  up  in  the  line  of  battle,  ready  to  sup- 
port Franklin's  troops  if  necessary.  About  one  o'clock 
P.M.,  the  enemy,  with  three  cannon,  began  to  fire  from 
tlie  wooded  heights  on  the  transports,  but  three  United 
States  gunboats  quickly  took  position,  and  their  heavy 
guns  in  thunder  notes  soon  silenced  the  battery  on  the 
hill. 

"As   one    travels  through    this  peninsula,  he  con 
Btantly  meets  with  places,  rich  in  historic  interest. 


m 


H9i 


HISTORY   OP   MINNESOTA. 


"West  Point,  the  terminus  of  the  York  and  Rich- 
mond Railway,  was  originally  called  West's  Point,  after 
a  gentleman,  a  near  relative  of  Lord  Delaware,  whose 
plantation  was  on  the  promontory  caused  by  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Pamunky  and  Mattapony  Rivers. 

"  To  give  room  for  the  stores  and  troops  that  were 
moving,  Sedgwick's  Division,  during  the  second  week 
of  May,  moved  their  camp  to  Eltham,  on  the  Par 
munky,  a  few  miles  above. 

"This,  like  West  Point,  proved  to  be  a  place  of  his- 
torical associations.  The  huge  though  dilapidated 
brick  mansion,  with  its  extensive  wings,  and  the  hand- 
some sepulchre  in  the  garden,  showed  that  once  no 
mean  person  had  lived  here. 

"  The  inscription  upon  the  large  and  handsome  mon- 
ument in  the  high-walled  graveyard  tells  us  that  on 
this  plantation  lived  the  Hon.  William  Bassett,  who 
died  in  1727,  'a  loss  to  his  country,  county,  and  family.' 
On  Sunday  morning,  the  eighteenth  of  May,  the  di- 
vision was  at  New  Kent  Court-House. 

"  For  several  days  we  remained  on  the  plantation 
of  a  Dr.  Mayo,  the  brother-in-law  of  General  Scott, 
but  now  a  rebel  and  fugitive.  This  place  is  about  two 
miles  from  Cumberland.  Departing  from  here  on  Wed- 
nesday, we  passed  the  old  St.  Peter's  Charch. 

"It  is  an  antique  brick  structure,  with  open  porch 
and  tower  in  front,  giving  it  a  quaint  appearance,  al- 
though conformed  to  no  particular  order  of  archi- 
tecture. 

"  Here,  for  forty  years,  as  a  tablet  on  the  wall  near 
the  chancel,  with  Latin  inscriptions,  informs  us,  preached 
the  Rev.  David  Mossom,  a  graduate  of  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  and  the  second  to  few  in  learning,  the 


OORMAN'S   BRIQADB. 


695 


first  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England  specially  or- 
dained to  preach  in  Virginia. 

"  The  building  is  without  pews,  and  filled  with  single 
heavy  seats,  but  every  one  that  could  draw  made  a 
sketch  of  it,  because  it  was  in  this  church  that  George 
Washington  did  take  for  his  lawfully  wedded  wife  that 
lovely  and  dignified  young  widow,  Martha  Custis, 
whose  estate  was  near  by.  In  the  corner,  by  the  front 
door  of  the  church,  there  is  a  little  table  with  old- 
fashioned  legs,  not  much  larger  than  a  small  card-table, 
Irom  which  the  newly  married  pair  are  said  to  have 
taken  their  first  breakfast. 

"  That  evening  we  arrived  at  the  Savage  Farm, 
the  fourteen-mile  station  on  the  Bichmond  and 
York  Railroad,  and  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Bottoms 
Bridge. 

"On  Friday,  the  twenty-third,  we  encamped  at  Goodly 
Hole  Creek,  in  Hanover  County,  a  short  distance  from 
the  Chickahominy. 

"  The  next  week  Gorman's  Brigade  moved  up  to  Cold 
Harbor,  but  on  Thursday  they  returned  to  Goodly 
Hole  Creek.  ,j^vv  ^jur  /t^^tH;.*  -s^jv . j* 

"About  noon  on  Saturday,  the  thirty-first  of  May, 
we  heard  rapid  musketry  firing,  and  at  three  o'clock 
a  message  came  for  Sedgwick  to  move,  as  Casey's  and 
Couch's  Divisions  were  being  driven  by  the  enemy. 
By  a  road  that  had  just  been  cut  through  the  swamp, 
we  hastened  to  the  rescue,  and,  crossing  a  rude  bridge 
of  logs,  both  ends  submerged  by  the  waters  of  the 
swollen  Chickahominy,  reached  the  battle-fieid  just  in 
time  to  save  defeat. 

"  Our  regiment,  as  at  Bull  Run,  was  placed  on  the 
right,  and  before  we  were  fairly  in  line  of  battle  the 


606 


HIgTORY  OP   MINNR80TA. 


enemy  were  seen  advancing.  A  crash  of  musketry, 
like  the  snapping  of  limbs  in  a  hurricane,  greeted  us. 

*'  In  a  few  minutes  the  whole  of  Gorman's  Brigade 
was  drawn  up  in  a  field  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of 
the  rebels,  who  were  concealed  in  the  woods. 

"  For  two  or  three  hours,  until  it  became  perfectly 
dark,  the  br'  rade  stood  solid  as  a  stone  wall,  and  with 
a  roar  of  u  sketry  really  terrific,  kept  the  foe  from 
advancing  one  foot." 

A  correspondent  of  a  Cincinnati  paper  graphically 
describes  the  action : 

"  At  about  six  o'clock  the  head  of  Sedgwick's 
column,  Gorman's  Brigade,  deployed  into  line  of  bat- 
tle, in  the  rear  of  Fair  Oaks,  upon  the  crest  of  a  hill, 
which  was  in  the  centre  of  an  open  field,  a  farm-house 
(Adams's)  bisecting  his  line,  which  stretched  from  the 
north-west,  on  a  line  which  if  prolonged  in  a  south-east- 
erly direction,  would  have  cut  the  railroad  at  an  acute 
angle  on  his  left.  The  hill  sloped  gently  towards  the 
station.  Colonel  Sully's  1st  Minnesota,  and  the  2d  New 
York,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hudson,  composed  the  right 
wing,  on  one  side  of  the  house,  the  34th  New  York, 
Colonel  Senter,  constituting  the  left,  the  15th  Massa- 
chusetts, Lieutenant-Colonel  Kimball  commanding,  sup- 
porting Kirby's  Battery,  which  was  posted  at  the  right 
of  the  line,  and  trained  at  a  point  of  woods  a  little  to 
the  left  of  the  railway  station,  this  being  the  field  to 
which  the  enemy  had  driven  General  Abercrombie. 
Two  of  his  regiments  were  still  stubbornly  contesting 
the  field.  Colonel  Cochrane's  1st  U.  S.  Chasseurs  (N.  Y.), 
and  Colonel  Neill's  23d  Pennsylvania  Regiment,  and 
a  Pennsylvania  battery,  were  in  line  of  battle  at  Gor- 
man's right,  forming  an  obtuse  angle  projecting  towards 


BATTLE  OV  FAIR  OAKS. 


m 


the  battery.  General  Burns  formed  his  brigade  in  line 
of  battalions  in  mass,  forming  the  second  line  in  sup- 
port of  Gorman.  But  one  of  the  regiments  had  not 
formed,  when  the  enemy  opened  a  furious  enfilading 
fire  of  musketry  on  our  right,  in  a  direction  from  which 
fire  was  not  expected,  indicating  an  effort  to  turn  our 
right  flank.  Meantime  part  of  Dana's  Brigade  had 
come  up.  His  19th  MasHachusetts  and  4 2d  New  York 
had  been  detached  for  picket  duty  and  artillery  guards. 
His  7th  Michigan  and  20th  Massachusetts  deployed 
into  line  on  (jlorman's  left,  and  the  line  of  battle  com- 
menced, moving  to  the  right,  delivering  terrific  volleys 
at  the  enemy,  who  were  sweeping  in  force  to  their  left. 
Again  and  again  they  pushed  forward.  Masses  of  them 
gathered  in  the  forest,  attempting  to  dash  at  the  bat- 
tery, but  were  as  often  swept  back  by  murderous  hur- 
ricanes of  lead  and  canister.  The  battle  raged  for 
two  hours  with  unremitting  fury.  The  rebels  found  it 
impossible  to  break  our  inflexible  line^.  and  we  found 
it  diflicult  to  shake  him  off.  Dana's  wing  was  finally 
iswung  around  almost  on  the  hypothenuse  of  an  angle 
to  the  original  line  of  battle,  his  gallant  Michigan  and 
Bay  State  lads  sweeping  the  perimeter  of  the  circle 
they  were  describing  with  irresistible  fury.  Gorman's 
line  had  extended  itself  on  the  right,  until  his  left 
rested  in  front  and  in  advance  of  the  first  position 
of  his  right,  his  line  being  swung  round  at  right 
angles  with  the  crest  of  the  hill,  and  Burns's  two  regi- 
ments, executing  the  order  of  Sedgwick,  found  them- 
selves lapping  over  Gorman's  extreme  right;  the  enemy 
was  fighting  perpendicular  to  our  old  front. 

"  The  officers  were  all  in  their  places,   animating 
and  encouraging  the  men  by  their  example,  and  the 


698 


BISTORT  OF   MINNESOTA. 


men  moving  unflinchingly  towards  the  foe.  Dana,  on 
the  left,  narrowly  escaped  death.  His  dashing  gray 
received  a  bullet  in  his  head,  which  he  cost  off  with  a 
snort  of  despair.  The  next  instant  three  balls  struck 
him  in  the  body.  Rearing  and  plunging  with  coi- 
vulsive  agony,  he  dismounted  his  rider,  fled  frantically 
up  the  field,  and  fell  dead  in  front  of  Kirby's  Battery. 
Gorman  was  moving  up  and  down  his  glorious  line, 
exhibiting  fiery  enthusiasm,  and  enjoying  the  proudest 
hours  of  his  life.  The  men  were  delivering  their  fire 
with  admirable  coolness  and  regularity,  and  with  a 
quick,  nervous  energy,  which  indicated  their  determi- 
nation to  decide  the  conflict.  The  enemy,  too,  fought 
rapidly  and  well, 

"Sedgwick  was  gallantly  moving  to  the  right  and 
left,  reckless  of  personal  hazard ;  and  Burns  held  his 
forces  firmly  in  hand  on  the  right,  waiting  the  decisive 
moment.  The  sun  had  set  grimly,  flinging  his  last 
rays  feebly  through  the  thick  smoke  hovering  over  tlie 
field.  Darkness  had  enveloped  the  fearful  spectacle, 
only  to  add  gloom  to  its  horrors.  The  enemy  still 
clung  in  masses  to  the  thick  woods,  now  and  then 
dashing  out  at  the  battery,  only  to  be  driven  back 
with  cruel  punishment.  Thousands  of  muskets  in 
streaming  volleys,  with  the  sonorous  roar  of  the  can- 
non and  the  hoarse  screams  of  the  combatants,  created 
an  uproar  as  if  fiends  had  been  unleashed  to  prey  upon 
each  other.  Storms  of  bullets  and  canister  tore  wide 
passages  through  the  trees,  and  mangled  bodies  of  men. 
Baleful  fires  gleamed  among  the  foliage,  as  if  myriads 
of  hy^e  fireflies  were  flitting  among  the  boughs,  and 
there  was  a  fringe  of  flame  blazing  on  the  skirts  of  the 
thickets,  while  outside   another   and   a  fiercer  flame 


.-»*^ 


SEVEN    DAYS'   BATTLES. 


69» 


girdling  the  centre  weenied  burning  into  the  hedge 
which  screened  our  enemy.  It  wiw  past  eight  o'cU)ck 
before  the  carniige  ceased.  Knowing  that  the  foe  was 
in  superior  force,  and  menacing  our  flank,  we  were 
compelled  to  meet  his  point  of  attack  without  attempt- 
ing to  envelope  him  with  our  wings ;  but  finding  our 
steady  lines  invulnerable,  and  having  suffered  wretch- 
edly, he  finally  fell  back,  and  by  half-past  eight  o'clock 
he  was  driven  clear  back  to  his  own  defensive  line. 
The  splendid  conduct  of  the  division  elicited  the 
plaudits  of  the  whole  army.  General  Sumner  held 
his  troops  well  in  hand ;  Sedgwick  exhibited  perfect 
coolness  and  courage ;  Gorman  was  as  enthusiastic  as 
a  boy,  and  firm  as  a  rock;  Burns's  quick  judgment  and 
admirable  conduct,  at  the  most  critical  moment  of 
action,  undoubtedly  had  an  inspiring  influence,  and  it 
was  acknowledged  with  frenzied  acclamations  by  the 
stout  regiments  wherever  he  e.vhibited  himself.  No 
more  could  have  been  asked  of  Dana.  He  proved  him- 
self a  fearless  soldier.  Colonel  John  Cochrane,  Colonel 
Neill,  Colonel  Sully,  Colonel  Senter,  and  indeed  nearly 
every  field  officer  in  all  the  divisions  engaged,  except- 
ing Casey's,  showed  themselves  good  soldiers  and  brave 
officers." 

On  Thursday,  the  twenty-sixth  of  June,  the  soldiers 
of  Sumner's  corps  were  made  anxious  by  the  continual 
firing  at  Mechanicsville,  and  on  Friday  occurred  the 
disastrous  conflict  at  Gaines's  Mill.  At  daylight  on 
Saturday  morning,  the  serious  face  of  General  Sedg- 
wick told  the  soldiers  of  the  division  that  a  crisis  had 
been  reached.  All  that  day  the  sick  of  Sumner's  corp& 
were  hurried  to  the  rear,  and  in  the  afternoon  soldiers 
were  employed  in  emptying  all  surplus  ammunition 


too 


HISTORY  OF   MINNESOTA. 


into  the  vats  of  a  tannery  near  t\<e  Fair  Oaks  battle- 
field, showing  that  a  rapid  change  of  base  was  con- 
templated. ■    ■     '    "^^     .;>.;;■■  ■-.rii;v.'';<--'>:..;'^if 

Just  before  daylight,  on  Sunday,  June  twenty-ninth, 
Sedgwick's  Division  left  the  position  that  it  had  held 
since  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  and  proceeding  less 
than  two  miles  the  ^nerny  made  their  appearance,  and 
after  a  brief  and  sharp  fight,  in  a  peach  orchard, 
retired. 

About  five  P.M.,  at  Savage  Station,'  on  the  York 
Railroad,  the  enemy  ?.gain  gave  battle.  Until  dark 
the  conflict  raged,  but  by  the  valour  and  coolness  of  our 
men  the  foe  were  held  in  check,  with  a  loss  of  about 
eighty  killed  and  wounded. 

On  Monday,  between  White  Oak  Swamp  find  Wil- 
lis's Church,  the  enemy  again  appeared,  and  in  the 
skirmish  Captain  Colville  was  slightly  wounded.     The 


•Sergeant  Hamioii,  Ci>mpHny  D, 
writes : 

"  About4p.M.  the  rebels ocme upon 
us  and  commenced  shelling  us ;  several 
of  the  boys  in  our  regiment  were 
wounded  by  them.  We  laid  down  on 
the  ground.  McCaslin  had  his  knap- 
sack torn  from  his  back  by  a  piece 
of  II  shell.  We  moved  forward  to  the 
left  into  the  woods,  out  of  range  of 
the  battery  in  that  direction,  to  sup- 
poi :  another  regiment  that  was  fight- 
ing on  the  left.  The  fight  lasted  here 
until  after  dark,  the  whole  division 
being  engaged,  besides  the  Vermont 
Brigade  in  Smith's  Division.  The 
rebels  got  driven  back.  We  lost  out 
of  our  regiment  in  this  fight  about 
thirty  killed  and  wounded, 

"  Horgeant  BurgeHs,  the  color- 
bearer,  was  shot  dead :  he  wa.«  the 
mnn   that    brought   the    colors    off 


from  the  battle  field  at  Ball  Run  ; 
he  was  u  fine  fellow  as  well  as 
brave.  Every  man  in  the  rogimont 
was  his  friend.  He  was  shot  by  ii 
minie  ball  through  the  lungs,  and 
killed  instantly,  and  the  colors  fell 
to  the  round.  They  were  raised  by 
one  of  ,ni^  guard.  Our  company  was 
vnry  fortunate  not  to  lose  any  one. 
Joseph  McDonald,  a  son  of  McDon- 
ald that  lives  opposite  Elk  River,  was 
wounded,  but  not  si^riously.  Judson 
Jordan,  a  brother  of  C  R.  Jordan, 
was  killed  ;  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Ist  Michigan.  This  was  Sunday's 
fight  at  Savage's  fitation.  About 
10  P.M.  we  started  .m  the  march, 
leaving  the  wounded,  that  could 
not  walk,  in  old  buildings;  sur- 
geons and  hospital  stewards  stopped 
with  thorn." 


MAI.VERN   .ANL    >>rT  ETAM. 


tOl 


next  day,  July  firstj  the  Ist  Regiment  wat.  drawn  up 
at  the  dividing  'me  of  Charleo  City  and  Henrico  coun- 
ties, in  siglit  of  James  River,  and  although  much  ex- 
posed to  the  enemy's  batteries  was  not  actually  engaged. 
At  midnight  the  order  was  given  to  move  to  James 
River,  and  early  on  the  second  of  July  they  encamped 
on  the  Berkeley  plantation,  where  President  Harrison 
was  born.      i;r ; ;     i  r  -:,;    t 

After  Pope's  repulse,  General  McClellan  resumed 
command  of  the  army,  and  Sumner's  corps,  with  others, 
were  advanced  north  of  Washing'on  to  meet  Lee,  who 
liad  crossed  the  Potomac  with  the  insurgent  army. 
By  forced  marches  Sedgwick's  Division  arrived  near 
Sharpsburg,  Maryland,  and  took  part  in  the  great  battle 
of  seventeenth  of  September.  After  an  active  contest  the 
1st  Regiment  was  flanked  by  the  enemy,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  fal'  back.  Captain  Russell's  company  of 
isharp-shooters  was  attached  to  the  regiment  during 
this  fight. 

The  4th  Regiment  and  2d  Minnesota  Battery,  on 
April  twenty-first,  left  St.  Paul  for  Benton  Barracks, 
Missouri.  They  were  both  assigned  to  the  Army  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  5th  Regiment  also  departed  on  the 
thirteenth  of  May,  and  on  the  twenty-third  took  posi- 
tion with  their  comrades  of  the  2d  and  4th  Regiments 
near  Corinth,  Mississippi.  In  less  than  a  week  they 
were  brought  into  action,  and  Second  Lieutenant  David 
Oakes  was  killed.     A  correspondent  writes : 

"  On  Wednesday,  the  twenty-eighth,  there  was  heavy 
cannonading  during  the  entire  day.  At  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning  a  force  of  Federal  infantry  was  thrown 
out  to  plant  a  24-pound  Parrott  gun  upon  an  eminence 
commanding  a  pie^e  of  timber  on  our  left,  which  sliel- 


WM»m^. 


102 


HISTORY  OF   MINNESOTA. 


tered  the  rebel  regiment  who  so  continually  annoyed 
us.  The  enemy  discovering  our  intentions  advanced 
a  body  of  troops  to  take  the  gun.  Our  forces  were  im- 
mediately drawn  up  in  line  of  battle.  Not  a  man 
stirred  from  the  ranks  until  the  enemy  approached 
within  fifty  yards  of  our  line,  when  Colonel  Purceil,  of 
10th  Iowa,  acting  brigadier,  ordered  the  5th  Minnesota 
to  charge  bayonets.  *  *  *  *  Terribly  did  they  re- 
venge their  fallen  comrades.  The  casualties  to  the  5th 
Minnesota  did  not  exceed  forty  killed  and  wounded. 
This  is  a  new  regiment,  and  this  is  the  first  occasion 
they  have  been  able  to  show  the  material  of  which  they 
have  been  made.'" 

On  the  eighteenth  of  September,  Colonel  Sanborn, 
dctin^  as  brigade  commander  in  the  Third  Division  of 
the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  moved  hid  troops,  includ- 
ing the  4th  Minnesota  Regiment,  to  a  point  on  the 


\ft 


•   HTAFPOFFICKRSOy  4THKKalMBNT. 

John  B.  Sanborn,  Colonel.  Made 
Brigadier-Goneral. 

Minor  T.  Thomas,  LieutentinU 
■Colonel.  Mudo  Colonel  8th  Regi- 
ment, August  24,  1862. 

A.  Edward  Welch,  Major.  Died 
t  Nashville,  Feb.  1,  1864! 

John     M.     Thompson,     Adjutant. 

romoted  Captain  Company  E, 
Nov.  ^0,  1862. 

Thomas  B.  Hunt,  Quartermaster. 
Mnd('  Captain  and  Assistant  Quarter- 
master April  9,  1863. 

John  H.  Murphy,  Surgeon.  Re- 
signed July  9,  1863. 

ElishaW.  Cross,  Assistant-Surgeon. 
Promoted  July  9,  1863. 

Asa  S.  Fi.sko,  Chaplain.  Resigned 
Oct.  3,  1804. 


STAFF  OFFICERS  OF  6tH  KEOIMENT. 

Rudolph  Borgensrode,  Colonel. 
Resigned  Aug.  31,  1862. 

Lucius  F.  Hubbard,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel.  Promoted  Colonel  Aug.  81, 
1862. 

William  B.  Gere,  Major.  Pro- 
moted Lieutenant-Colonel. 

Alphous  R.  French,  Adjutitnt 
Resigned  M  irch  19,  1868. 

Wm.  B.  McGrorty,  Quartermaster. 
Resigned  Sept.  15,  1864. 

Francis  B.  Etheridge,  Swyeon, 
Resigned  Sept.  3,  1862. 

Vincent  P.  Kennedy,  Assistant- 
Surgeon.  Promoted  Surgeon  Sept.  3, 
1862. 

James  F.  Chaffcso,  Chaplain.  Re- 
signed Juno  23,  1862. 

John  Ireland,  Chaplain.  Appointed 
Juno,  1862.    Resigned  April,  1863. 


BATTLE   OF   lUKA. 


toa 


Tuscumbia  road,  and  the  next  day  advanced  towards 
Tuka,  driving  pickets  to  enemy's  position.  Under 
the  fire  of  the  enemy's  battery  he  placed  his  troops  in 
line  of  battle,  and  the  4th  Minnesota  was  stationed  on 
the  crest  of  a  ridge.  Captain  Legro,  in  command  of 
the  regiment,  reports  a  as  follows:  uii::  i 

"At  five  P.M.  I  n>:ved  my  command  at  double-quick 
to  a  position  on  tlit  loft  of  the  48th  Indiana,  which 
regiment  was  in  support  of  the  11th  Ohio  Battery, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Sears.  Shortly  after,  the 
battle  vas  opened  by  the  battery,  and  raged  fiercely 
along  the  line  for  half  an  hour,  when  the  48th  Indiana, 
being  compelled  to  give  way,  fell  back  to  the  edge  of 
the  woods,  leaving  my  regiment  exposed  to  an  oblique 
fire  in  the  rear  from  tha  advancing  enemy. 

"  I  then  ordered  the  right  wing  to  fall  back  ten  rods 
to  the  timber,  which  was  accomplished  in  good  order, 
notwi'thstanding  the  galling  and  incessant  fire  of  the 

**1j  al>  uj^  *1*  *lii  ■!* 

1*  ^  •!•  •»•  I"  t* 

"  I  was  then  ordered  to  mov3  by  the  right  flank 
about  forty  rods  up  the  roai,  at  nearly  a  right  angle 
to'my  former  position,  then  by  the  left  flank  to  a  point 
near  the  battery,  which  I  did  immediately.       *       * 

''  Throughout  the  whole,  both  officers  and  men  be 
haved  with  coolness  and  courage,  conducting  them 
selves  in  a  manner  highly  commendable. 

"  Too  much  praise  cannot  be  awarded  to  Surgeon  J. 
H.  Murphy  and  his  assistants  for  their  unceasing  atr 
tention  to  the  wounded  through  the  action  and  during 
the  night.  I  enclose  a  list  of  the  killed,  wounded,  imd 
missing." 

The  battle  of  luka  was  but  the  beginning  of  the 
'movement  that  in  a  few  days  culminated  at  Corinth, 


ft 


it  *! 


Itft 


704 


HISTORY   OF  MINNE30TA, 


in  which  conflict  the  Ist  Minnesota  Battery  and  the 
4th  and  5th  Regiments  participated.  At  Corinth  the 
Union  army  faced  northward.  On  the  left  centre  the 
ground  was  quite  hilly,  and  here  the  Chevally  road 
entered  the  town.  Fort  Robinett  with  Fort  Williams 
enfiladed  the  Chevally  and  Bolivar  roads,  and  another 
fort  on  the  extreme  left,  near  the  seminary,  protected 
the  left  and  strengthened  the  centre. 

Hamilton's  Division,  to  which  the  4th  Regiment  was 
attached,  was  on  the  extreme  right,  and  Stanley's 
Division,  to  which  the  5th  belonged,  was  on  the  left. 

Captain  Munch,  in  a  communication  to  Governor 
Ramsey,  says : 

"  On  the  first  [of  October]  the  battery,  then  stationed 
in  town,  was  ordered  out  to  take  up  camp  at  Fort  No. 
F,  one  of  the  forts  on  our  western  line  of  defence,  about 
two  miles  from  town.  Not  yet  fairly  in  camp  there, 
we  received  orders  to  send  two  of  the  pieces  (two  12- 
pound  howitzers)  to  Chevally  to  support  a  brigade  of 
infantry  then  at  that  place.  *  *  *  *  As  I  was 
not  legally  reinstated  in  my  command  yet,  and  almost 
too  lame  for  any  hard  work,  Lieutenant  Clayton  w.  " 
sent  with  that  section,  I  retaining  the  other  in  the  fort. 
They  went  as  far  as  ('hevally  that  evening,  when  they 
found  the  enemy  entering  the  town  from  the  opposite 
side.  Not  strong  enough  to  offer  much  resistance,  our 
forces  fell  back  about  a  mile,  and  took  up  camp  for 
the  night.  On  the  second  day  there  was  skirmishing" 
all  day  along  the  rond,  no   artillery  engaged  on  the 


same. 


"Early  on  Tuesday  morning,  the  third,  our  boys 
opened  the  ball  with  the  two  howitzers,  and  to  judge 
from  the  rapid  succession  of  reports,  they  must  have 


BATTLE   OF   CORINTH. 


106 


been  well  to  work,  and  by  their  cool  and  unflinching 
attention  to  their  duty  earned  the  praise  of  the  com- 
manding general.  Lieutenant  Clayton  has  shown  good 
judgment  in  taking  positions,  and  by  the  general  man- 
agement of  affairs  gave  evidence  that  he  well  earned 
the  confidence  you  kindly  reposed  in  him.        ,    -     .  • 

"  In  the  meantime  I  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
remaining  section  of  our  battery,  together  with  a  sec- 
tion of  the  3d  Ohio  Battery.  I  planted  them  all  in  the 
fort.  At  eight  o'clock  p.m.,  a  report  was  sent  in  that 
one  of  the  howitzers  was  disabled,  not  by  the  fire  of  the 
enemy,  but  by  the  weakness  of  the  carriage,  which 
broke  by  the  recoil  of  the  piece.  As  they  could  noi 
drag  it  along  fast  enough,  the  enemy  then  being  in  hot 
])ur8uit,  with  greatly  superior  numbers,  they  spiked 
the  piece,  throwing  it  into  a  deep  creek,  rendering  it 
useless  to  the  enemy. 

"  Another  piece  was  immediately  sent  to  replace  it. 
This  after  a  few  rounds  was  disabled  and  brought  to 
the  rear,  when  the  last  piece  of  the  battery  was  sent 
forward.  The  battery  then  had  an  excellent  position 
across  the  railroad,  and  did  [-reat  execution.  By  and 
by,  the  little  command  became  so  exhausted  by  ht.tt, 
thirst,  and  hard  wcrk,  that  it  became  necessary  to  order 
them  to  the  rear,  and  replace  them  by  new  troops.  But 
the  enemy  soon  became  so  n'jm«t)us  that  it  made  any 
further  resistance  at  that  place  useless,  and  a  general 
retreat  was  ordered,  which  was  carried  out  in  good 
shape.  The  musketry  became  general  along  the  lines, 
and  we  could  discover  heavy  columns  moving  forward. 
The  enemy  planted  a  battery  in  range  for  our  fort,  and 
commenced  throwing  shells,  which  were  well  directed 
but  could  not  injure  us  much  behind  the  breantwrks; 
45 


'*i.^ 


706 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


we  of  coui::r  were  not  lazy  to  answer,  and  our  second 
shot  silenced  their  battery. 

"  At  four  o'clock  p.m.,  all  the  forces  were  drawn  into 
the  inner  line  of  defences,  and  both  armies  rested  for 
the  night.  Our  battery  took  a  good  position  near  the 
seminary,  and  during  the  second  day  of  the  fight  as- 
sisted the  big  guns  of  the  forts  to  clear  the  woods  across 
the  abattis.  After  the  enemy  were  so  deadly  repulsed 
in  their  eflfort  to  take  the  town,  they  commenced  re- 
treating in  their  common  way,  by  sending  in  a  flag  of 
truce  purporting  to  bury  their  dead." 

Colonel  J.  B.  Sanborn,  in  his  report  to  his  superior 
officer,  says : 

"  At  about  a  quarter  before  five  o'clock  I  advanced 
my  line  by  your  order  across  the  field  in  my  front,  to- 
wards a  heavy  growth  of  timber,  where  our  skirmishers 
had  encountered  the  enemy  in  some  force.  Company 
K  was  again  deployed  forward  as  skirmishers,  and  had 
advanced  but  a  short  distance  in  a  westwardly  direction, 
before  they  drew  a  very  heavy  musketry  fire  from  the 
enemy  concealed  in  the  timber.  In  the  meantime  I  had 
wheeled  my  battalion  to  his  left,  so  that  I  was  fronting 
the  southwest.  At  this  time,  the  fire  of  the  enemy  was 
brisk  and  enfiladed  nearly  my  whole  line.  At  this 
moment  Captain  Mowers  beckoned  to  me  with  his  sword, 
as  if  he  desired  to  communicate  important  informal  n. 
and  I  started  towards  him  upon  a  gallop,  but  had  ru>i^ 
but  a  few  steps  when  I  saw  him  fall  dead — shot  througli 
the  head.  From  the  course  of  the  balls  and  the  position 
the  enemy  seemed  to  occupy,  I  interpreted  the  informa- 
tion that  Captain  Mowers  desired  to  give,  to  be  ihat  the 
enemy  were  passing  to  my  rear  by  my  right,  my  com- 
mand at  this  time  holding  the  right  of  the  infantrv  in 


COLONEL  SANBORN'S  KEPORT. 


70T 


the  whole  army.  These  impressions  were  immediately 
communicated  to  the  general  commanding  the  brigade, 
and  I  received  orders  to  dislodge  the  enemy  from  the 
woods  on  my  right.  I  at  once  changed  the  front  of  my 
battalion  to  the  rear  on  the  tenth  (10th)  company ;  this 
was  done  under  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry,  in  '  double- 
quick'  time,  but  with  as  much  coolness  and  precision  as  if 
on  ordinary  battalion  drill. 

"  This  movement  completed,  I  ordered  the  regiment 
forward  at  'quick  time'  until  within  about  one  hundred 
md  fifty  paces  of  the  enemy's  line  of  battle  at  this  iioint, 
when  I  gave  tlie  furtlier  command,  *  forward  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  paces,  double-qui(!k.'  This  was  executed 
in  tlie  most  galhint  and  splendid  manner.  The  regiment, 
in  perfect  line  and  with  triumphant  shouts,  rushed  for- 
ward against  a  most  murderous  fire,  and  when  within 
fifty  yards  of  the  enemy's  line,  he  fled  to  the  rear  with 
the  iii-eatest  precipitancy,  receiving  two  or  three  volleys 
from  my  regiment  ax  he  retired.  Immediately  after 
tiiis  was  ar roaiplished,  I  received  your  order  to  fall  back 
and  join  Colon -l  Alexander  (59th  Indiana)  on  his  right, 
which  ordicr  wa.s  at  once  obeyed,  tifjd  skirmishers  thrown 
forward  one  hundrtd  paces  to  my  front,  and  around  my 
right  fiaak. 

"It  waa  now  night  Wp  wer«  exhausted,  md  obe- 
li it  to  orderf  1  nw  ;Hi  (<>  Jie  fir.-c  position  h«ld  in  the 
murni  ^  u:      d  thereat  II  p.m.     During  the 

du\-  ;  .  .u..  .1.-.  .w  r'duimissioncd  officer  and  one 
private  killed,  nml  roui  men  wounded.  The  heat 
(iuring  the  engagement  of  my  command  was  most  in- 
tense, said  to  be  108°  in  the  shade,  and  more  men  were 
carried  off"  the  field  on  litters  from  the  eflfect  of  sunstroke 
than  from  wounds. 


108 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


"  Ammunition  waH  distributed  to  the  men,  so  that 
each  had  seventy-five  rounds,  between  eleven  and  one 
o'clock  at  night,  and  at  half-past  one  I  received  your 
order  to  move  my  command  to  the  right,  across  the 
Pittsburg  and  Hamburg  road,  and  about  one  hundred 
yards  to  the  rear,  which  was  done  at  once,  and  the 
regiment  stood  to  arms,  fronting  the  north,  for  the  re- 
maining part  of  the  night.  ,•    ■ 

'*  My  command  remained  in  this  position  until  half- 
past  ten  o'clock  on  the  following  morning,  when  I  re- 
ceived your  order  to  move  by  the  lett  flank  into  position 
on  the  ridge  at  my  left,  in  support  of  the  11th  Ohio 
Battery.  This  order  was  at  once  executed  and  my  front 
changed  to  the  west.  I  formed  my  regiment  about  fifty 
feet  in  rear  of  this  battery,  which  masked  the  six 
centre  companies.  These  six  companies  were  ordered 
by  nie  to  fix  bayonets,  and  charge  the  enemy  whenever 
he  should  charge  upon  the  battery.  Two  companies 
on  the  right  and  two  on  the  left  were  moved  forward  on 
the  line  of  the  guns  of  the  battery,  with  instructions  to 
engage  the  enemy  with  musketry  wherever  he  might  ap- 
pear, and  meet  him  with  the  bayonet  in  case  of  a  charge. 

"  The  enemy  retired  from  the  ground  covered  by  the 
valley,  and  from  the  front  of  my  regiment,  in  about  forty 
minutes  after  the  firing  commenced.  I  maint}:.ined  the 
same  relative  position  to  the  battery  in  its  movements 
upon  the  field,  to  get  in  rear  of  the  enemy,  until  your 
orders  came  to  occupy  again  the  ground  left,  when  I 
went  into  action.  I  at  once  reoccupied  that  position, 
where  I  remained  until  the  morning  of  the  5th  inst., 
at  four  o'clock,  when  the  pursuit  commenced. 

"  In  the  engagement  on  the  fourth  I  lost  one  commis- 
sioned officer,  and  five  privates  wounded.       '.?•'''!/* 


FOURTH   REGIMENT   AT   CORIKTII. 


709 


*•  Of  the  pursuit  it  is  enough  to  report  that  it  was 
commenced  on  Sunday  morning,  the  fifth  inst.,  and 
continued  without  cessation  or  delay,  except  .ch  as  was 
absolutely  necessary  to  rest  the  men  temporarily,  until 
the  following  Saturday  night,  the  troops  having  marched 
(luring  the  time  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles. 

•*  I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  patient  endurance 
and  valor  of  my  command.  During  a  period  of  nine 
days  of  the  most  heated  and  most  uncomfortable  weather, 
my  regiment  marched  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles, 
and  for  two  days  and  nights  of  that  time  were  engaged 
in  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  desperate  battles  of 
the  war.  The  conduct  of  all  officers  was  satisfactory. 
Captains  Tourtellotte  and  Edson  conducted  themselves 
with  most  extraordinary  coolnes''  and  determination. 

"  My  commissioned  staff,  First  Lieutenant  Thomas 
B.  Hunt,  Regimental  Quartermaster,  and  First  Lieu- 
tenant John  M.  Thompson,  Adjutant,  behaved  with 
coolness  and  judgment,  and  in  the  absence  of  other  field 
officers  rendered  me  efficient  service,  repeating  com- 
mands and  communicating  orders. 

"  Quartermaster-Sergeant  Frank  E.  Collins,  for  di» 
tinguished  valor  and  services  on  the  field  in  aiding  me 
in  every  movement,  and  in  arresting  and  bringing  pris- 
oners from  the  field  near  the  close  of  the  engagement, 
(Jeserves  special  mention.  Commissary-Sergeant  T.  P. 
Wilson  remained  under  fire  all  the  time,  directing 
litter  carriers  to  the  wounded,  and  furnishing  water  to 
the  famishing  soldiers,  as  well  as  repeating  my  com- 
mands when  near  the  lines.  ,:    , 

Sergeant-Major  Kittredge  was  among  the  coolest  men 
on  the  field,  and  most  efficient  until  he  was  overcome 
by  sunstroke. 


:•  ;.^  *^ 


p^4' 


ao 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


"  Surgeon  Dr.  J.  H.  Murphy,  and  second  Assistant 
Surgeon  Dr.  H.  R.  Wedel,  conducted  their  department 
with  perfect  order  and  method.  Every  wound  was 
dressed  in  a  few  moments  after  it  was  received,  and  the 
wounded  cared  for  at  once  in  the  most  tender  manner." 

Colonel  L.  F.  Hubbard,  of  the  6th  Regiment,  reported 
A»  follows : 

"  We  were  aroused  before  dawn  on  the  morning  of 
the  fourth  inst.  by  the  discharges  of  the  enemy's  guns,  and 
the  bursting  of  his  shells  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
where  we  lay.  One  man  of  my  regiment  was  quite 
severely  wounded  here  by  a  fragment  of  a  shell.  At 
about  9  A.  M.,  I  was  ordered  by  General  Stanley  to  de- 
ploy one  company,  as  skirmishers,  ito  the  edge  of  the 
timber  towards  the  front  and  rigu  ;  in  obedience  to 
which  Company  A  was  sent  forward  under  command 
of  Captain  J.  R.  Dart.  A  few  moments  later  the  advance 
of  the  enemy  along  our  entire  line  was  made.  I  soon 
observed  that  the  part  of  our  line  running  from  near 
my  right  towards  the  rear  was  giving  way,  and  that 
the  enemy  was  rapidly  gaining  ground  towards  the  town. 
I  immediately  changed  front,  moving  by  the  right  flank 
by  file  right,  and  took  a  position  at  right  angles  to  my 
former  one.  The  movement  was  but  just  completed, 
when  I  was  ordered  by  General  Stanley,  through  Major 
Coleman,  to  support  a  battery  which  had  been  in  posi- 
tion about  four  hundred  yards  towards  the  front  and 
right,  but  which  was  being  driven  from  the  field.  I 
moved  by  the  right  flank  at  double-quick,  a  distance 
of  perhaps  two  hundred  yards.  By  this  time  the  battery 
mentioned  had  retired  from  the  field  entirely.  Captain 
Dee's  Michigan  Battery,  occupying  the  crest  of  a  ridge 
near  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad  towards  the  left,  had 


BATTLE   OF   CORINTH. 


Tl^ 


been  abandoned  and  fallen  into  the  hands  ol  the  enemy. 
Our  line  for  the  distance  of  several  hundred  yards  had 
been  repulsed,  became  scattert'd,  and  was  rapidly  re- 
treating. The  enemy,  in  considerable  numbers,  bad 
iilready  entered  the  streets  of  the  town  from  the  north, 
und  was  pushing  vigorously  forward.'  His  dank  was 
presented  to  the  lino  I  had  formed,  which  r^xposed 
him  to  a  most  destructive  fire,  and  which  the  5th  Min- 


» Itov.  John  Ireland,  appointed,  on 
twenty- pecond  of  Jane,  chaplain, 
writcH  : 

"On  the  night  of  the  third  we 
quietly  toolc  uur  r««t  in  one  of  the 
••entl-al  squares  of  lorinth,  on  a  line 
pnrRllnl  »«'ith  the  Mobile  and  Colum- 
hu8  K«  ^d  There  we  remained, 
while  til  «ii!ll9  weru  '-r^ing  over 
our  beads  nefore  dnyli  sik  on  the 
morning  of  tf  If  fourth  ;  from  thore  wo 
wtireat  full  libiTty  to  '•ntciu  'atotli*' 
tight  |<oing  on  in  our  centre.  «iiJ  on 
the  extr'-me  part  of  our  right,  there 
being  h  an  extensive  abatis  between 
us  and  these  p*)rtion8  of  our    line». 

"We  turn  tiround,  a  id  sjreatisour 
surprise.  At  the  lower  end  of  the 
square  th»»  artillery  are  HkcduddSing 
with  an  antounding  rapidity  ;  the  in- 
fantry rush  in  through  every  inlet; 
the  citizens  and  all  idle  gazt>rs-on 
disappear  in  a  second  ;  the  Butternuts 
emijrge  from  the  streets  leading  into 
the  square.  It  whs  a  solemn  moment; 
then,  indeed,  as  one  of  our  generals 
remarks,  the  fate  o:  the  day  hung 
in  the  balance,  and  little  time  was 
left  for  reflection.  What  were  we 
able  to  do?  Were  we  to  join  in, 
allow  ourselves  to  be  carried  off  by 
the  torrent,  and  turn  ingloriously  our 
backs  to  the  enemy?     For  any  not 


prodigal  of  their  blood  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  duty,  such  was  the 
course  to  be  taken.  But  far  from  the 
minds  of  our  bravo  boys  was  the 
thought  of  assuring  their  safety  in 
flight.  Of  them  it  may  verily  be  said, 
11^  of  another  gallant  band  of  yore, 
•  t  hoy  can  flght  or  die,  but  neither 
surrender  or  run  I'  Our  men  in- 
stinctively rush  to  their  arms ;  Col- 
onel Hubbard,  with  the  most  re- 
inarkubi  '  presence  of  mind,  at  ona 
glancci  sees  all  the  danger.  Imme- 
diately his  voice  y  heard,  amid  all 
flif  bustle  and  confusion ;  he  gives 
<  lers  to  move  and  to  take  up  a  po- 
sit, m  at  right  angles  with  his  former 
one  ;  it  wasi  ther  that  an  aid-de-camp 
of  deneral  StarSey  rode  by  and 
shouted  out,  '  Sup(>ortthat  battery  at 
the  right  I'  Perplexing  order  I  for  at 
that  moment,  of  the  two  batteries  that 
were  stationed  to  the  right,  one  was 
abandoned  and  the  other  was  beini; 
driven  from  the  field.  Our  colon 
not  in  the  least  dismayed,  fronts  hi 
men  towards  where  he  perceives  th« 
enemy  rushing  into  the  town.  Oh, 
what  an  admirable  spectacle,  to  traze 
then  on  our  bravo  boys  I  With  what 
unanimity,  with  what  rapidity,  whai 
visible  coolness  and  unflinching  cour- 
age, they  poured  in  volley  after  volley 
into  the  ranks  of  their   opponent*" ' 


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(716)  87-1-4503 


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tl2 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


nesota  delivered  with  deadly  efifect.  After  receiving 
and  returning  a  number  of  volleys,  the  eneiL.y  began 
to  fall  back.  I  then  moved  forward  in  line,  at  a  run, 
pressing  hard  upon  the  enemy,  who  was  flying  in  great 
confusion.  I  moved  on  outside  the  town,  and  halted 
on  the  crest  of  a  ridge  to  the  left  of,  and  on  a  line  with, 
the  former  position  of  the  battery  I  was  ordered  to  sup- 
port, regaining,  meantime,  possession  of  the  abandoned 


The  latter,  who,  doubtless,  a  few  mo- 
ments before,  elated  by  their  previous 
success,  had  thought  that  Corinth 
wag  once  more  theirs,  and  had  emitted 
a  contemptuous  smile  when  a  hand- 
ful of  men  proposod  to  contest  their 
passage,  staggered,  broke  ranks  and 
turned.  And  hotly  were  they  pur- 
sued through  a  narrow  street,  until 
they  reached  the  limits  of  the  town, 
and  concealed  themselves  in  the 
woods.  Our  men  then  halted,  and 
•wondered  at  what  they  hud  accom- 
plished. Had  we  nut  encountered 
the  rebels,  the  town  wiis  in  their 
hands,  they  might  have  destroyed  it 
together  with  all  our  xtores,  and 
taken  our  other  forces  in  the  rear, 
placing  thorn  between  two  tires,  and 
triumphed:  —  and  by  whom  was 
Corinth  saved  ?  by  the  5th  Minne- 
■otn  alone,  by  six  companies.  Com- 
pany A  having  been  sent  out  skir- 
mishing in  another  direction. 

"  I  am  proud  of  the  5tb  Regiment, 
and  every  one  here  feels  proud  of  it. 
Great  is  our  renown  in  this  army. 
The  other  regiments  fully  appreciate 
our  valor ;  our  praise  is  on  every 
tongue.  Privates  and  officers  are  of 
the  same  sentiment,  when  thn  Min- 
nesota Fifth  is  mentioned." 

A  private  in  the  regiment  writes: 
"  Next  morning  [October  fourth] 


we  were  awoke  by  a  shell  from  one 
of  the  enemy's  guns,  which  "had  been 
adroitly  planted  very  near  us.  It 
came  so  near  where  I  was  sleeping 
that  when  it  struck  it  dashed  the 
earth  all  over  me.  The  flro  continued 
for  about  fifteen  minutos,  when  one 
of  our  batteries  put  a  stop  to  it.  One 
hour  later  the  bn<>mv  advanced  on 
all  sides,  and  the  cannonading  became 
general,  and  the  fight  became  close, 
fierce,  and  blooi'y.  The  rebels  charged 
a  battery  and  succeeded  in  getting 
inside  of  cannon  range,  and  it  was 
left  between  a  large  force  of  rebels 
and  H  smaller  number  of  federal  sol- 
diers hand  to  hand.  Many  of  our 
brave  boys  fell,  but  the  clay-colored 
ruffians  were  repulsed. 

"  When  the  rebels  made  the  charge 
on  the  north  side,  the  63d  Ohio  gave 
way,  and  finally  all  our  forces  on  that 
side  skedaddled  in  every  direction. 
We  were  held  as  a  reserve,  but  at 
that  moment  were  called  on  by  one 
of  General  Stanley's  aids  to  gave  the 
town.  Wu  marched  double-quick 
into  the  very  face  of  the  advancing 
enemy  and  formed  in  line  of  battle. 
Just  before  we  formed  sotne  of  our 
half-brt-eds  fired  on  and  killed  three 
rebel  color-bearers  in  plain  sight,  and 
one  of  our  men  was  killed.  We  then 
gave  them  our  best,  and  after  firing 


Mi 


FIFTH   REOIMENT   AT   CORINTH. 


713 


guns  of  the  Michigan  Battery.  The  enemy  continued 
his  retreat  under  a  galling  ^re  from  our  guns  and  the 
artillery  of  the  forts  on  the  left,  until  lost  sight  of  in 
the  woods  in  our  front,  when  he  re-formed,  and  again 
advanced  in  considerable  force.  I  at  once  opened  upon 
him  a  hot  fire,  wh.ch,  with  the  fire  from  along  the  line 
upon  my  right,  whivih  had  now  rallied  and  was  re-form- 
ing, arrested  his  progress,  and  soon  drove  him  back 
under  cover  of  the  timber. 


five  or  six  rounds  the  enemy  gave 
wny,  and  the  little  Fifth  followed 
tliem  up  60  fust  that  they  were  com- 
jiellud  to  skedaddle  in  the  quickest 
manner  that  their  long  legs  could 
invent.  Thoy,  however,  met  their  re- 
serves and  re-formed  in  the  edge  of 
the  woods.  Wo  did  the  same.  They 
advanced  while  we  stood  firm  as  a 
■wall,  and  after  we  opened  ttre  on  them 
Ihi'V  came  to  a  dead  halt.  We  could 
hoar  their  oiBcers  exhort  them  to '  for- 
ward," but  they  knelt  lower  and  lower 
behind  the  logs  and  brush.  Their 
fire  slackened  and  their  colonel  was 
shot  from  his  saddle.  (This  was  Col- 
onel Johnson,  of  the  15th  Arkansas.) 
Their  color-bearer  placed  himself 
behind  n  large  oak-tree,  and  waved 
his  flag  on  one  side,  but  took  care  not 
to  show  his  precious  body. 

"After  remaining  for  sonie  time 
under  our  rifle  range,  they  returned, 
leaving  many  of  their  number  on  the 
field,  dead  or  wounded,  besides  some 
who  would  not  follow  any  ".onger. 
Our  loss  was  six  killed  and  thirty- 
three  wounded.  When  we  charged 
on  the  enemy,  0«neral  Rosecrans 
anked  what  little  regiment  that  was, 
and  on  being  told,  said  that  the  6th 
Minnesota  had  saved  the  town.  Major 


Coleman,  General  Stanley's  assist- 
ant adjutant-general,  was  with  us 
when  he  received  his  death  wound, 
and  his  last  words  were, '  Toll  the  gen- 
eral that  the  6th  Minnesota  fought 
nobly,  Ood  bless  the  6th  I'  Some  of 
the  boys  of  the  11th  Missouri  call  us 
Gleneral  Stanley's  bully  regiment. 

"Colonel  Hubbard  is  now  com- 
manding the  brigade,  Colonel  Mower 
being  in  the  hospital.  It  was  un 
awful  sight  to  pass  over  the  battle- 
field,— men  lying  on  their  heads, 
others  with  their  heads  blown  off, 
arms,  hands,  and  feet  scattered  alxtut, 
and  dead  and  dying  lying  all  aroi'.nd, 
some  in  heaps.  It  was  a  sight  that 
I  do  not  want  to  see  again  ^  but  God 
only  knows  how  soon  it  y/'iU  again 
happen.  On  Sunday,  when  we  started 
to  follow  retreating  Pr'.oe,  the  stench 
was  rising  from  sorae  parts  of  the 
battle-field.  We  had  a  hard  time 
running  after  I'rice,  took  a  great 
many  prisoners,  and  had  to  march 
night  and  aay.  I  was  so  sleepy 
sometimep  that  1  conld  go  to  sleep 
walking  if  I  would  allow  myself, 
We  went  as  far  as  Ripley,  but  have 
at  liist  been  allowed  to  rest.  I  cap- 
ti^red  two  secesh  swords. 

"  Lieutenant-Colonel  Gere  is  very 


1U 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


"  Al'out  forty  prisoners  fell  into  our  hands,  and  large 
numbers  of  killed  and  wounded  marked  the  line  of  the 
enemy's  retreat.  The  regiment  expended  near  fifty 
rounds  of  ammunition.  I  feel  authorized  in  referring 
especially  to  the  coolness  and  courage  of  the  officers  and 
men  of  my  command,  and  their  general  good  conduct 
during  the  action." 

A  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Corinth,  Buell's  army 
attacked  Bragg  at  Perryville,  Kentucky,  and  here  the 
2d  Minnesota  Battery,  Captain  W.  A.  Hotchkiss,  did 
good  service.  A  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette, 
describing  the  conflict,  says : 

"  The  2d  Minnesota  Battery,  Captain  Hotchkiss, 
came  up  nearly  at  the  same  time  with  the  2d  Missouri 
Infantry,  and  by  delivering  a  well-directed  fire  upon 
the  flank  of  the  rebels,  assisted  materially  in  driving 
them  from  the  woods." 

In  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  on  the  thirteenth  of 
December,  the  1st  Regiment  supported  Kirby's  Bat- 
tery, and  retired  to  camp  near  Falmouth,  Virginia,  with- 
out serious  loss. 

The  position  of  the  3d  Regiment  during  this  year 
was  most  unfortunate. 


much  liked.  He  is  commanding  the 
regiment.  We  are  getting  very  anx- 
ious about  the  three  companies  in 
Minnesota,  because  the  authorities 
threaten  to  unite  us  with  some  other 
ri'giment,  on  account  of  our  small 
size ;  but  if  they  arrive  I  do  not  think 
there  is  any  danger  of  our  being 
united  with  some  other  United  Stales 
militia.  We  always  had  to  do  the 
duty  of  a  full  regiment. 

"  I  was  talking  with  a  seoesh  the 
other  day  whose  face  appeared  to  be 


familiar.  He  asked  me  what  my 
name  was,  and  I  told  him.  He  told 
me  he  w;is  one  of  General  Rosecrans' 
spies.  His  name  is  Conger.  Ho  used 
to  work  on  Bromley's  farm,  near  St. 
Paul.  He  has  been  in  the  Southern 
jails  for  a  long  time,  and  is  now  suf- 
fering from  a  severe  wound.  He 
was  present  when  Pierre  Dufort  and 
Baptiste  Charette  were  hung  for  try- 
ing to  escape  to  their  homes  in 
Minnesota." 


THIRD  REGIMENT  SURRENDER. 


71fr 


On  the  morning  of  the  thirteenth  of  July,  nejir  Mur- 
freesboro',  Kentucky,  the  rebels  attacked  the  7th  Miclii- 
gan,  and  after  theircommanding  officer  was  wounded,  and 
they  lost  nearly  half  their  number,  they  surrendered. 
The  3d  Minnesota,  which  was  a  little  more  than  a  mile 
off,  and  a  battery  of  four  guns,  as  soon  as  they  heard  of 
the  attack,  marched  up  the  turnpike  and  took  position 
in  an  open  field,  and  in  a  little  while  fell  back  a  half- 
mile.  The  colonel  called  a  council  of  officers  to  decide 
whether  they  should  fight,  and  the  first  vote  was  to 
fight;  a  subsequent  vote  being  taken,  by  ballot,  was  in 
favour  of  surrender.  LieutenantrColonel  C.  W.  Griggs, 
Captains  Andrews  and  Hoyt,  voted  on  both  occasions 
to  fight.  In  September  the  regiment  returned  to  the 
State  humiliated  by  the  lack  of  judgment  upon  the 
part  of  their  colonel,  and  wa^  assigned  to  duty  in  the 
Indian  country. 


fl6 


BISTORT  OF  MINNESOTA. 


OHAPTEB   XXXII. 


THE  SIOUX   MASSAORB. 

More  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  the  missionary 
John  Brainerd  wrote  from  the  valley  of  the  Delaware 
to  Wheelock,  President  of  the  Indian  Academy  at  Han- 
over, New  Hampshire  :  "  I  am  greatly  distressed  often. 
There  is  too  much  truth  in  that  common  saying, 
*  Indians  will  be  Indians.' " 

The  past  generations  of  white  men  have  not  been 
indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  the  American  savage. 
One  of  the  objects  of  English  colonization  was  to 
"  bring  the  infidels  and  savages  living  in  those  parts 
to  human  civility  and  a  settled  and  quiet  government." 
Our  forefathers,  at  the  outset,  shrank  from  the  cruel 
coercive  policy  of  the  Spaniards  in  South  America,  and 
in  their  own  language'  employed  "fair  and  loving  means 
suited  to  our  English  natures." 

The  author  of  the  "New  Life  of  Virginia,"  printed  in 
1612,  says  : 

"  This  is  the  work  that  we  first  intended  and  have 
published  to  the  world,  to  be  chief  in  our  thoughts,  to 
bring  those  infidel  people  from  the  toorship  of  devils  to  the 
service  of,  God.  And  this  is  the  knot  that  you  must  untie, 
or  cut  asunder,  before  you  can  conquer  those  sundry 

>  NoTik  Britannia.     London,  1009. 


BARLT  PEACE   POLICY. 


tvt 


impediments  that  will  surely  hinder  all  other  proceed- 
ings, if  this  be  not  first  preferred. 

"  Take  their  children  and  train  them  up  with  gentle- 
ness; teach  them  our  English  tongue  and  the  principles 
of  religion ;  win  the  elder  sort  by  wisdom  and  discre- 
tion; make  them  equal  mth  your  Engliah  in  case  of 
toealth,  protection,  and  habitation,  doing  juatioe  on  avch  as 
shall  do  them  wrong.  Weapons  of  war  are  needful,  I 
grant,  but  for  defence  only,  and  not  in  this  case.  If 
you  seek  to  gain  this  victory  upon  them  by  stratagems 
of  war,  you  shall  utterly  lose  it  and  never  come  near  it, 
but  shall  make  their  names  odious  to  all  their  posterity. 
Instead  of  iron  and  steel,  j'ou  must  have  patience  and 
humanity  to  manage  their  crooked  nature  to  your  form 
of  civility,  for  as  our  proverb  is,  '  Look ;  how  you  win 
them  so  you  must  wear  them.'  If  by  way  of  peace 
and  gentleness,  then  shall  you  always  range  them  in 
love  to  your  wards,  and  in  peace  with  your  English 
people ;  and  by  proceeding  in  that  way  shall  open  the 
springs  of  earthly  benefits  to  them  both,  and  of  safety 
to  yourselves." 

Before  the  passengers  of  the  May  Flower  landed  at 
Plymouth  Rock,  collections  were  taken  in  the  c'lurches 
of  England,  for  training  the  children  of  savages  of 
Virginia  in  virtue  and  civility.  Among  the  enactments 
of  the  first  legislative  assembly  in  America,  convened  at 
Jamestown,  on  July  thirty,  1619,  was  the  following : 

"  JBe  it  enacted  hy  this  present  Assembly,  That  for  lay- 
ing a  surer  foundation  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians 
to  the  Christian  religion,  each  town,  city,  borough,  and 
particular  plantation  do  obtain  unto  themselves  by  just 
means  a  certain  number  of  the  natives'  children  to  be 
educated  by  them  in  true  religion  and  a  civil  course  of 


118 


HISTORY  OP  MINNESOTA. 


life;  of  which  children  the  most  towardly  boys  in  wit 
and  graces  of  nature  to  be  brought  up  by  them  in  the 
first  elements  of  literature,  so  as  to  be  fitted  for  the 
college  intended  for  them,  that  from  thence  they  may 
be  sent  to  that  work  of  conversion." 

A  wealthy  person  in  London,  as  early  as  1620,  gave 
a  large;  sum  of  money  to  teach  Indian  youth  to  read, 
and  "  then  to  be  brought  up  in  some  lawful  trade,  with 
all  humanity  and  gentleness,  until  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years ;"  and  George  Thorpe,  a  j.  arson  of  piety,  cul- 
ture, and  social  position,  came  to  Virginia  to  carry  out 
this  beneficent  idea ;  but  in  less  than  a  year  after  his 
arrival  this  good  man  was  scalped  by  the  very  chief 
for  whom  he  had  caused  a  white  man's  house  to  be 
built,  and  all  the  plantations  on  the  upper  James  River 
were  made  desolate  by  the  torch  and  arrows  of  the 
warriors  under  his  influence.  The  slaughter  had  been 
universal,  if  God  had  not  put  it  into  the  heart  of  an 
Indian  converted  to  Christianity  to  give  the  alarm.  The 
authorities,  in  a  letter  sent  to  London,  said  :  "  Though 
three  hundred  and  more  of  ours  died  by  many  of  these 
pagan  infidels,  yet  thousands  were  saved  by  means  of 
one  of  these  alone  who  was  made  a  Christian." 

While  white  men  engaged  in  trade  with  the  Indians 
at  that  early  period  were  sometimes  unjust  and  violent 
toward  the  natives,  yet  the  majority  of  the  settlers  were 
friendly,  and  the  Indians  had  no  fear  as  they  passed 
from  plantation  to  plantation.  Their  priests  or  sacred 
men  had,  however,  viewed  the  advent  of  the  European 
to  their  shores  with  sadness.  They  foresaw  that  their 
occupation  would  be  gone  should  industry  and  intel- 
ligence prevail  among  their  tribes,  and  it  was  their  de- 
light to  foment  suspicions,  and  stir  up  ill-feeling  toward 


INDIAN  SAORED  MEN. 


710 


the  planters.  Powhatan,  persuaded  by  his  priests, 
slaughtered  the  first  plantation  of  white  men  at  Roan- 
oke, in  North  Carolina,'  and  his  successor,  under  the 
same  stimulus,  fearing  that  he  would  lose  his  power 
over  the  tribe  if  his  people  became  landholders  and 
fellow-citizens  with  the  new-comers,  resolved  to  exter- 
minate the  pale-faces  from  the  valley  of  the  James 
River. 

The  divines  and  public  men  of  the  London  Company 
were  so  shocked  and  surprised  when  the  intelligence  of 
the  Indian  atrocities  was  received,  that  they  abandoned 
their  mild  policy,  and  felt  that  it  was  a  Christian  duty 
to  cast  out  the  heathen,  and  wrote  to  the  colonial 
authorities  to  urge  a  war  of  extermination."     A  letter- 


•  Strnchey,  who  was  secretary  of 
Lord  Delaware,  in  "  History  of  Trav- 
aile  into  Virginia,"  says :  "  His  Ma- 
jesty hath  been  acquainted  that  the 
men,  women,  and  children  of  the  first 
plantation  at  Boanoak  were,  by  com- 
mandment of  Powhatan,  he  pursuaded 
thereto  by  his  priests,  misers'.ly 
slaughtered  without  any  offence  given 
by  the  first  planted,  who  20  and  odd 
years  had  peaceably  lived  intermizt 
with  those  savages,  and  wore  out  of 
Jiis  territory." — Eakluyt  Publicaiiotu, 
vol.  vi.  p.  86. 

'On  August  1,  1622,  the  London 
Company  wrote : 

"  As  for  the  actors  thereof,  we  can- 
not but  with  much  griefe  proceed  to 
the  condemnation  of  their  bodies, 
the  saving  of  whose  soules  we  have 
so  zealously  affected ;  but  since  the 
itiocont  blc  1  of  so  many  Ohristians 
doth  in  justice  orie  out  for  revenge, 
and  the  futurn  acenritie  in  wisdom 
require,  wo  mur*  advise  you  to  roote 


out  from  being  any  longer  a  people 
so  cursed,  a  nation  ungratpfull  to  all 
benefltts,  and  uncapable  of  all  goud- 
nesse ;  at  least  to  the  romovall  of  them 
so  farr  from  you  as  you  may  not  only 
be  out  of  danger,  but  out  of  feare  of 
them,  of  whose  faith  and  good  mean- 
ing you  can  never  bo  secure.  Where- 
fore, as  they  have  merited,  let  them 
have  a  perpetual  warre  without  peace 
or  truce ;  and,  although  they  have 
desired  it,  without  mercie,  too.  Yet, 
remembering  who  we  are,  rather  than 
what  they  have  !een,  wo  cannot  but 
advise  not  only  the  sparing  but  the 
preservation  of  the  younger  people 
of  both  sexes,  whose  bodies  may  by 
labor  and  service  become  profitable, 
and  their  minds  not  overgrowne  with 
evill  customes,  be  reduced  tocivilitie, 
and  afterwards  toChristianitie."  For 
theentire  letter  see  Neill's  "  Virginia 
Company  of  London,"  pp.  330,  33L 
Published  by  .loel  Munsell,  Albany, 
1869. 


ISO 


HISTORY   OF   MINNB80TA. 


writer,  also  of  that  day,  used  the  following  strong 
language : 

"  We  have  sent  boys  among  them  to  learn  their  lan- 
guage, but  they  returned  worse  than  they  went;  but  I 
am  no  statesman,  nor  love  to  meddle  with  anything 
but  my  books,  but  I  can  find  no  probability  by  this 
course  to  draw  them  to  goodness ;  but  I  am  persuaded 
if  Mars  and  Minerva  go  hand  in  hand,  they  will  e£fect 
more  good  in  an  hour,  than  those  verbal  Mercurians 
in  their  lives,  and  till  their  priest  and  ancients  have 
their  throats  cut  there  is  no  hope  to  bring  them  to 
conversion."' 

Two  hundred  and  forty  years  after  the  first  great 
massacre  in  the  valley  of  the  James  River,  another 
occurred  in  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota  just  as  unex- 
pected, accompanied  by  barbarities  as  revolting,  and 
which  would  have  been  more  extensive  had  it  not 
been  for  the  influence  of  a  converted  Indian,  Paul 
Mazakutamani,  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Missioa 
Church." 


'  Smith's  General  History. 

'At  the  time  of  the  outbreak  there 
wa«  a  small  Presbyterian  church 
composed  of  Indians,  at  the  Lower 


of  August,  1862,  were  dark  weeks  *  * 
White  men  said  the  Dakota  mission 
was  a  failure,  that  if  our  teachings  had 
been  right  they  would  have  prevented 


Agency,  and   also   churches  of    the    such  an  outbreak.  But  the  vindication 


same  denomination  at  Payutazeo  and 
Hazlewood.  At  the  latter  station 
was  also  an  Indian  boarding-school. 
The  aggregate  number  of  members 
of  the  Preibyterian  churches  before 


was  coming.  Even  now,  John  Other 
Day,  a  member  of  Dr.  Williamson's 
church,  helped  away  sixty-two  per- 
sons from  the  agency  at  Yellow 
Medicine.      And   while   the    troops 


the  outbreak  was  only  sixty-five,  but  under  General  Sibley  were  making 
since  the  removal  of  the  Indians  to  preparations  to  advance,  Simon  Ana- 
the  Missouri  the  Presbyterian  mis-    wanymane  came  into  our  lines  with 


sionaries  have  been  greatly  blessed, 
and  there  are  now  eight  hundrud 
Dahkotahs  belonging  to  their 
churches.  Rev.  8.  R.  Riggs  says: 
'The  weeks  that  followed  the  18th 


a  white  woman  and  three  children 
who  had  been  taken  captive  by  the 
hostile  Sioux.  Simon  was  an  eller  in 
the  Hazlewood  church.  A  few  dnvs 
after  this,  Lorenzo  Lawrence,  a  mem- 


^iPIWr 


"P" 


CAUSES   OF   OUTBREAK. 


TSl 


*M  There  have  l)een  luiiuy  theories  advanced  to  account 
for  the  Sioux  outbreak  of  1862,  but  they  are  for  the 
most  part  superficial  and  erroneous.  Little  Crow,  in 
his  written  communications  to  Colonel  Sibley,  explain- 
ing the  causes  which  had  provoked  hostiliticK  cm  the 
part  of  the  Indians,  makes  no  allusion  to  the  treaties, 
but  stated  that  his  people  had  been  driven  to  acts  of 
violence  by  the  suflFering  brought  upon  them  by  the 


ber  of  the  same  church,  brought  down 
Mrs.  Do  Cuinp  and  her  children." 

The  following  list  of  workc  pre- 
pared by  the  Presbyterian  niission- 
aries  among  the  Dahkotuhs,  until  the 
year  1869,  istnl<oii  from  vol.  iii.,  part 
1,  of  Minnesota  Historical  Society 
Collections,  and  shows  their  active 
interei<tfortho  welfare  of  the  Indians: 

DAHKOTAH    BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Sioux  Spkllino  Book,  designed 
for  the  use  of  native  learners.  By 
Rev.  J.  D.  Stevens,  Missionary. 
12mo  :  pp.  22.  FJoston  :  Crocker  and 
Brewster,  for  the  A.  B.  0.  F.  M. 
1830. 

WiCONI       OWIHANKK         "VVaNIN 

Tanik  KIN.  12mo;pp.  23.  Boston. 
Crocker  and  Brewster,  for  the  A.  B. 
C.  ¥.  M.     1887. 

[Tills  little  tract  contains  Dr.  Watts'  Second 
l^Htxchlsm  for  Children,  tranalated  into  the 
]>»hkotali  Language  bv  .iintepli  RenTllle,  8r., 
nnd  Dr.  X.  8.  WilUanuon.) 

Thk  Dakota  Fibst  Keadino 
Book.  By  Gideon  H.  Fond  and 
Stephen  R.  Riggs.  18mo:  pp.  50. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio :  Kendall  and  Henry, 
f(ir  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.     1889. 

Joseph  Oyakapi  kin.  The  Story 
of  Joseph  and  his  Brethren,  trans- 
luted  from  Genesis  by  Revs.  Gideon 
H.  and  Samuel  W.  Pond.   18mo :  pp. 

46 


40.  Cincinnati:  Kendall  and  Henry, 
for  the  A.  B.  C.  P.  M.     1889. 

Extracts  from  Genesis  and  the 
Psalms :  with  the  Third  Chapter  of 
Proverbs,  and  the  Third  Chapter  of 
Daniel,  in  the  Dakota  Language. 
Translated  from  the  French  Bible 
as  published  by  the  American  Bible 
Society,  by  .Joseph  Renville,  Sr. 
Compared  with  other  trnnslationi, 
and  prepared  for  the  press  by  Thomai 
S.  Williamson,  M.D.,  Missionary. 
Cincinnati:  Kendall  and  Henry,  for 
the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  18mo  :  pp.  72. 
1880. 

WOTANIN   WaXTK   MaRKUS  OwA 

kin.  The  Gospel  according  to  Mark, 
in  the  Language  of  the  Dakotas. 
Translated  from  the  French  by  Joseph 
Renville,  Sr. :  written  out  and  pre- 
pared  for  the  press  by  Dr.  Thomas 
S.  Williamson,  Missionary.  Cincin- 
nati :  Kendall  and  Henry,  for  the  A. 
B.  C.  F.  M.     18mo :  pp.  96.     1889. 

Extracts  from  the  Gospels  nf 
Matthew,  Luke  and  John,  from  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  from  the 
First  Epistle  of  John,  in  the  Lan- 
guage of  the  Dakota  or  Sioux  Indians. 
Translated  from  the  French  as  pub- 
lished by  the  American  Bible  Society, 
by  Joseph  Renville,  Sr.  Written 
i\nd  prepared  for  the  press  by  Thomas 
S.   Williamson,   M.    D.,  Missionary. 


in 


BISTORT  OP  MINVB80TA. 


delay  in  the  payment  of  their  annuitieti,  and  by  the 
bad  treatment  they  had  received  from  their  traders. 
In  fact,  nothing  has  transpired  to  justify  the  con- 
clusion that  when  the  bands  first  assembled  at  the 
agency,  there  was  anything  more  than  the  usual 
chronic  discontent  among  them,  superinduced  by  the 
failure  of  the  government,  or  its  agents,  faithfully  to 
carry  out   the   stipulations   of  the   different  treaties. 

12mo :  pp. 


Cincinnati :     Kendall    and    Henry. 
ISmo :  pp.  48.     1889. 

WOWAPI  MXTATTA :  Tamakooc 
XAOA.  My  Own  Book.  Prepared 
from   Rev.  T.  H.  Gallaudot'g   "  Mo- 


American  Tract  Society. 
12.     1842. 

WlCOIOAGX  Wow  AVI  <JA  OdOWAK 

Wakan,  xto.   The  Book  of  Oeneais, 
a  Part  of  the  Psalms,  and  the  Gospels 


ther'«  Primer,"  and  "  Child's  Picture    of  Luke  and  John.   Cincinnati,  Ohio : 


Defining  and  Reading  Book,"  in  the 
Dakota  Language.  By  8.  R.  Riggs, 
A.  M.,  Missionary  of  the  A.  B.  C. 
F.  M.  Boston  :Crockerand  Brewster. 
Square  12mo :  pp.  64.     1842. 

WowAPi  Inonpa.  The  Second 
Dakota  Reading  Book.  Consisting 
of  Bible  Stories  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. By  Rev.  S.W.  Pond.  Boston: 
Crocker  and  Brewster,  for  the  A.  B. 
C.  F.  M.     18mo :  pp.  54.     1842. 

Dakota  Dowanpi  kin.  Dakota 
Hymns.  Boston :  Crocker  and  Brew- 
ster, for  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  18mo: 
pp.  97.     1842. 


Kendall  and  Barnard,  for  the  A.  B. 
C.  F.  M.     12mo :  pp.  295.     1842. 

[TbMe  tnnilstionB  were  miule  partljr  fraoi 
tha  original  Hebrew  snd  Greek,  and  partlj 
from  the  French,  by  Dr.  T.  8.  Wllllameon,  Bav 
O.  H.  Pond,  R.  R.  Rlgga.'and  Joipph  RenTille, 
8i.-fl.  B.  B.] 

Jksus  Ohnibdkwicatx  cin  Ara- 
NYANPi  QON  ;  qa  Palos  Wowapi  kagu 
oiqon;  nakun,  Jan  Woyako  ciqon 
dena  cepi.  Tamakoce  okaga.  Thii 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Epistles 
of  Paul;  with  the  Revelation  of 
John;  in  the  Dakota  Language. 
Translated  from  the  Qreek,  by 
Stephen  R.  Riggs,  A.  M.    Published 


[Th.«Hjrmn.  were  con.po.«i  in  the  Dakota    ,       ^^^    American     Bible  Society. 

language  by  Mr.  Joiiepb  RonTllla  and  aons      „•;      .  .,,,,,  ,    t.  j 

Cincinnati:   Kendall  and   Barni«rd. 
12mo :  pp.  228.     1848. 
Dakota    Wiwanqapi  Wowapi. 
(Sheet.)    The  Ten  Commandmento    Catechism  in  the  Dakota  or  Sioux 


and  the  Minlonaries  of  the  American  Board.— 
8.  B.  B.] 

WOAHOPK         WlKOKUNA         KIN. 


and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  in  the  Da^ 
kota  Language.     Boston.     1842 


Language.     By    Rev.  8.  W.    Pond, 
Missionary  of  the  A.  B.C.  F.  M.   Now 


Kliza  Marpi-cokawin,  Raraton-  Haven,  Conn.   Printed  by  Hitchcock 

wan  Oyato  en  Wapiye  sa:  qa  Sara  and  Stafford.     12mo:pp.  12.     1844. 

Warpanica  qon.     A    Narrative  of  Dakota  Tawoonspk.   Wowapi  I. 

Pious  Indian  "Women.     Prepared  in  Tamakoce  kaga.     Dakota    Lessons. 

Dakota  by  Mrs.  M.    A..    C.  Riggs.  Book  I.     By  S.  R.    Riggs,  A.  M., 

Boston :  Crocke  and  Brewster,  for  the  Missionar.*-      /    B.  C.  F.  M.   Louis- 


OAUSIS  or  DISSATISFAOTIOi:. 


T98 


During  the  trial  of  the  prifloners  before  the  mihtary 
cominiseion  hereinafter  mentioned,  every  effort  was  made 
t«)  elicit  evidence  bearing  upon  the  outbreak  and  the 
motives  which  actuated  the  leader,)  in  inaugurating  the 
bloody  work.  The  only  inference  that  can  be  drawn 
from  all  of  these  sources  of  inibrmation  is,  that  the 
movement  was  not  deliberate  and  predetermined,  but 
was  the  result  of  various  concurrent  causes,  to  wit: 

ville,  K/. :    Morton  uiid  Qriiwold.     in  thin  Bmallor  form  for  the  use  of 


Bquarn  12mo :  pp.  48.     1860. 

Dakota  'f awoonbfb.  Wowapi 
II.  Dakota  Leasona.  Book  II.  By 
ti.  R.  Iiigg8,  Mis-siunary,  etc.  Louis- 
ville, Ky. :  Morton  and  Qrliwold. 
Bquure  12mo:  pp.  48.     180O. 

Dakota  Tawaxitku  Kim.  The 
Diikuta  Friitnd,  a  gmull  monthly 
paper  in  Dakota  and  Rnglish,  pub- 
Unlied  at  tit.  Paul  by  the  Dakota 
Miaeion.  Kev.  O.  H,  Fund,  Editor. 
1850-62. 

[In  all  20  nunib«n  were  publlahed.  Tha  flrst 
1'^  (Vol.  1.)  were  in  n  •<iirII  tlirpivculum:!  nice. 
Tlip  iiecond  Tiilume  waa  enUrged  to  four  col- 
unina.  The  lint  nimibor  ww  iuueil  lu  No- 
7omkvr,  18A0.  It  la  uaerted  that  there  ia  hut  one 
uthor  hiatauce  known  of  a  periodical  being  pub- 
lialiiid  In  an  AmiTican  aliorlghml  tongue,  vln., 
among  the  Cherokeea. — W,] 

Grammar  and  Dictionary  of  the 
Dakota  Language,  collected  by  the 
mombere  of  the  Dakota  Mission.  By 
Kev.  S.  R.  Higgs,  A.  M.,  Missionary 
cf  A.  B.  0.  P.  M.  Under  the  pa- 
tronage of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Minnesota.  Print<>d  by  R.  Craig- 
head, 58  Vesey  St.'eet,  New  York, 
1852 ;  for  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion, "Washington  Oity.  4to:  pp. 
34 ;  888. 

An  Enolish  and  Dakota  Vo- 
CABCLARf .  By  Mrs.  M.  A.  C.  K'ggs. 
8vo :  pp.  120.  1862.  [This  material 
is  included  in  the  larger  work,  put 


Dakota  schools.] 

[Uaring  lived  twenty-elfht  yean  In  Minna" 
aota,  twenty-live  uf  which  were  among  tha  Da* 
kotaa,  Mn.  Rigga  died  I'l  Ikilolt,  WlaooMln, 
March  twanty-aecond,  INHU.J 

Dakota  Odowan.  Hynxns  in  the 
Dakota  Langiiagit,  with  Tunos.  Ed- 
ited by  8,  Tl.  Riggs,  Missionary  of 
A.  B.  U.  P.  M.  Publishod  by'  the 
American  Tract  Society,  Now  York. 
1855.     12mo  :  pp.  127. 

Thk  Pilgrim's  FRooRxas,  by  John 
Bunyan  ;  in  the  Dakota  Language; 
translated  by  Stephen  R.  Riggs, 
A.  M.,  Mlssioi.ary  of  A.  B.O.  F.  M. 
Fubliihed  by  the  American  Tract 
Society,  160  Nassau  Street,  N.iw 
York.     18mo :  pp.  264.     1857. 

[A  aecond  edition  baa  been  printed.  From 
thia  on,  our  book*  hate  been  nearly  all  atarau- 
typed.— 8.  B.  K.] 

Thb  Constitution  of  Minnk- 
BOTA,  in  the  Dakota  Language ; 
translated  by  Stephen  R.  Riggs, 
A.  M.  By  order  of  the  Hazlewood 
Republic.  Boston:  Press  of  T.  R. 
Marvin  &  Son,  42  Congress  Street. 
12mo :  pp.  86.     1858. 

WifWAPi  NiTAWA.  Your  Own 
Book.  A  Dakota  Primer  for  Schools. 
By  8.  R.  Riggs.  Square  12mo:  pp. 
82      Minneapolis.     1863. 

Dakota  Odowan.  Hymns  in 
the  Dakota   Language.     Edited   by 


Y34 


HISTORY   OP   MINNESOTA. 


long  delay  in  the  payment  of  the  annuities  after  the 
Indians  were  assembled,  and  an  insufficient  supply  of 
food  in  the  interim;  dissatisfaction  with  the  traders; 
alleged  encroachment  of  settlers  upon  the  Indian  reser- 
vation; ill-feeling  of  the  pagan  Indians  against  the 
missionaries  and  their  converts  j  and  predictions  of  the 


Stephfin  R.  Riggs  nnd  John  P.  Wil- 
liRmfon,  Missionaries  of  the  A.  B.  C. 
F.  M.  Published  by  the  American 
Tract  Society,  New  York.  1868. 
18mo:  pp.  162. 

[This  book  la  electrotyped.  Four  e<lItlonB 
hare  been  printed.  To  tbi<  lust,  pulilixhetl  in 
1860,  twenty  pnges  of  new  matter  were  added. 
The  book  now  hiw  pp.  182,  and  containa  17U 
Hymnannd  CImnts.  The  initials  of  the  outhora 
are  appended—  "Mr.  B.,"  "J.  B.,"  "A.  B." 
"  T.  S.  \V.,"  "  G.  H.  P.,"  "  S.  W.  v.,"  "  J.  P.  W.," 
"  A.  W.  H.,"  "  h.  L.,"  and  "  A.  D.  F."] 

Dakota  Wiwicawanqapi  kin. 
Dakota  Cute^msm.  Prepared  from 
the  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechistn. 
By  S.  R.  Riggs,  Missionary  of  A.  B. 
C.  F.  M.  Published  by  the  Ameri- 
can Tract  °)ciety.  New  York.  24mo: 
pp.  86.     1864. 

[Two  editions  have  been  printed.] 

WooNbPK  Itakihna.  Ehakeuk 
okaua.  "Precept  upon  Precept," 
translated  into  the  Dakota  Language 
hy  John  B.  Renville.  Prepared  for 
the  press  by  S.  K.  Riggs.  Published 
by  the  American  Tract  Society, 
Boston.     ISmo:  pp.228.     1864. 

OowA  WowAPi.  The  Book  of 
Letters ;  an  illustrated  .'■chool  book. 
Hy  .lohn  P.  Williamson,  Missionary 
of  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  Printed  for  the 
mission  by  the  American  Tract  So- 
ciety, New  York.  12ni(>:  pp.  84. 
1865. 

Dakota  Wowapi  Wakan  kin. 
The  New  Testament  in  the  Dakota 


Language ;  translated  from  the  origi- 
nal Greek,  by  Stephen  R.  Riggs, 
A.  M.,  Missionary  of  the  A.  B.  C. 
F.  M.  New  York:  American  Bible 
Society.  16mo:  pp.  408.     1865. 

WicoiCAQE  Wowapi,  Mowis 
OWA :  qa  Wicoie  Wakan  kin,  Solo- 
mon kagu.  Pejihuta  Wicashta  Da- 
kota lap!  en  kaga.  The  Books  of 
Gonesii  and  Proverbs  in  the  Dakota 
Language  ;  translated  from  the  origi- 
nal Hebrew  by  Thomas  S.  William- 
son, A.  M.,  M.  J*.  Now  York  : 
American  Bible  Society.  1865  16mo: 
p.  115. 

Dakota  ABC  Book.  By  S.  R. 
Riggs.  Chicago :  Dean  and  Otta- 
wary.    Square  12mo :  pp.  40.    186G. 

Dakota  A.  B.  C.  Wowapi  kin. 
The  Dakota  Primer.  By  S.  B 
Riggs,  Missionary  of  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 
New  York :  American  Tract  Society. 
Square  12mo :  pp.  64.     1868. 

The  Book  of  Psalms.  Trans- 
lated from  the  Hebrew  into  the 
Dakota  longuage,  by  S.  R.  RiggSi 
Missionary  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 
New  York:  American  Bible  Society. 
l6mo:  pp.  138.     1869. 

The  Books  of  Exodus  anij  Le- 
viticus. Translated  from  the  He- 
brew into  the  Dakota  language,  by 
T.  8.  Williamson,  M.D.,  Missionary 
of  A,  B.  C.  F.  M.  New  York: 
American  Bible  Society.  16rao: 
pp.  65  and  47.     186C. 


BEGINNING   OF   SLAUGHTER. 


725 


medicine-men  that  the  Sioux  would  defeat  the  Ameri- 
cans in  battle,  and  then  reoccupy  the  whole  counti 
aftei'  clearing  it  of  the  whites.  Add  to  these  the  facts, 
well  known  to  the  Indians,  that  thousands  of  young 
and  able-bodied  men  had  been  despatched  to  aid  in  sup- 
pressing the  rebellion,  and  that  but  a  meagre  force  re- 
mained to  garrison  Forts  Ridgely  and  Abercrombie, 
the  only  military  posts  in  proximity  to  their  country, 
and  it  will  be  perceived  that,  to  savages  who  held  fast 
to  their  traditional  attachment  to  the  British  crown, 
and  were  therefore  not  friendly  to  the  Americans,  the 
temptation  to  regain  their  lost  possessions  must  have 
been  strong.  It  was  fresh  in  their  minds,  also, 
and  a  frequent  subject  of  comment  on  their  part,  that 
the  government  had  taken  no  steps  to  punish  Ink-pah- 
du-tah  and  his  small  band,  who  had  committed  so  many 
murders  and  other  outrages  upon  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  in  1856,  at  Spirit  Lake.' 

It  is,  however,  by  no  means  certain  that  all  of  these 
considerations  combined  would  have  resulted  in  open 
hostilities,  but  for  an  occurrence  which  proved  to  be 
the  application  of  the  torch  to  the  magazine.  Five  or 
six  young  warriors,  wearied  of  the  inaction  of  a  stationary 
camp  life,  made  an  excursion  along  the  outer  line  of 
the  Big  Woods  in  a  northern  direction,  with  the 
ii  vowed  intention  of  securing  the  scalp  of  a  Chippewa, 
if  practicable.  Being  unsuccessful  in  their  search,  they 
retraced  their  steps  to  Acton,  a  small  settlement  in 
Meeker  County,  on  the  seventeenth  of  August,  1862, 
iiud  through  some  means  they  obtained  whiskey,  and 
drank  freely.  They  made  a  demand  for  more  liquor 
Irom  a  man  named  Jones,  and  were  refused,  where- 

>  8«e  chapter  xxviii.  pp.  021-622. 


726 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


upon  the  infuriated  savages  fired  upon  and  killed  not 
only  him  hut  two  other  men,  Webster  and  Baker  by 
name,  and  an  elderly  lady  and  a  young  girl.  Terrified 
at  their  own  violence,  and  fearful  of  the  punishment 
due  to  their  crimes,  these  wretches  made  their  way 
back  to  the  camp  at  the  Lower  Agency,  confessed  their 
guilt  to  their  friends,  and  implored  protection  from  the 
vengeance  of  the  outraged  laws.  They  all  belonged  to 
influential  and  powerful  families,  and  when  the  whole 
afiair  had  been  discussed  in  solemn  conclave  in  the 
"  Soldiers'  Lodge,"  it  was  determined  that  the  bands 
should  make  common  cause  with  the  criminals,  and 
the  following  morning  was  fixed  upon  for  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  unsuspecting  whites  at  the  agencies,  and 
of  all  the  white  settlers  within  reach.  How  secretly 
and  how  faithfully  the  orders  of  the  "  soldiers"  were 
executed,  remains  briefly  to  be  told. 

About  six  o  clock  a.m.  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  August, 
1862,  alarge  number  of  Sioux  warriors,  armed  and  in  their 
war  paint,  assembled  about  the  buildings  at  the  Lower 
Agency.  It  had  been  rumored  purposely  in  advance 
that  a  war-party  was  to  take  the  field  against  the 
Chippewas,  but  no  sooner  had  the  Indians  assumed 
their  several  positions,  according  to  the  programme,  than 
an  onslaught  was  made  indiscriminately  upon  the 
whites,  and  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  men 
who  concealed  themselves,  and  a  few  of  the  women 
and  children  who  were  kept  as  captives,  no  whites 
escaped  destruction  but  George  H.  Spencer,  a  respect- 
able and  intelligent  young  man,  who,  although  twice 
seriously  wounded,  was  saved  from  instant  death  by 
the  heroic  intervention  of  his  Indian  comrade,  named 
"  Wak-ke-an-da-tah,"  or  the  "  Bed  Lightning."    A  number 


B8CAPE   OF   MISSIONARIES. 


?8t 


of  persons  were  also  slaughtered  at  the  Upper  Agency, 
but  through  the  agency  of  "Other  Day,"  a  Christian 
Indian,  the  missionaries,  and  others,  including  Rev. 
Messrs.  Riggs  and  Williamson,  and  their  families, — in 
all  about  sixty  persons, — were  saved,  being  conducted 
safely  through  the  Indian  country  to  the  white  settle- 
ments. Their  escape  was  truly  providential.  The 
massacre  of  the  people,  the  pillage  of  stores  and  dwell- 
ings, and  the  destruction  of  the  buildings  having  been 
consummated,  parties  weie  despatched  to  fall  upon  the 
settlers  on  farms  and  in  villages  along  the  entire  fron- 
tier, extending  nearly  two  hundred  miles.  The  scenes 
of  horror  consequent  upon  the  general  onslaught  can 
better  be  imagined  than  described.  Fortunate,  com- 
paratively speaking,  was  the  lot  of  those  who  were 
doomed  to  instant  death,  and  thus  spared  the  agonies  of 
lingering  tortures,  and  the  superadded  anguish  of  wit- 
nessing outrages  upon  the  persons  of  those  nearest  and 
dearest  to  them.  The  fiends  of  hell  could  not  invent 
more  fearful  atrocities  than  were  perpetrated  by  the 
savages  upon  their  victims.  The  bullet,  the  tomahawk, 
and  the  scalping-knife  spared  neither  age  nor  sex,  the 
only  prisoners  taken  being  the  young  and  comely  women, 
to  minister  to  the  brutal  lusts  of  their  captors,  and  a 
few  children.  In  the  short,  space  of  thirty-six  hours, 
as  nearly  as  could  be  computed,  eight  hundred  whites 
were  cruelly  slain.  Almost  every  dwelling  along  the 
extreme  frontier  was  a  charnel-house,  containing  the 
dying  and  the  dead.  In  many  cases  the  torch  was 
applied,  and  maimed  and  crippled  sufferers,  unable  co 
escape,  were  consumed  with  their  habitations.  The 
alarm  was  communicated  by  refugees  to  the  adjacent 
settlements,  and  soon  the  roads  leading  to  St.  Paul  were 


728 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


crowded  by  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children, 
in  the  wild  confusion  of  a  sudden  flight.  Domestic 
animals,  including  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of 
cattle,  were  abandoned,  and  only  those  taken  which  could 
expedite  the  movements  of  the  terror-stricken  settlers. 

The  savages,  after  accomplishing  their  mission  of  death, 
assembled  in  force,  and  attempted  to  take  Fort  Ridgely 
by  a  coup  de  main.  In  this  they  were  foiled  by  the 
vigilance  and  determination  of  the  garrison,  aided  by 
volunteers  who  had  escaped  from  the  surrounding 
settlements.  The  attack  was  continued  at  intervals  for 
several  days,  but  without  success.  The  town  of  New 
tJlm  was  also  assailed  by  a  strong  force  of  the  savages, 
but  was  gallantly  defended  by  volunteers  from  the 
neighbouring  counties  under  the  command  of  Colonel  C. 
H.  Flandrau.  Captain  Dodd,  an  old  and  respectable 
citizen  of  St.  Peter,  was  among  the  killed  at  this  point. 
Fort  Abercrombie,  on  the  Red  River,  also  suffered  a  long 
and  tedious  siege  by  the  bands  of  Sioux  froui  Lacqui 
Parle,  until  relieved  by  a  force  despatched  by  Governor 
Ramsey,  from  St.  Paul. 

The  first  advices  of  the  outbreak  reached  St.  Paul 
on  the  day  svicceeding  the  massacre  ut  the  Lower 
Agency.  Instant  preparations  were  made  by  Governor 
Ramsey  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  savages.  At  his 
personal  solicitition,  Henry  H.  Sibley,  a  resident  of 
Mendota,  whose  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with 
Indian  character  and  habits  was  supposed  to  render 
him  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  position,  consented  to  take 
charge  of  military  operations.  He  was  accordingly 
commissioned  by  the  Governor,  colonel  commanding, 
and  upon  him  devolved  the  conduct  of  the  campaign 
in  person.  * 


nmfi' 


COLONEL   SIBLET   ADVANCES. 


72§ 


Unfortunately,  the  State  of  Minnesota  was  laments 
ably  deficient  in  the  means  and  appliances  requisite  to 
carry  on  successfully  a  war  of  the  formidable  character 
which  this  threatened  to  assume.     The  Sioux  allied 
bands  could  bring  into  the  field  from  eight  hundred  to 
a  thousand  warriors,  and  they  might  be  indefiniioly  re- 
inforced by  the  powerful  divisions  of  the  prairie  Sioux. 
Those  actually  engaged  in  hostilities  were  good  marks- 
men, splendidly  armed,  and  abundantly  supplied  with 
ammunition.     They  had  been  victorious  in  several  en- 
counters with  detachments  of  troops,  and  had  over- 
whelming confidence  in  their  own  skill.     On  the  other 
hand,  the  State  had  already  despatched  five  thousand, 
more  or  less,  of  her  choicest  young  men  to  the  South, 
her  arsenal  was  stripped  of  all   the  arms  that  were 
effective,  and   there  was  little  ammunition  on  hand, 
and  no  rations.     There  was  no  government  transporta- 
tion to  be  had,  and  the  prospect  was  not  by  any  means 
favourable.     Governor  Ramsey,  notwithstanding,  acted 
with  promptness  and  vigour.     He  telegraphed  for  arms 
and  ammunition  to  the  War  Department,  and  to  the 
g')vernor8  of  the  adjoining  States.     He  authorized  also 
the  appropriation  for  the  public  use  of  the  teams  be- 
longing to  individual  citizens,  and  adopted  such  other 
measures  as  the  emergency  demanded. 

Tliere  were  at  Fort  Snelling,  happily,  the  nuclei  of 
regiments  that  had  been  called  into  service.  Colonel 
Sibley  left  Fort  Snelling  with  four  hundred  men  of  the 
6th  Regiment  Minnesota  Volunteers,  early  on  the 
morning  of  August  twentieth.  Upon  an  inspection  of 
tlie  arms  and  cartridges  furnished,  it  was  found  that  the 
former  comprised  worthless  Austrian  rifles,  and  the 
ammunition  was  for  guns  of  a  different  and  larger  cali- 


730 


HISTORY  OF  MINNBSOTA. 


bre.  The  command  was  detained  several  days  at  St. 
Peter,  engaged  in  swedging  the  balls  so  as  to  fit  the 
arms,  and  in  preparing  canister-shot  for  the  six-pounders. 
Meantime  arms  of  a  better  quality  were  received,  re- 
inforcements of  troops  arrived,  and  the  column  took  up 
the  line  of  march  for  Fort  Ridgley,  which  was  reached 
without  interruption,  and  the  troops  went  into  camp 
a  short  distance  from  the  post,  to  await  the  reception 
of  rations  and  to  make  the  final  preparations  for  an 
advance  upon  the  hostile  Indians,  who  had  drawn  in 
their  detached  parties,  and  were  concentrating  for  a 
decisive  battle. 

Scouts  were  despatched  to  ascertain  the  location  of 
the  main  Indian  camp,  and  upon  their  return  they  re- 
ported no  Indians  below  Yellow  Medicine  River.  A 
burial-party  of  twenty  men,  under  the  escort  of  one 
company  of  infantry  and  the  available  mounted  force, 
in  all  about  two  hundred  men,  under  the  command  of 
Major  J.  B.  Brown,  was  detailed  to  proceed  and  inter 
the  remains  of  the  murdered  at  the  Lower  Agency  and 
at  other  points  in  the  vicinity.  This  duty  was  per- 
formed, fifty-four  bodies  buried,  and  the  detachment 
was  en  route  to  the  settlements  on  Beaver  River,  and 
had  encamped  for  the  night  near  Birch  Coolie,  a  long 
and  wooded  ravine  debouching  into  the  Minnesota 
River,  when,  about  dawn  the  following  morning,  the 
camp  was  attacked  by  a  ljt,rge  force  of  Indians,  twenty- 
five  men  killed  or  mortally  wounded,  and  nearly  all 
the  horses,  ninety  in  number,  shot  down.  Providen- 
tially, the  volleys  of  musketry  were  heard  at  the  main 
camp,  although  eighteen  miles  distant,  and  Colonei 
Sibley  marched  to  the  relief  of  the  beleagured  de- 
tachment,  drove   off   the   Indians,   buried   the  dead, 


mmm 


BATTLE  OP  WOOD  TiAKE. 


V6t 


and  the  weary  column  then  retraced  its  steps  to  tl-> 
camp. 

The  period  spent  in  awaiting  necessary  supplies  of 
provisions  was  made  useful  in  drilling  the  men  and 
bringing  them  under  discipline.  So  soon  as  ten  days' 
rations  had  been  accumulated,  Colonel  Sibley  marched 
in  search  of  the  savages,  and  on  the  twenty-third  of 
September,  1862,  was  fought  the  severe  and  decisive 
battle  of  Wood  Lake.  The  action  was  commenced  by 
the  Indians,  and  was  bravely  contested  by  them  for 
more  than  two  hours,  when  they  gave  way  at  all  points, 
and  sent  in  a  flag  of  truce,  asking  permission  to  remove 
their  dead  and  wounded,  which  was  refused.  A  message 
was  sent  back  to  Little  Crow,  the  leader  of  the  hostile 
Indians,  to  the  effect  that  if  any  of  the  white  prisoners 
held  by  him  received  injury  at  the  hands  of  the  sav- 
ages, no  mercy  would  be  shown  to  the  latter,  but  they 
would  be  pursued  and  destroyed  without  regard  to  age 
or  sex. 

The  success  at  Wood  Lake  was  not  achieved  without 
serious  loss.  Major  Welch,  of  the  3d  Minnesota  Vol- 
unteers, commanding,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  leg ; 
Captain  Wilson,  of  the  6th  Regiment,  badly  contused 
in  the  breast  by  a  spent  ball ;  and  nearly  forty  non- 
commissioned officers  and  privates  were  killed  or 
wounded.  The  loss  (tf  the  enemy  was  much  greater, 
a  half-breed  prisoner  stating  it  at  thirty  killed  and  a 
larger  number  wounded.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Marshall 
and  Major  Bradley,  of  the  7th  Regiment,  distinguished 
themselves,  the  former  leading  a  charge  of  five  com- 
panies of  his  own  and  two  companies  of  the  6th  Regi- 
ment, which  cleared  a  ravine  of  the  enemy,  where 
they  had  obtained  shelter.    Lieutenant-Colonel  Averill 


732 


nrSTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


and  Major  McLaren,  of  the  6th  Regiment,  also  per- 
formed signal  service,  as  did  all  the  officers  and  men  of 
both  regiments.  The  3d  Regiment,  composed  of  fractions 
of  six  companies,  fought  gallantly,  having  for  a  time, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Renville  Rangers,  borne  the 
brunt  of  the  fight,  and  their  loss  was  great  in  propor- 
tion. 

One  of  the  main  objects  of  the  campaign,  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  white  captives,  was  yet  to  be  accomplished, 
and  required  the  exercise  of  much  judgment  and  cau- 
tion. There  was  good  reason  to  fear  that,  in  the  ex- 
asperation of  defeat,  they  might  fall  victims  to  the 
savages.  Colonel  Sibley,  therefore,  delayed  his  march 
towards  the  great  Indian  camp  until  the  second  day 
after  the  battle,  to  allow  time  to  the  friendly  element 
to  strengthen  itself,  and  to  avoid  driving  the  hostile 
Indians  into  desperate  measures  against  their  prisoners. 
On  the  twenty-fifth  of  September,  the  column,  with 
drums  beating  and  colors  flying,  filed  past  the  Indian 
encampment,  and  formed  the  camp  within  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  of  it.  Colonel  Sibley,  with  his  staff  and 
field  officers,  then  proceeded  to  the  lodges  of  the  In- 
dians, and  directed  that  all  the  captives  should  be  de- 
livered up  to  him,  which  was  forthwith  done.  A  sight 
was  then  presented  which  sufficed  to  suffuse  the  eyes 
of  strong  men  with  tears.  Young  and  beautiful  women, 
who  had  for  weeks  endured  the  extremity  of  outrage 
from  their  brutal  captors,  followed  by  a  crowd  of  chil- 
dren of  all  ages,  came  forth  from  the  lodges,  hardly 
realizing  that  the  day  of  their  deliverance  had  arrived. 
Convulsive  sobbings  were  heard  on  every  side,  and  the 
poor  creatures  clung  to  the  men  who  had  come  to  their 
relief,  as  if  they  feared  some  savage  would  drag  them 


WHITE   CAPTIVES   RELEASED. 


783 


away.  They  were  all  escorted  tenderly  to  the  tents 
prepared  for  their  reception,  and  made  as  comfortable 
as  circumstances  would  admit.  The  number  of  pure 
whites  thus  released  amounted  to  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  including  one  man  only,  Mr.  Spencer.  The 
latter  expressed  his  gratitude  to  Colonel  Sibley  thai 
he  had  not  made  a  forced  march  upon  the  camp  after 
the  battle,  stating  emphatically  that  if  such  a  course 
had  been  pursued,  it  was  the  determination  of  the  hos- 
tile Indians  to  cut  the  throats  of  the  captives,  and  then 
disperse  in  the  prairies.  There  were  delivered  also 
nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  half-breeds,  who  had  been 
held  as  prisoners. 

Two  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  campaign,  the 
defeat  of  the  savage  and  the  release  of  the  captives, 
having  now  been  consummated,  there  remained  but  to 
punish  the  guilty.  Many  of  these,  with  Little  Crow, 
had  made  their  escape  and  could  not  be  overtaken,  but 
some  of  the  small  camps  of  refugees  were  surrounded 
and  their  inmates  brought  back.  The  locality  where 
these  events  transpired  was  appropriately  called  Camp 
Release,  and  the  name  should  be  perpetuated. 

At  the  proper  time,  the  Indian  camp  was  surrounded 
by  a  cordon  of  troops,  and  four  hundred  of  the  warriors 
were  arrested,  chained  together  in  pairs,  and  placed  in 
an  enclosure  of  logs  made  by  the  troops,  under  strong 
guard.  Others  who  were  known  to  be  innocent  were 
not  interfered  with.  Colonel  Sibley  constituted  a  mili- 
tary commission,  with  Colonel  Crooks,  commanding  6th 
Regiment,  as  president,  for  the  trial  of  the  prisoners. 
A  fair  and  impartial  hearing  was  accorded  to  each,  and 
the  result  was,  the  finding  of  three  hunf'.ed  and  three 
guilty  of  participation  in  the  murder  of  he  whites,  and 


784 


HISTORY   OP  MINNKSOTA. 


the  Ben  tenet'  of  death  by  hanging  was  passed  upon 
them.  Others  were  convicted  of  robbery  and  pillage 
and  condemned  to  various  terms  of  imprisonment,  and 
a  few  were  acquitted.  The  witnesses  were  composed 
of  the  released  captives,  including  mixed  bloods,  and 
of  Christian  Indians  who  bad  refused  to  join  Little 
Crow  in  the  war.  A  full  record  was  kept  of  each  case 
that  was  tried. 

The  preparations  for  the  execution  of  the  guilty  In- 
dians were  brought  to  a  summary  close,  by  an  order 
from  President  Lincoln  prohibiting  the  hanging  of  any 
of  the  convicted  men  without  his  previous  sanction. 
The  people  of  the  State  were  highly  indignant  at  this 
suspension,  and  an  energetic  protest  was  made  by  their 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Washington.  Finally, 
after  much  delay.  Colonel  Sibley  was  directed  to  carry 
out  the  sentence  of  the  commission  in  certain  cases 
specified,  and  on  December  twenty-sixth,  1862,  thirty- 
eight  of  the  criminals  were  executed  accordingly  at 
Mankato,  on  the  same  scaffold,  under  the  direction  of 
Colonel  Miller,  commanding  that  post.  The  remainder 
of  the  condemned  were  sent  to  Davenport,  Iowa,  early 
in  the  spring,  where  they  were  kept  in  confinement  for 
'more  than  a  year,  a  large  number  dying  of  disease  in 
the  mean  time.  Those  that  remained  were  eventually 
despatched  to  a  reservation  on  the  Upper  Missouri, 
where  the  large  number  of  prisoners  taken  by  Colonel 
Sibley,  principally  women  and  children,  had  already 
been  i^laced. 

The  President  testified  his  approbation  of  the  conduct 
of  Colonel  Sibley  by  conferring  upon  him,  unasked,  the 
commission  of  brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  and  the 
appointment  was  subsequently  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 


INDIAN   OAMPATON   BNDBD. 


t86 


Thus  happily  terminated  the  Indian  campaign  of 
1862,  entered  upon  without  due  preparation,  against 
an  enemy  formidable  in  numbers,  completely  armed  and 
equipped,  and  withal  confident  of  their  own  powers  and 
strength.  It  was  a  critical  period  in  the  history  of  the 
State,  for  it  was  then  suspected,  and  has  since  been  con« 
firmed,  that  if  the  column  of  troops  under  Colonel 
Sibley  had  met  with  a  reverse,  there  would  have 
been  a  rising  of  the  Chippewas  and  Winnebagoes  against 
the  whites,  and  many  of  the  counties  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi would  have  been  entirely  depopulated.  Indeed, 
in  a  speech  to  his  warriors  the  night  previous  to  the 
battle  of  Wood  Lake,  Little  Crow  stated  the  pro- 
gramme to  be,  first,  the  defeat  and  destruction  of  the 
old  men  and  boys  composing,  as  he  said,  the  command 
under  Colonel  Sibley,  and  second,  the  immediate  de- 
scent thereafter  of  himself  and  his  people  to  St.  Paul, 
there  to  dispose  summarily  of  the  whites,  and  then 
establish  themselves  comfortably  in  winter  quarters. 
That  the  people  of  Minnesota  succeeded,  without  ex- 
traneous aid,  in  speedily  ending  an  Indian  war  of  such 
threatening  and  formidable  proportions,  while  they 
continued  to  bear  their  full  share  of  the  burdens  im- 
posed on  the  Northern  States  in  the  suppression  of  the 
great  rebellion,  constitutes  an  epoch  in  their  history  of 
which  they  may  be  justly  proud. 

It  was  deemed  requisite  by  the  military  authorities 
at  Washington,  and  by  Major-General  Pope,  command- 
ing the  Department  of  the  Northwest,  that  a  second 
campaign  should  be  entered  upon  against  the  refugees 
who  had  been  concerned  in  the  massacres,  and  had  ded 
to  the  upper  prairies,  where  they  had  been  hospitably 
received  and  harbored  by  the  powerful  band^  of  Sioux 


786 


IIISTORT  or   MINNESOTA. 


in  that  remote  region.  Accordingly,  General  Sully, 
commanding  the  District  of  the  Upper  Missouri,  and 
General  Sibley,  commanding  the  District  of  Minnesota, 
were  summoned  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  depart- 
ment at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  to  confer  with  General 
Pope.  It  was  finally  decided  that  a  large  force  under 
the  district  commanders  mentioned  should  march  as 
early  in  the  summer  of  1863  as  practicable,  from  Sioux 
City  on  the  Missouri,  and  from  a  designated  point  on 
the  Minnesota  River  respectively,  the  objective-point 
of  the  two  columns  being  Devil's  Lake,  where  it  was 
supposed  the  main  body  of  Indians  would  be  encoun- 
tered. The  force  under  General  Sully  was  to  be  com- 
posed entirely  of  cavalry,  and  that  under  General  Sib- 
ley of  three  regiments  of  infantry,  one  regiment  of 
cavalry,  and  two  sections  of  light  artillery.  The  Min- 
nesota column  reached  the  point  of  rendezvous  after  a 
most  weary  and  indeed  distressing  march,  the  sum  aer 
being  exceedingly  warm,  and  the  prairies  parched  with 
the  excessive  drought.  Learning  from  the  Red  River 
half-breeds  that  the  large  Indian  camps  were  to  be 
found  on  the  Missouri  coteau,  in  the  direction  from 
which  General  Sully  was  to  be  expected.  General  Sib- 
ley left  the  sore-footed  and  weary  of  his  men  and 
animals  in  an  entrenched  camp  on  the  Upper  Sheyenne 
River,  and  marched  rapidly  towards  the  Missouri  River. 
He  succeeded  in  falling  in  with  the  camp  in  which 
many  of  the  refugees  were  to  be  found,  and  which  con- 
tained several  hundred  warriors,  attacked  and  defeated 
them  with  considerable  loss,  and  followed  them  as  they 
retreated  upon  other  and  stronger  camps,  the  tenants  of 
which  were  driven  back  in  confusion  successively,  until 
the  Missouri  River  was  interposed  as  a  barrier  to  the 


LITTI.E   CROW   KIM,I,ED. 


737 


julvanco  of  the  pursuing  column.  The  command  of 
General  Sully,  delayed  by  unexpected  obstacles,  was 
not  fallen  in  with,  and  the  Minnesota  troops  having 
uccomplished  more  than  was  allotted  to  them  in  the 
co-operative  movement,  and  secured  their  own  frontier 
from  apprehensions  of  furthar  serious  raids  on  the  part 
of  hostile  Sioux,  returned  to  their  quarters  in  their  ov^ 
State.  The  year  1863  wati  also  signalized  by  the  death 
of  Little  Crow,  who,  with  a  small  party  of  seventeen 
men,  made  a  descent  upon  the  frontier  with  the  object 
of  stealing  horses,  and  after  committing  a  few  murders 
and  depredations,  he  was  fatally  shot  by  a  man  named 
Lamson,  in  the  Big  Woods,  and  his  son,  who  was  '.vith 
him,  was  subsequently  taken  prisoner  near  Devil's 
Lake,  by  a  detachment  from  General  Sibley's  column, 
condemned  to  death  by  military  commission,  but  sub- 
sequently pardoned  on  account  of  his  extreme  youth.* 


'Among  tho  first  msssacred  by 
the  Indians  was  Philander  Pre?cott, 
one  of  the  oldest  citizens  and  traders 
uf  Minnesota.  Ho  was  the  son  of  a 
physician,  and  born  on  seventeenth 
September,  1801,  at  Phelpstown,  On- 
tario County,  New  York.  In  the 
winter  of  1819  ho  visited  a  brother,  a 
clerk  in  a  sutler's  store  at  Datroit. 

With  Mr.  Devotion,  the  sutler, 
he  proceeded  to  the  Upper  Missisbippi, 
stopped  at  Mud  Hen  Isle,  the  Isle 
Pel6e,  where  the  French,  in  1695, 
hnd  erected  an  establishment  about 
midway  between  Lake  Pepin  and  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Croix.  At  this  point 
Mr.  Faribault  then  had  a  trading- 
house.  Next  they  stopped  at  Olive 
Grove,  now  Hastings.  Here  he  found 
a  keel  boat  loaded  with  stores  for  the 
troops  at  Minnesota,  stopped  by  the 


ice  and  guarded  by  Lieutenant  Oliver 
and  a  few  soldiers.  Toward  the  close 
of  the  year  1819,  Mr.  Prescott  arrived 
at  the  cantonment,  then  in  command 
of  Colonel  Leavenworth,  and  from 
that  time  until  his  murder  ho  was 
identified  with  the  region  now  known 
as  Minnesota. 

The  winter  of  1824-5  Mr.  P. 
traded  with  the  Indians  near  Fort 
Snelling,  living  at  Land's  End,  and 
purchased  tho  Indian  wife  with 
whom  he  lived  in  his  last  years. 
For  three  years  after  this  he  was  an 
employee  ot  the  Columbia  Fur  Com- 
pany, and  thei.  he  passed  a  short  time 
in  Louisiana ;  but  in  the  spring  of 
1828  ho  returned,  and  soon  after  this 
the  Indian  agent  Taliaferro  em- 
ployed him  to  open  a  farm  for  the 
Indians  at  Lake  Calhoun. 


47 


':38 


HISTORY   OF   MINNKSOTA. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

SBRVIOES  OF  REQIMENTS  IN  THE  SOUTH  DUKINQ  THE  TEAR  1868. 

On  the  first  of  March  the  4  th  Eegiment  embarked 
at  Memphis  and  entered  the  Yazoo  Pass,  and  on  the 
filceenth  of  April  returned  to  Milliken's  Bend,  A  few 
days  after,  Colonel  Sanborn  was  temporarily  placed  in 
command  of  Quinby'd  iJivision.  On  the  thirtieth  of 
April  the  regiment  was  opposite  Grand  Gulf,  and  in  a 
few  days  thev  entered  Port  Gibson,  and  here  Colonel 
Sanborn  n .  imed  the  command  of  a  brigade ;  and  on 
the  tenth  of  May  the  regiment,  which  was  a  part  of 
his  brigade,  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Raymond,  and 
on  the  fourteenth  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Jackson. 

A  newspaper  correspondent  says :  "  Captain  L.  B. 
Martin,  of  the  4th  Minnesota,  A.  A.  G.  to  Colonel  San- 
born, seized  the  flag  of  the  59th  Indiana  Infantry,  rode 
rapidly  beyond  the  skirmishers  (Company  H  of  4th 
Minnesota,  Lieutenant  George  A.  Clark),  and  raised  it 
over  the  dome  of  the  capitol.  Lieutenant  Donaldson 
of  the  4th,  also  riding  in  advance,  captured  a  flag  mturi 
of  silk ;  on  one  side  <vas  inscribed  '  Glaihome  Rangers, ' 
and  on  the  other  *  Our  Rights'" 

On  the  sixteenth  the  regiment  was  in  the  battle  of 
Champion  Hill,  and  took  one  hundred  and  eighteen  pri- 
soners. Fou^  days  later  it  was  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg. 
Lieutenont-Colonel  Tourtellotte  reports  as  follows : 


ABOUND   VICKSBURQ. 


739 


"  On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-second,  by  order  of 
General  Grant,  an  assault  was  made  on  Vicksburg. 
My  regiment,  with  the  48th  Iowa  for  reserve  and  sup- 
port, was  ordered  to  charge  upon  one  of  the  enemy's 
forts  just  in  front  as  soon  as  I  should  see  a  charge 
made  upon  the  fort  next  on  my  right."  This  order 
being  modified,  the  report  continues :  "  No  sooner  had 
we  taken  position  than  General  Burbage  withdrew  his 
brigade  from  the  action.  Under  the  direct  fire  from 
the  fort  in  front,  under  a  heavy  cross-fire  from  a  fort 
on  our  right,  the  regiment  pressed  forward  up  to  and 
even  on  the  enemy's  works.  In  this  position,  contend- 
ing for  the  possession  of  the  rebel  earthwork,  the  regi- 
ment remained  for  two  hours,  when  it  became  dark,  and 
I  was  ordered  by  Colonel  Sanborn  to  withdraw  the 
regiment.  Noticing  a  field-piece  which  had  been  lifted 
up  the  hill  by  main  strength  and  which  had  appa- 
rently been  used  by  General  Burbage  in  attempting 
to  batter  down  the  walls  of  the  fort,  I  sent  Company 
C  to  withdraw  the  piece  from  the  ground  and  down 
the  hill.  *  *  *  *  In  this  action  the  regiment  suf- 
fered  severely,  losing   some   of  its   best   officers   and 


rnen. 


The  5th  Regiment,  attached  to  the  3d  Division  of 
15th  Army  Corps,  reached  Grand  Gulf  on  the  seventh 
of  May.  On  the  thirteenth  they  were  at  Raymond, 
and  the  next  day  in  action  near  Jackson.  On  the 
twenty-second  it  was  before  Vicksburg  and  exposed  to 
a  galling  fire,  but  lost  only  two  men. 

The  Ist  Regiment  left  Falmouth,  Virginia,  and  by 
hurried  marches  reached  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania,  on 
the  first  of  July.  The  next  morning  Hancock's  Corps, 
to  which  it  was  attached,  moved  to  a  ridge,  the  right 


740 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


resting  on  Cemetery  Hill,  the  left  near  Sugar  Loaf 
Mountain.  The  line  of  battle  was  a  semi-ellipse,  and 
Gibbon's  Division,  to  which  the  regiment  was  attached, 
occupied  the  centre  of  the  curve  nearest  the  enemy .^ 

Captain  H.  C.  Coates,  commanding   the   regiment 
after  the  battle,  writes : 


'  As  the  buttle  at  Gettysburg  was 
one  of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  Re- 
bellion, wo  give  the  following  ex- 
tracts from  a  most  graphic  account, 
writen  by  one  signing  himself  "  Ser- 
geant," which  appeared  in  the  St. 
Paul  Pioneer,  August  9,  1863. 

He  says  :  "General  Hancock  rode 
up  to  Colonel  Colvillo,  and,  pointing 
to  the  smoke-covered  masses  of  the 
advancing  foe,  said,  'Colonel,  ad- 
vance and  take  their  colours  I'  '  For- 
ward I'  shouted  our  colonel,  and  as 
one  man  wo  commenced  to  mf,  o 
down  the  slope  towards  a  littio  run 
af.  its  foot,  which  the  onemy  evidently 
wished  to  gain.  Now  their  cannon 
were  pointed  to  us,  and  round  shot, 
grap^,  and  shrapnel  tore  fearfully 
throu,T:h  our  ranks,  and  the  more 
deadly  Enfield  rittca  were  directed  to 
us  alone.  Groat  heavens,  how  fast 
our  men  fell!  Marching  as  tile-closer, 
it  seemed  as  if  every  step  was  over 
some  fallen  comrade.  Yet  no  man 
wavers ;  every  gap  is  closed  up,  and, 
bringing  down  their  bayonets,  the 
boys  press  shoulder  to  shoulder:  and 
disdaining  the  fictitious  courage  pro- 
seeding  from  noise  and  excitement, 
without  a  word  or  cheer,  but  with 
silent,  desperate  determination, 
stop  firmly  forward  in  unbroken 
line,  within  a  hundred  —  within 
fifty  steps  of  the  foe.  Three  times 
their  colours  are  shot  down,  and  three 
times,  arising,  go  forward  as  before. 


One-fourth  of  the  men  have  fallen, 
and  yet  no  shot  has  been  fired  at  the 
enemy,  who  paused  a  moment  to  look 
upon  that  line  of  leveled  bayonets, 
and  then,  panic-stricken,  turned  and 
ran ;  but  another  line  took  their 
place  and  poured  murderous  volleys 
into  us,  not  thirty  yards  distant. 
'Charge  I'  cried  Colonel  Colville; 
and  with  a  wild  cheer  we  ran  at 
them.  We  fired  away  three,  four, 
five,  irregular  volleys,  and  but  little 
an.munition  is  wasted,  when  the 
muzzles  of  opposing  guns  almost 
meet.  The  enemy  seemed  to  sink 
into  the  ground.  They  are  checked 
and  staggered ;  one  division  came  up 
at  this  instant,  and  before  we  recov- 
ered from  the  bewilderment  of  the 
shock,  we  scarcely  know  how,  but 
the  rebels  are  swept  back  over  the 
plain.  But, good  God!  where  was  the 
Ist  Minnesota?  Our  flag  was  carried 
back  to  the  battery,  and  seventy  men, 
scarce  one  of  them  unmarked  by 
scratches  and  bullet  holes  through 
their  clothing,  are  all  that  formed 
around  it.  The  other  two  hundred, 
alas  I  lay  bleeding  under  it.  Our  field 
ofllcers,  rendered  cimspicuous  by  their 
great  personal  statures  and  cool  and 
dashlnggallantry,  had  all  fallen,  each 
pierced  by  several  balls,  and  the  com- 
mand devolved  upon  Captain  Mes- 
sick.  Tired  and  weary,  we  might  not 
sleep,  or  even  build  fires  to  make 
coffee,  but  rested  on  our  arms  all  the 


BATTLE   OF   GETTYSBURG. 


741 


'  "At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  second 
instant,  we  were  ordered  into  position  in  the  front  and 
about  the  centre  of  our  line,  just  to  the  left  of  the 
town.  The  battle  commenced  at  daylight  and  raged 
with  fury  the  entire  day.  We  were  under  a  severe 
artillery  fire,  but  not  actively  engaged  until  about  five 
o'clock,  P.M.,  when  we  were  moved  to  support  Battery 
I,   4th  United   States    Artillery.      Company  r    had 


long,  damp,  driz7.1ing  night,  in  wake- 
ful anticipation  of  an  attack.  Bed 
and  flery  through  the  morning  mists 
at  length  arose  the  sun  on  the  third 
of  July.  The  forenoon  passed  us  did 
the  previous  one.  About  noon  two 
guns  were  fired  as  a  sort  of  signal, 
nnd  immediately  after  one  hundred 
iind  eighty  pieces  of  cannon  opened 
on  our  line.  Wnun  you  remember 
our  formation,  and  that  of  the  enemy 
conformed  to  it,  you  will  see  that 
their  cannon  were  on  three  sides  of 
U9,  and  that  their  converging  lines 
of  fire  crossed  each  other  in  all  direc- 
tions over  us.  Many  of  their  shot, 
tired  from  batteries  to  the  west  of  us, 
jiiussed  clear  over  our  '  horse  shoe,' 
nnd  fell  among  their  own  men,  facing 
us  from  the  east.  Imagine  our  posi- 
tion in  the  centre  I  Our  artillery 
(ipenod  as  vigorously  in  return,  and 
now  the  scene  became  sublime.  Two 
long,  weary  hours,  and  then  came 
till!  lull.  Wo  knew  their  infantry  was 
H'lvancing,  and  we  rose  for  thedeath- 
Biruggle  with  a  feeling  of  relief,  for 
it  was  at  worst  but  man  to  man,  and 
>vo  could  give  as  well  as  take.  And 
now  they  emerged  from  the  woods, 
Jiorigstreet's  whole  corps,  near  thirty 
tliousand  strong.  General  Pickett's 
division,  of  about  twelve  thousand, 
fri-h  from  the  rear,  was  in  front  of, 


and  advanced  upon,  our  shattered 
division  of  less  than  four  thousand. 
We  had  reserves  behind,  though,  to 
go  to  our  assistance  if  needed.  Over 
the  plain,  still  covered  with  the  dead 
and  wounded  of  yesterday,  in  throe 
beautiful  lines  of  battle,  preceded  by 
shirmishers  with  their  arms  at  right 
shoulder  shift,  and  witlr  double-quick 
step,  right  gallantly  they  came  on. 
What  was  left  of  our  artillery  opened, 
but  they  never  seemed  to  give  it  any 
attention.  Oalmly  we  awaited  the 
onset,  nnd  when  within  two  hundred 
yards  we  opened  fire.  Their  front 
line  went  down  like  grass  before  the 
scythe;  again  and  again  we  gave  it 
to  them,  when  they  changed  direc- 
tion and  followed  a  small  ravine  up 
towards  our  right.  To  the  right  w» 
went  also,  marching  parallel  with 
them  and  firing  continually,  and  no 
man  seemed  to  shrink  from  his  duty. 
Three  or  four  brigades  of  the  enemy 
closed  together  near  a  cave,  when, 
changing  again,  they  rushed  forward 
and  planted  their  colours  on  one  of 
our  batteries.  Our  brigade  rushed 
at  them.  The  tattered  colours  of 
the  1st,  in  advance,  wore  now  shot 
down,  the  ball  passing  through  John 
Dehn's  (the  colour-bearor)  right 
hand,  and  cutting  the  staff  in  two 
where     he    grasped     it.       Corporal 


7« 


HISTORY  OP   MINNESOTA. 


been  detached  from  the  regiment  as  skirmishers,  and 
Company  L  as  sharpshocters.  Our  infantry,  who  had 
advanced  upon  the  enemy  in  our  front  and  pushed  him 
for  a  while,  were  in  turn  driven  back  in  some  con- 
fusion, the  enemy  following  them  in  heavy  force.  To 
check  them,  we  were  ordered  to  advance,  which  we 
did,  moving  at  double-quick  down  the  slope  of  the 
hill,  right  upon  the  rebel  line.  The  fire  we  en- 
countered here  was  terrible,  and,  although  we  inflicted 
severe  punishment  upon  the  enemy,  and  checked  his 
advance,  it  was  with  the  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  of 
more  than  two-thirds  of  our  men  who  were  engaged. 
Here  Captain  Muller,  of  Company  E,  and  Lieutenant 
Farrer,  of  Company  I,  were  killed,  and  Captain  Periam, 
of  Company  K,  mortally  wounded.     Colonel  Colville, 


O'Brien  raised  the  flag  and  bore  it 
on.  Oenerale  Hancock  and  Gibbon 
were  both  wounded  here  while  cheer- 
ing us  on.  Orders  were  unnecessary. 
The  fight  had  become  a  perfect  melee, 
and  every  man  fought  for  himself,  or 
under  the  direction  of  his  company 
officers.  Here  that  noblo  soldier, 
Captain  Messick,  was  killed,  and 
Captain  Farrel,  who  had  gallantly 
brought  up  the  provost  guard.  Com- 
pany C,  to  reinforce  his  shattered 
regiment,  mortally  wounded.  The 
enemy  had  halted,  and  were  firing  on 
us  from  behind  some  bushes.  We 
pushed  on  ;  they  fired  till  wo  reached 
the  muzzles  of  their  guns,  but  they 
could  not  stand  the  bayonet,  and 
broke  before  the  cold  steel  in  disor- 
der and  dismay.  Our  division  took 
more  colours  than  it  had  regiments. 
Marshall  Sherman,  of  Company  0 
of  this  regiment,  took  those  of 
the   28th  Virginia.     Not  daring  to 


run,  their  ofllcers  and  men  surren- 
dered in  scores  and  hundreds.  At 
this  moment  of  victory,  Corporal 
O'Brien  was  shot  ■  down  and  the 
colours  fell.  Corporal  Irvine  imme- 
diately raised  that  tattered  but  sacred 
flag  of  Minnesota,  and  again  it  waved 
in  glorious  triumph  over  her  gallant 
dead,  while  the  ringing  shouts  of 
victory  along  the  front  of  our  whole 
corps  proclaimed  that  the  masjnifl- 
cent  army  which  Lee  had  launched 
''ke  a  thunderbolt  to  break  our 
centre,  was  shattered,  broken  and 
defeated  by  the  old  2d,  scarcely 
eight  thousand  strong.  The  reserves 
were  not  called  upon  and  did  not  lire 
a  gun,  and  twenty-eight  battle-flags 
were  added  to  the  trophies  gatlieri-d 
on  the  Peninsula  and  Antietam  by 
that  corps,  which,  in  the  words  of 
Sumner,  'never  yet  lost  <\  gun  or 
colour,  and  never  turned  back  in 
battle  before  the  enemy. '  " 


DEARLY    BOUGHT   VICTORY. 


743 


Lieutenfuit-Colonel  Adams,  Major  Downie,  Adjutant 
Peller,  and  Lieutenants  Sinclair,  Company  B,  Demerest, 
Company  E,  De  Gray,  and  Boyd,  Company  I,  were 
severely  wounded.  Colonel  Colville  is  shot  through 
the  shoulder  and  foot;  LieutenantrColonel  Adams  is 
shot  through  the  chest  and  twice  through  the  leg,  and 
his  recovery  is  doubtful.  Fully  two-thirds  of  the  en- 
listed men  engaged  were  either  killed  or  wounded. 
Companies  F,  C,  and  L,  not  being  engaged  here,  did 
not  suffer  severely  on  this  day's  fight.  The  command 
of  the  regiment  now  devolved  upon  Captain  Nathan  S. 
Messick.  At  daybreak  the  next  morning  the  enemy 
renewed  the  battle  with  vigor  on  the  right  and  left 
of  our  line,  with  infantry,  and  about  ten  o'clock  a.m., 
opened  upon  the  centre,  where  we  were  posted,  a 
most  terrible  fire  of  artillery,  which  continued  without 
intermission  until  three  o'clock,  p.m.,  when  heavy 
columns  of  the  enemy's  infantry  were  thrown  suddenly 
forward  against  our  position.  Tliey  marched  resolutely 
in  the  face  of  a  withering  fire  up  to  our  line,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  planting  their  colours  on  one  of  our  batteries. 
They  held  it  but  a  moment,  as  our  regiment,  with 
others  of  the  division,  rushed  upon  them,  the  colours  of 
our  regiment  in  advance,  and  retook  the  battery,  cap- 
turing nearly  the  entire  rebel  force  who  remained  alive. 
Our  regiment  took  about  five  hundred  prisoners.  Sev- 
eral stands  of  rebel  colours  were  here  taken.  Private 
Marshall  Sherman,  of  Company  C,  captured  the  colours 
of  the  28th  Virginia  Regiment. 

"  Our  entire  regiment,  except  Company  L,  was  in  the 
fight,  and  our  loss  again  was  very  severe.  Captain 
Messick,  while  gallantly  leading  the  regiment,  was 
killed  early.     Captain  W.  B.  Farrel,  Company  C,  was 


^4 


HISTORY  OF   MINNESOTA. 


mortally  wounded  and  died  last  night.  Lieutenant 
Mason,  Company  D,  received  three  wounds,  and  Lieu- 
tenants Harmon,  Company  C,  HeflFelfinger,  Company 
D,  and  May,  Company  B,  were  also  wounded.  The 
enemy  suffered  terribly  here,  and  is  now  retreating. 
Our  loss  of  so  many  brave  men  is  heartrending,  and 
will  carry  mourning  into  all  parts  of  the  State ;  but 
they  have  fallen  in  a  holy  cause,  and  their  memory  will 
not  soon  perish.  Our  loss  is  4  commissioned  officers 
and  47  men  killed,  13  officers  and  162  men  wounded, 
and  6  men  missing.  Total  232,  out  of  less  than  330 
men  and  officers  engaged. 

"  Several  acts  of  heroic  daring  occurred  in  this 
battle.  I  cannot  now  attempt  to  enumerate  them. 
The  bearing  of  Colonel  Colville  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Adams,  in  the  fight  of  Tuesday,  was  conspicuously 
gallant.  Heroically  urging  them  on  to  the  attack,  they 
fell  very  nearly  at  the  same  moment,  their  wounds 
comparatively  disabling  them,  so  far  in  the  advance 
that  some  time  elapsed  before  they  were  got  off  the 
field.  Major  Downie  received  two  bullets  through  the 
arm  before  he  turned  over  the  command  to  Captain 
Messick.  Colour-Sergeant  E.  P.  Perkins  and  two  of  the 
colour-guard  successively  bearing  the  flag,  were  wounded 
in  Thursday's  fight.  On  Friday,  Corporal  Dehn  of 
Company  A,  the  last  of  the  colour-guard,  when  close 
upon  the  enemy,  was  shot  through  the  hand  and  the 
tiag-stajBT  cut  in  two;  Corporal  Henry  D.  O'Brien,  of 
Company  D,  instantly  seized  the  flag  by  the  remnant 
of  the  staff,  and,  waving  it  over  his  head,  rushed  right 
up  to  the  muzzles  of  the  enemy's  muskets ;  nearly  at 
the  moment  of  victory  he  too  was  wounded  in  the 
hand,  but  the  flag  was  instantly  grasped  by  Corporal 


CHICKAMAUQA,   AND    MISSION   RIDQK. 


U6 


W.  N.  Irvine,  of  Company  D,  who  still  carries  its 
tattered  remnants.  Company  L,  Captain  Berger,  sup- 
ported Kirby's  Battery  throughout  the  battle,  and  did 
very  effective  service.  Every  man  in  the  regiment 
did  his  whole  duty." 

On  the  nineteenth  of  September,  the  2d  Regiment, 
now  under  Colonel  George  for  the  first  time  since  the 
fight  at  Mill  Spring,  was  engaged  at  Chickamauga. 
It  was  in  the  2d  Brigade,  3d  Division,  14th  Army 
Corps,  and  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  was  placed 
next  to  Battery  I,  4  th  United  States  Artillery,  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant  Frank  G.  Smith.'  The  enemy 
charged  desperately,  and  after  a  sharp  contest  was 
repulsed.  The  regiment  lost  eight  killed  and  forty- 
one  wounded.  The  next  day  the  fight  was  resumed 
and  lasted  until  dark.' 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-third  of  November 
the  2d  Regiment  marched  from  its  encampment  at 
Chattanooga,  and  was  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  in  front 
of  Fort  Negley,  and  on  the  twenty-fifth  it  took  a  posi- 


«  Son  of  Franklin  Smith,  M.  D.,  jf 
St.  Paul. 

'  New  York  Herald  correspondent 
wrote:  "In  Braman's  Division  there 
are  the  old  famous  regiments  of  which 
the  late  General  Robert  MoCook  and 
General  Van  Cleve  were  formerly 
culonels.  This  was  the  first  fight 
since  Mill  Spring.  »  *  #  *  The 
big-heiirted  Minnesotians,  whom  Van 
Ck've  had  enlisted  two  years  before, 
sprang  from  their  position  in  re- 
serve, and  with  loud  yells,  as  if  the 
sight  had  infuriated  them,  rushed 
forward  with  fixed  bayonets,  drove 
the  enemy  from  their  guns  before 
they  could  be  turned  on  us." 


A  friend  writing  to  Lieutenant  G. 
W.  Prescott,  .says :  "  General  R.  W. 
Johnson  fought  splendidly.  *  *  *  » 
I  heard  on  Sunday  that  ho  wag 
wounded  and  a  prisoner,  but  after- 
wards learned  that  he  was  safe.  I 
called  on  him  yesterday.  Ho  is  not 
well,  and  think}  of  taking  a  trip  to 
Minnesota.  *  «  •  •  General  Van 
Cleve  !■.  ^  ten  out  of  eighteen  pieces 
of  artillery.  •  •  •  *  Murdoch,  of 
his  Htafi*,  so  1  of  I  he  a  ;tor  and  h  bril- 
liant fellow,  was  mo:'tally  wounded,' 
Lieutennnf,  Woodbi  ry,  commanding 
2d  Battery,  bad  hi ,  left  arm  badly 
shattered  on  Saturiay," 


1 


Hi 


HISTORY  OP   MINNESOTA. 


tion  to  the  east,  forcing  the  enemy  at  the  foot  and  on 
the  crest  of  Mission  Ridge.  With  the  whole  brigade 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  aft  rnoon  it  advanced  and 
came  in  full  view  of  the  enemy's  works. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Bishop,  commanding  the  regi- 
ment, says:  "After  remaining  in  front  of  this  part  of 
the  enemy's  lines  for  some  twenty  minutes,  I  received 
an  order  from  Colonel  Van  Derveer  commanding  the 
brigade  to  advance.  *  *  *  *  With  bayonets  fixed, 
the  whole  line  commenced  the  advance.  The  enemy 
opened  fire  with  musketry  from  the  breastworks  and 
artillery  from  the  main  ridge  as  soon  as  our  line  emerged 
from  the  woods,  but  in  the  face  of  both  the  men  moved 
silently  and  steadily  forward  across  the  creek  and  up 
the  slope,  until  within  about  one  hundred  paces  of  the 
breastworks,  when,  as  the  pace  was  quickened,  the 
enemy  broke  from  behind  the  works  and  ran  in  some 
confusion.  *  *  *  *  About  twenty  minutes  after 
the  capture  of  the  first  work,  my  regiment  moved  for- 
ward with  the  others  of  the  brigade,  asgcmbiing  on  the 
colours  as  far  as  it  was  possible,  until  ascending  the 
steepest  part  of  the  dlope,  where  every  man  had  to 
find  or  clear  his  own  way  through  the  entanglement 
and  in  the  face  of  a  terrible  fire  of  musketry  and  ar- 
tillery. *  *  *  *  Hardly  had  a  lodgement  in  the 
enemy's  works  been  gained,  when  the  enemy's  reserves 
made  a  furious  counter-attack  upon  our  men,  yet  in 
confusion.  The  attack  tras  promptly  met.  *  *  *  » 
Of  seven  non-commissioned  officers  in  the  colour-guard, 
all  but  one  were  killed  or  wounded." 

The  4th  Regiment  was  also  at  Chattanooga,  assigned 
to  the  15th  Army  Corps,  but  suffered  no  losses. 

The   Ist   Regiment,  at   Bristow    Station,    Virginia, 


FIRST   REGIMENT    IN   VIltGINIA. 


T4^ 


on  the  fourteentli  of  October  was  the  head  of  the 
column  of  the  2d  Division  of  the  2d  Corps,  and  a* 
skirmishers  in  the  woods,  held  the  enemy  in  check 
until  our  troops  could  form  behind  the  railroad.  After 
the  enemy  was  repulsed,  the  regiment  again  advanced 
and  captured  three  hundred  and  twenty  prisoners  and 
six  rebel  cannon. 


749 


HISTORY   OF  MINNKSOTA. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 


MOVEMENTS   OF   REOIMENTS   DURING   THE   YEAR   1864. 

As  the  term  of  the  regiments  first  organized  ap- 
proached expiration,  the  men  were  allowed  to  re-enlist 
and  return  to  the  State  on  furlough.  On  the  eighth  of 
January,  1864,  the  2d  left  Chattanooga  for  Fort  Snel- 
ling,  and  on  the  twenty-fourth  arrived  at  St.  Paul,  with 
the  exception  of  the  companies  that  belonged  to  Fill- 
more and  Olmsted  Counties,  which  stopped  »>  Winona. 
The  1st  left  their  camp  near  Culpepper  on  the  fifth  of 
February,  and  after  partaking  of  a  banquet  at  the 
National  Hotel  in  Washington,  given  by  members  of 
Congress  and  other  citizens  of  Minnesota  in  the  city, 
proceeded  westward,  and  were  finally  welcomed  at  St. 
Paul  on  the  fifteenth  of  February. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Springfield  (Mass.)  Kepub- 
lican  beautifully  alludes  to  their  march  down  the  broad 
Pennsylvania  avenue  of  the  nation's  capital. 

"  Sunshine  and  shadow !  coming  down  from  the 
capitol  in  the  street  cars  the  other  day,  by  us,  with 
sound  of  fife  and  drum,  and  gay  floating  banner,  passed 
the  Ist  Minnesota  Regiment.  It  made  for  the  gay 
avenue  a  pretty  pageant.  Its  war-worn  veterans,  snuff"- 
ing  from  afar  the  hospitalities  of  the  city,  quickened 
their  steps.  Its  officers  were  proudly  mounted.  There 
IB  something  enlivening  in  the  array  of  battle,  out  of 


RBTURN  OF  REQIMBNTS. 


'749 


danger's  reach ;  the  sight  of  it  yields  a  cheap-bought 
patriotism  and  taste  of  martial  glory.  Men  and  women 
on  the  pavement  stopped  to  look;  little  children 
clapped  their  hands,  keeping  time  with  the  lively  mu- 
sic ;  and  out  of  the  car  windows  women's  eyes  looked 
tenderly  on  the  brave  defenders  of  their  country.  A 
stilled  sob  came  from  a  pretty  little  woman  in  black, 
who  sat  opposite;  then  tear  after  tear  trickled  down 
her  pale  cheeks.  Every  one  noticed,  but  no  one  in- 
truded upon  her  grief  Some  great  sorrow  had  inter- 
woven her  own  life  with  the  fortunes  of  that  regiment. 
A  father  or  brc^^er,  or,  judging  from  her  weeds,  more 
likely  a  husband,  had  made  of  fearful  import  to  her  the 
name  of  Gettysburg,  or  Yorktown,  or  West  Point,  or 
some  other  of  the  twenty-one  names  engraven  upon 
the  blue  banner.  There  is  told,  on  one  of  those  battle- 
fields, her  hard,  simple,  common  story,  by  a  nameless 
grave  or  a  few  bleaching  bones.  Tears  came  into  other 
eyes  than  those  of  the  mourner,  tears  of  tender  com- 
passion; and  one  rough  man  whispered  huskily,  'God 
bless  her!'  Yet  this  sorrow  is  only  one  of  the  many — 
all  too  many — born  of  the  valour  and  vicissitudes  of  that 
regiment.  Stern  statistics  give  us  its  sad  story.  When 
organized,  it  numbered  1040  men.  It  afterwards  re- 
ceived 400  recruits;  309  sat  down  to  the  banquet  pre- 
pared for  them  at  the  National  Hotel.  Where  are  the 
1141  ?  '  Dead,  wounded,  sick,  and  missing.'  The  fields 
of  Gettysburg,  Bull  Run,  Ball's  Bluflf,  Yorktown,  West 
Point,  Fair  Oaks,  Peach  Orchard  Station,  Savage  Sta- 
tion, White  Oak  Swamp,  Nelson's  Farm,  Malvern  Hill, 
South  Mountain,  Antietam,  Sharpsburg,  Charlestown, 
Ashby's  Gap,  Fredericksburg,  twice-fought,  Haymarket, 
Bristow  Station  and  Flint  Hill  will  be  greener  and 


160 


I1I8T0UY    OF   MINNESOTA. 


their  country's  fame   fairer,   by  the  spilling  of  their 
blood.     First,  from  their  native  State,  to  meet  their 
country's  need  ;  second,  in  Washington,  from  the  north- 
west  after    the    Baltimore    riot,    mustered    in,    April 
twenty-ninth,  1861,    it  has  been  ever  since  a  brave 
and  faithful  portion  of  the  Potomac  Army.     The  pro- 
motion of  its  officers  has  been  commensurate  with  its 
valour.    One  major-general  and  three  brigadier-generals 
have   gone  from  it.    Colonel  Morgan,  with,   I  think, 
seven  wounds,  is  in  the  invalid  corps ;  Colonel  Colville, 
who  is  now  commanding  officer  of  the  regiment,  is  dis- 
abled by  wounds  gotten  at  Gettysburg.     He  was  borne 
on  Saturday  to  the  banqueting-room  in  the  arms  of 
four  stalwart   comrades.      Lieutenant-Colonel   Adams, 
now  acting  colonel,  has  made  his  country  his  debtor 
by  nine  scars,  six  of  which  were  gotten  at  Gettysburg. 
The  rags  of  what  was  the  old   flag  of  the  regiment, 
clinging  vigorously  to  their  staff,  told  of  the  dangers 
past  rnd  victories  won.     They  were  handsomely  wel- 
comed, these  veterans,  with  viands  and  courtly  speeche.s 
at  tl>f.   National,  and  with  warmly  throbbing  hearts 
all    through    the   city,    and   everywhere    where   hath 
reached  the  story  of  their  deeds  and  '  the  dangers  they 
have  passed.'     And  truly  the  story  of  that  one  regi- 
ment is  the  story  of  the  whole  war,  the  sunshine  and 
shadow,  side  by   side, — one-quarter  here,  with  music 
and  feasting,  and  well-earned  honour;    three-quarters 
out  there,  somewhere  in  the  night,  and  cold,  and  hun- 
ger.    One  heart  made  joyous  by  the  fame  of  a  gallant 
soldier ;  three  more  wailing  over  desolate  hearthstones. 
At  first  sight  these  workings  of  Providence  seem  one- 
sided, jangled,  and  out  of  tune,  the  sunshine  too  narrow 
and  the  shadow  too  black ;  but,  in  the  lofty  courage, 


POSITION   OF   RBQIMBNT8. 


T61 


the  endurance  and  heroic  purpose  of  this  maimed  little 
band,  come  home,  not  to  stay,  but  to  rest  and  recruit 
and  go  back,  one  catches  a  glimpse  of  a  purpose  lifting 
us  above  the  exigencies  of  mortality.  A  few  luind- 
shakes  with  old  neighbours,  a  few  sacred  hours  by  their 
own  firesides,  a  few  days*  nursing  for  their  maimed 
leader,  a  few  more  stalwart  shoulders  abreast  of  their 
own,  and  that  devoted  band  rushes  back  again  to 
mingle  its  blood,  if  need  be,  with  that  of  comrades 
gone  before.  May  God  speed  them,  and  the  cause 
which  such  men  die  for!" 

The  1st  Battery,  that  had  been  attached  to  the  17th 
Army  Corps,  now  commanded  by  Captain  William  T. 
Clayton,  arrived  earl .'  i.i  March,  and  on  the  twentieth 
the  4th  returned  on  furlough. 

The  3d  Regiment,  which,  after  the  Indian  expedition 
had  been  ordered  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  on  the 
thirtieth  had  an  engagement  with  McRae's  forces, 
near  Augusta,  at  Fitzhugh's  Woods.  Seven  men  were 
killed  and  sixteen  wounded.  General  C.  C.  Andrews, 
in  command  of  the  force,  had  his  horse  killed  by  a 
bullet.  T"r/ 

The  2d  Battery,  Captain  W.  A.  Hotchkiss,  having 
re-enlisted,  left  Chattanooga  on  the  twelfth  of  April 
and  returned  on  furlough. 

By  order  of  the  Wai'  Department,  the  1st  Regiment 
was  mustered  out  at  the  expiration  of  its  three  years 
term  of  service.  On  the  twenty-eighth  of  April  it 
held  its  last  evening  dress-parade  in  the  presence  of 
Governor  Miller,  who  had  once  commanded  them,  and 
a  large  number  of  spectators. 

A  portion  of  its  members  were  organized  into  a 
battalion,  and  in  May  proceeded  to  Washington,  and 


752 


HISTORY   OF   MINNESOTA. 


from  thence  went  to  Virginia  and  joined  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  and  participated  in  engagements  near 
Petersburg,  Jamestown,  Plank  Road,  Deep  Bottom,  and 
Reams  Station.  The  6th  Regiment,  which  had  been 
actively  engaged  in  the  Indian  expedition  of  1862,  was 
ordered  to  the  South  in  October,  1863,  and  in  June, 
1864,  was  assigned  to  the  16th  Army  Corps.  The  7th 
at  the  same  time  was  assigned  to  this  corps,  and  also 
the  9th  and  10th  Regiments,  The  5th  Regiment, 
which  had  been  attached  to  the  corps  since  January, 
was  in  the  expedition  up  the  Red  River  of  Louisiaiia 
during  the  spring,  and  on  the  sixth  of  June  was  un- 
der Major  Eecht,  In  Hubbard's  Brigade,  engaged  in 
battle  with  General  Marmaduke's  forces  at  Lake  Chicot, 
Arkansas. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  July  the  insurgents,  under 
Forrest,  opened  fire  upon  General  A.  J.  Smith's  Divi- 
sion, near  Tupelo,  Mis'sippi,  in  which  were  portions  of 
the  5th,  the  7th,  the  9th,  and  10th  Regiments. 

During  the  first  day's  fight,  Surgeon  Smith  of  the 
7th  v/as  shot  through  the  neck  and  killed.  On  the 
morning  of  the  14th  the  battle  began  in  earnest,  and 
the  7th,  under  Colonel  Marshall,  made  a  successful 
charge.  Colonel  Alexander  Wilkin,  of  the  9th,  while 
gallantly  leading  a  brigade,  was  shot  and  fell  dead  from 
his  horse.'  '»   *■-    - 


'  Alexander  Wilkin  will  always  be 
remembered  Wi  among  the  bravest 
of  the  ofllcors  who  givve  their  lives 
for  their  country. 

He  was  the  sou  of  Hon.  Samuel  J. 
WilKin,  formerly  a  member  of  Ooi,  • 
gress  from  New  York,  and  wus  born 
in  Grunge  County.  After  studying 
law  he  became  a  captain  of  volun- 


teers in  the  Mex'can  War.  In  1849 
he  came  to  Minnesota,  and  succeeded 
C.  K.  Smith  as  Secretary  of  the  Terri- 
tcy.  As  soon  as  Fort  Sumter  was 
flred  upon  he  began  to  raise  a  com- 
pany, and  when  the  1st  Regirai'iit 
was  organized  he  was  captain  of 
Company  A.  For  gallantry  at  Bull 
Bun  ho  was   made  captain  in  the 


REGIMENTS   BEFORE   NASHVILLE. 


■753 


On  the  fifteenth  of  October  the  4tb  Regiment,  with 

other  troops  under  General  Corse,  were  attacked  near 

ytoona,   Georgia,  by  a  superior   force  of  insurgents 

under  General  French,  and  after  six  hours'  fight  the 

latter  retired. 

Oii  the  seventh  of  December,  the  8th  Regiment,  with 
other  troops  under  General  Milroy,  met  the  insurgents 
near  Murfreesboro,  Tennessee,  and  drove  them  from 
their  position.  In  rushing  up  to  the  enemy's  batteries 
fourteen  of  th6  regiment  were  killed  and  seventy-six 
wounded. 

In  the  great  battle  before  Nashville  in  the  same 
month,  the  5th,  7th,  9th,  and  10th  Regiments  were 
engaged.  The  Ist  Brigade,  Ist  Division,  of  General 
A.  J.  Smith's  force,  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Hub- 
bard of  the  5th,  and  the  2d  Brigade  by  Colonel  W.  R. 
Marshall  ot  the  7th.  All  the  Minnesota  Regiments 
distinguished  themselves.  Colonel  Hubbard,  after  he 
had  been  knocked  off  his  horse  by  a  ball,  rose  and  on 
foot  led  his  command  over  the  enemy's  works.  Colonel 
Marshall  also  made  a  gallant  charge,  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Jennison  of  the  10th  was  one  of  the  first  on 
the  enemy's  parapet,  and  received  a  severe  wound. 


regular  army,  and  then  appointed 
major  of  the  2d,  and  subsequently 
colonel  of  the  9th  Minnesota.  The 
manner  of  his  -douth  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Captain  J.  K.  Arnold,  of 
the  7th  Regiment,  who  was  hU  ad- 
juttint : 

"  The  buUeta  and  shells  were  flying 
tliick  ana  fast.  Colonel  Wilkin  sat 
on  his  horse,  and  when  he  was  struck 


was  giving  his  orders  as  coolly  us  he 
ever  did  on  drcs-s-parade.  Ho  was  in- 
stantly killed.  He  was  shot  under  the 
Inft  arm,  the  ball  passing  through  the 
body  and  coming  out  under  the  right 
arm.  I  had  left  him  but  a  moment 
before  with  an  order.  Ho  never 
spoke  after  being  hit,  but  fell  from 
bib  horse  and  was  dead  before  reach 
ing  the  ground." 


TC— 


48 


,  / 


764 


HISTORY   OF   MINy'iOTA. 


■■  '^^^        ■  ■■■  '     '   , i.' ■•...■• 

<;,      CHAPTER   XXX^if-        ^t= 

SUPPRESSION   OF   THE    REBELLION   IN    1865. 

In  the  spring  of  1865,  the  5th,  6th,  7th,  9th,  and 
10th  Minnesota  Regiments,  attached  to  the  16th  Army 
Corps,  took  part  in  besieging  the  rebel  works  at  Spanish 
Fort  opposite  Mobile,  and  at  Blakely,  near  the  terminus 
of  the  Mobile  and  Montgomery  Railroad.  The  final  and 
victorious  assault  was  begun  about  six  o'clock  on  Sunday 
afternoon,  the  ninth  of  April,  by  two  brigades  of  the  13th 
Army  Corps,  commanded  by  General  C.  €.  Andre'vs, 
formerly  colonel  of  the  3d  Minnesota  Regiment. 

On  this  day  General  Lee  had  also  surrende-  1  his 
army  to  General  Grant,  and  the  rebellion  endf^.  -  "^ft 
2d  and  4th  Regiments  and  1st  Battery  had  ac&/  a 
panied  General  Sherman  in  his  wonderful  march 
through  Georgia,  South  and  North  Carolina,  and  the 
8th  Regiment  in  March  had  moved  to  North  Caro- 
lina from  Tennessee  by  the  way  of  Washington. 

The  battalion  that  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  Ist 
Regiment  was  active  in  the  last  campaign  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  commencing  in  March  arc  ^suiting 
in  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army. 

Arrangements  were  soon  perfected  for  the  dibbanding 
of  the  Union  army,  and  before  the  close  of  the  sum- 
mer all  the  regiinents  that  had  been  in  the  South  had 
returned,  and  were  discharged. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  REGIMENTS. 


TW 


SYNOPSIS  OP   REGIMENTS. 

Organlxed. 

First - April,  1861. 

Second July>  1S61. 

Third October,  1861. 

Fourth December,  1861. 

Fifth May,  1862. 

Sixth August,  1862. 

Sbvknth » "  " 

Eighth "  " 

Ninth "  " 

Tenth "  " 

Eleventh August,  1864. 

Infantry  Battalion May,  1864. 

Artillery. 

Organized. 
fiRST  BsGiMENT  Hbayy  Artillert  April,         1866. 


Disoharg*d. 
May  5,  1864. 
July  11,  1866. 
September,  1865. 
August,  1865. 
September,  1866. 
August,       1866. 


July, 


1866. 


DIacliargad. 
September,  1866. 


t 


Batteries. 

Organlzad.  Dtaoharged.        ' 

First October,      1861.  June,           1866. 

Second December,  1861.  July,            1865. 

Third February,   1868.  February,    1866. 


Cavalry. 

Organized. 

llANOERs March,  1863. 

Brackktt's Oct.  and  Nov.,  1S61. 

Second  Kkqiment January,  1864. 

Hatch's July,  1868. 


Dlacharged. 
Oct.  to  Dec,    1868. 
May  to  June,  1866. 
Nov.  to  June,  1866. 
April  to  June,  1866. 


Sharpshooters. 

Organized. 
€OMPANT  A 1861 

Company  B„ 1862.    On  duty  with  First 

Begiment  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


:.rf^ 


7&6 


HISTORY   OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   CIVIL    AFFAIRS    DURING    AND   SINCE    THE 

REBELLION. 

In  consequence  of  the  Indian  outbreak  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Minnesota,  Governor  Ramsey  called  an  extra 
session  of  the  Legislature,  which  convened  on  Septem- 
ber 9,  1862,  and  in  his  message  urged  prompt  and 
severe  measures  to  subdue  the  savage  cut-throats. 

As  long  as  Indian  hostilities  continued,  the  flow  of 
immigration  was  checked  and  the  agricultural  interests 
suffered;  but  notwithstanding  the  disturbed  condition 
of  affairs  within  the  borders  of  the  State,  the  St.  Paul 
and  Pacific  Railroad  Company  completed  ten  miles  of 
the  first  railway  irom  the  capital.  Governor  Ramsey, 
having  been  elected  for  a  second  term,  delivered  his 
annual  message  before  the  fifth  State  Legislature  on 
January  seventh,  1863,  and  during  the  session  was 
elected  to  supply  the  vacancy  about  to  take  place  in  the 
tJnited  States  Senate  by  the  expiration  of  the  term  of 
office  of  the  Hon.  Henry  M.   Rice,^  who  had  been  a 


'  Mr.  Jlice  has  been  for  yearg  iden- 
tified will,  the  public  interests  of 
Minnesota.  He  was  one  of  the  com- 
missioners in  iS47  who  mot  the  Pil- 
lagers at  Leech  ilake  and  negotiated 
for  the  cession  of  the  country  be- 
tween the  Mississippi,  Long  Prairie, 


and  Watab  Rivers.  In  1858  he  was 
n  delegate  to  Congress  ;  re-elected  in 
1856.  Took  his  seat  in  United  States 
Senate  1868.  In  1860  was  on  the 
special  committee  on  the  Condition 
of  the  Country.  During  his  term  he 
was  also  a  meniber  of  the  commit- 


GOVERNORS   OF   MINNE8Ui'A. 


761 


member  of  that  body  from  the  time  that  Minnesota 
was  admitted  into  the  Union. 

He  continued  to  act  as  Governor  until  he  took  his 
seat  in  the  Senate,  when  the  Lieutenant-Governor, 
Henry  A.  Swift,^  became  Governor  by  constitutional 
provision,  and  held  the  office  until  the  inauguration,  on 
January  eleventh,  1864,  of  Stephen  Miller,*  who  had 
been  duly  elected  by  the  people  at  the  regular  elec- 
tion of  the  previous  fall.  During  Miller's  adminis- 
tration Shakopee,  or  Little  Six,  and  Tahta-e-chash- 
nah-manne,  or  Medicine  Bottle,  were  tried  by  a 
military  commission  at  Fort  Snelling  for  participation 
in  the  massacre  of  white  citizens  during  the  year 
1862,  and  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  be  hung. 
The  execution  took  place  on  the  tenth  of  November, 
1865,  in  the  presence  of  the  coldiers  at  the  fort  and 
a  number  of  civilians.* 


tees  on  Military  Affairs,  Finance, 
Public  Lands,  and  PoBt  Office. 

While  in  Washington  he  united 
with  Senators  Douglas  and  Breckin- 
ridge in  building  throe  elegant  man- 
sions on  H  Street,  still  called  Min- 
nesota Row ;  and  in  one  of  these  he 
lived,  and  used  an  elegant  hospi- 
tality to  the  citizens  of  Minnesota 
without  regard  to  their  political 
ujiinions. 

'  Henry  A.  Swift  was  born  in  1828 
at  Ravenna,  Ohio.  Graduated  at 
"Western  Reserve  College,  studied 
law  at  Ravenna,  and  in  1846  ad- 
mitted to  practice. 

In  1846-7  he  was  assistant  clerk 
of  House  of  Representatives  of  Ohio, 
iind  during  the  next  two  sessions  was 
chief  clerk.  In  1858  he  came  to 
Minnesota  and  settled  at  St.  Paul. 


In  1856  he  removed  to  St.  Peter. 
From  1861  to  1865  he  was  a  State 
Senator,  and  in  1865  was  appointed 
by  the  President  Register  of  United 
States  Land  Office  at  St.  Peter.  He 
died  on  February  26,  1869,  respected 
and  beloved  by  all. 

'  Stephen  Miller  was  born  in  1816 
in  Perry  County,  Pennsylvania.  In 
1849  was  prothonotary  of  Dauphin 
County,  and  in  1856  flour  inspector 
of  Philadelphia.  He  came  in  1858 
to  Irltnnesota.  Was  lieutenant-colo- 
nel of  1st,  and  colonel  of  7th  Regi- 
ment, and  on  October  twenty-sixth, 
1863,  was  made  brigadier-general. 

•Shakopee,  or  Shak|)edan,  was  born 
about  1811,  and  was  the  son  of  the 
blustering,  thieving  chief  of  the  same 
name,  who  died  at  the  village  of  Sha- 
kopee in  1860.     He  was  a  mean  In- 


768 


HISTORY    OF   MINNESOTA. 


William  R.  Marshall^  succeeded  Governor  Miller  on 
the  eighth  of  January,  1866,  and  after  serving  two 
terms  was  followed  by  Horace  Austin,  the  present  Gov- 
ernor, on  the  seventh  of  January,  1870. 

The  prosperity  of  the  State  during  the  last  decade 
has  surpassed  the  expectations  of  the  most  sanguine. 
In  1862  there  were  not  twenty  miles  of  railway  in 
operation,  while  at  the  close  of  1872  there  were  nearly 
two  thousand,  with  many  miles  in  process  of  construc- 
tion. 

The  increase  in  population  and  agricultural  produc- 
tions has  been  correspondingly  great,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  suppose  that  Minnesota  will  always  continue 
to  be  one  of  the  most  important  States  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi.      "*w':*i»j'^'«»^j -^^^^i  «*^  ' 


dian,  of  but  little  mental  capacity. 
It  is  said  that  when  the  first  loco- 
motive passed  on  the  railway  just 
completed  beneath  the  walls  of  Fort 
Snelling,  he  pointed  to  it  from 
his  prison  window  and  said,  with  a 
touch  of  sentiment:  "Therel  that 
is  what  has  driven  us  away." 

His  body  was  forwarded  to  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College,  in  Philadelphia, 
and  after  being  placed  upon  an  ana- 
tomical table,  Prof.  Pancoast  gave  a 
brief  sketch  of  his  career,  and  then 
proceeded  to  expose  his  body  for  the 
benefit  of  science  to  the  gaze  of  the 
Btudenta. 


Medicine  Bottle  was  born  about 
1881,  at  Mendota,  and  was  head  sol- 
dier of  his  brother,  the  chief  Grey 
Eagle. 

'  W.  E.  Marshall  was  born  October 
seventeenth,  1825,  in  Boone  County, 
Missouri.  Came  to  Minnesota  in 
July,  1847,  and  was  in  1849  member  of 
the  first  legislature  of  the  Territory. 
In  1866  was  nominated  by  the  first 
convention  of  the  Republican  party 
as  delegate  to  Congress.  For  several 
years  was  engaged  in  banking  and 
mercantile  pursuits.  L*uring  the  war 
was  lieutenant-colonel,  then  colonel, 
of  7th  Regiment. 


fm*.%\- 


IKX£RNAX  UIFBOVEMJIKI  LANDS. 


76» 


-■        "■     '  ■  riii  k>  .'Mq-O'i    H> '^•vnlfiV' 't -fir  ,J:' 

CHAPTER  XXXVIL 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  QOVBltNOBS  AUS'iiN,  DAVIS,  AND  PILL8BUBT. 

Horace  Austin*  in  January,  1872,  entered  upon  a  second 
term  as  Governor  of  Minnesota,  having  been  re-elected  to  the 
office  by  a  large  majority .^  The  important  event  of  his  admin- 
istration v?as  the  veto  of  an  act  passed  by  the  Legislature  of 
1871,  dividing  the  Internal  Improvement  Lands  of  the  State 
among  several  railway  companies. 

Wisconsin,  admitted  as  a  State  in  1848,  in  her  Constitution 
provided  that  the  grant  of  500,000  acres  under  the  act  of  Con- 
gress approved  Sept.  4,  1841,  and  also  the  five  per  cent,  of  net 
proceeds  of  the  public  lands  should  be  used  for  the  support  of 
schools.  Iowa  and  California  made  similar  provision,  but 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution  of  Minnesota  paid  no  attention 
to  these  precedents,  which  have  since  been  followed  by  Kansas, 
Oregon,  and  other  States. 

As  soon  as  the  legislature  acquired  control  over  these  lands 
under  the  act  of  1841,  they  were  sought  for  by  railroad  corpo- 

1  Horace  Austin  was,  in  1831,  born  In  in  1869  waa  nominated  as  Governor  by 

Connecticut.    He  received  a  common  tiie  Bepiiblican  party,  and  ciected.   He 

seliool  education,  and  for  a  time  worlced  Is  now  an  Auditor  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury 

at  the  trade  of  his  fattier.    Afterspend-  at  Washington, 
ing  some  time  in  the  law  office  of  Brsid-  2  V  otefnr  Oovenwr,  1869. 

b\iry  and  Merril, Augusta,  Maine,  in  1854  Horace  Austin,  Republican 2T,S48 

h«  came  West,  and  in  1866,  removed  to  George  L.  Otis,  Democrat . ' 28,401 

Minnesota,  and  the  next  year  became  a  Daniel  Cobb,  Temperance 1,764 

resident  of  the  town  of  Saint  Peter.  Vote  for  Goverru>r,  XSll. 

During  Oen.  Sibley's  expedition  of  1863,  Horace  Austin,  Bepublican 45,833 

;igalnst  the  Indians,  he  served  as  a  Cap-  Winthrop  Young,  Democrat 30,002 

tain  of  Cavalry.    In  1864  he  was  elected  Samuel  Mayall,  Temperance 846 

Judge  of  the  Sixth  Judicial  District,  and 


760 


HISIOBT  OF  UIKXESOTA. 


rations,  and  a  bill  was  passed  in  1871  giving  to  them,  that 
which  other  States  had  appropriated  to  the  support  of  schools. 
It  failed,  however,  to  receive  the  approval  and  signature 
of  the  Governor,  and  this  led  to  the  adoption,  in  November, 
1873,  by  a  vote  of  the  people,  of  an  amendment  to  the  Consti- 
tution which  forbids  all  moneys  belonging  to  the  Internal 
Improvement  Land  fund  to  be  appropriated  "  for  any  purpose 
whatever,  until  the  enactment  for  that  purpose  shall  have  been 
approved  by  a  majority  of  the  electors  of  the  State,  voting  at 
the  annual  general  election  following  the  passage  of  the  act." 

During  the  second  term  of  Governor  Austin's  administration 
the  House  of  Representatives,  through  a  committee,  appeared 
before  the  Senate  of  1873,  and  impeached  William  Seeger, 
Treasurer  of  the  State  of  Minnesota,  for  misuse  of  the  public 
funds,  and  embezzlement. 

The  Senate,  sitting  as  a  Court  of  Impeachment,  adjourned 
on  the  7th  of  March,  to  meet  on  the  20th  of  May,  1873. 

Upon  the  re-assembling  of  the  Court  it  was  informed  that 
Mr.  Seeger  had  resigned  the  office  of  Treasurer;  but  it  was 
resolved  to  receive  no  evidence  on  this  point.  On  the  22d  of 
May  the  Treasurer  entered  the  plea  of  guilty,  but  denied  that 
he  had  acted  with  corrupt  or  willful  intent.  The  Court  found 
him  guilty  of  all  the  charges,  and  the  following  was  unani- 
mously adopted: 

"  Ordered,  As  the  judgment  of  this  Court,  that  William  Seefjer  be  and 
he  is  hereby  disqualified  to  hold  and  enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust  or 
profit  in  this  State." 

Cushman  K.  Davis,^  on  the  9th  of  January,  1874,  delivered 
his  inaugural  message  as  Governor.^    He  called  the  attention 


1  Cushman  K.  Davis  was  born  In  the 
State  ol  New  York  In  1838,  and  In  boy- 
hood removed  with  his  parents  to  Wau- 
kesha, Wisconsin.  He  graduated  In  1857, 
at  the  University  of  Michigan.  After 
studying  law  with  Ex-Gov.  Alex.  Ran- 
dall, of  Wisconsin,  In  1869,  he  wa.s  admit- 
ted to  the  bar.  In  1852  he  enlisfted  In  the 
28tli  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  and  was 
afterwards  appointed  an  Ass't  AdJ't 


General,  and  served  upon  the  staff  of 
Gen.  Willis  A.  Gorman.  In  18M  ho  .set- 
tled In  St.  Paul,  and  in  1866  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature.  In  1868  he  was 
appointed  U.  S.  District  Attorney. 

2  Vote  for  Oovertwr,  1873. 
Cushman  K.  Davis,  Republican...  O,?*! 

Samuel  Mayall,  Temperance 1,036 

Ara  Barton,  Democrat, 85,245 


CASE  BKFO&B  U.  8.  SU|>BBMfi  COURT. 


761 


of  the  Legislature  to  the  importance  of  the  State  checking  a 
tendency  upon  the  part  of  railroad  corporations  to  make  an 
abatement  of  freight  rates  in  favor  of  their  friends  at  the 
expense  of  farmers  and  other  customers.  His  language  upon 
this  subject  v/as  emphatic: 

"The  expense  of  moving  products  has  become  the  great 
expense  of  life,  and  it  is  the  only  disbursement  over  which  he 
who  pays  can  exercise  no  control  whatever.  He  has  a  voice 
in  determining  how  much  his  taxes  shall  be.  in  the  ordinary 
transactions  of  life  he  can  buy  and  sell  where  he  chooses,  and 
competition  makes  the  bargain  a  just  one;  but  in  regard  to 
his  crops,  he  is  under  duress  as  to  their  carriage,  and  under 
dictation  as  to  their  price.  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  the 
occa.sion  must  be  rare  which  will  justify  any  advance  in  the 
rates  for  moving  grain  from  Minnesota.  In  September,  1873, 
however,  when  a  wheat  crop  of  unexampled  abundance  was 
overcrowding  the  means  of  transportation,  and  when  there 
wa»  every  reason  why  there  should  be  a  reduction  instead  of 
an  advance  of  rates,  the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway 
Company,  and  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway  Company 
simultaneously  imposed  upon  our  wheat  crop  a  tax  of  three 
cents  per  bushel,  by  an  advance  of  that  amount  in  charges. 
If  any  administration  should  commit  such  an  act  as  this  in 
performing  the  functions  of  taxation,  it  would  be  deposed  by 
an  indignant  constituency.  No  less  deserving  of  condemna- 
tion is  the  policy  of  the  companies  in  regard  to  freights  which 
are  moved  wholly  within  the  State." 

A  case  involving  the  power  of  the  State  to  regulate  the  rates 
of  railways,  reached  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
during  the  1874  term.  It  was  that  of  the  Winona  &  St.  Peter 
Railroad,  plaintiff  in  error,  against  John  D.  Blake  and  others, 
defendants.  The  argument  for  the  defendants  was  made  by 
W.  P.  Clough  of  Saint  Paul.  In  concluding  his  plea  Mr. 
Clough  said: 

"  That  the  plaintiff  in  error,  or  any  other  railroad  corpora- 
tion, should  be  subject  to  legislative  control  in  respect  to  the 


f69 


HIBi:ORT  OP  HIKKESOrA.  aisA'J 


rates  of  its  tolls,  or  in  respect  to  its  dealings  generally  witir 
the  public,  is  not  a  proposition  at  all  startling  in  its  nature. 
On  the  contrary  it  is  one  in  accord  with  the  highest  degree  of 
public  policy  and  interest;  a  proposition  the  truth  of  which 
should  occasion  satisfaction  and  not  regret. 

"The  experience  of  the  world  has  demonstrated,  that  to 
regulate  the  compensation  of  all  public  employments  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  public  against 
imposition,  inconvenience,  and  extortion.  And  such  regular 
tions  are  rigidly  imposed  everywhere  and  in  all  countries. 

"In  Europe,  where  competition  between  carriers  is  much 
greater  than  in  America,  and  where,  on  that  account,  the 
public  are  better  protected  than  here  by  the  natural  laws  of 
business,  a  system  of  control  over  the  business  of  carriers, 
descending  to  the  minutest  detail  thereof,  has  everywhere  been 
deemed  necessary,  and  everywhere  been  instituted.  And  this 
power,  while  it  has  benefited  and  protected  the  public,  has 
not  been  found  at  all  oppressive  or  injurious  to  the  carrier. 
Nor  will  it  be  found  so  it  this  country.  Mistakes  on  the  part 
of  the  law  making  power  may  sometimes  happen  in  the  prac- 
tical use  of  its  authority;  but  such  mistakes,  when  discovered, 
it  is  confidently  believed,  will  be  speedily  and  completely 
rectified. 

"  The  theory  that  the  public  would  derive  protection  against 
extortion  and  imposition  committed  by  railroad  carriers, 
through  the  rule  insisted  upon  by  the  plaintiff  in  error 
in  this  case,  is  as  complete  and  utter  a  fallacy  as  could  be 
devised.  Such  extortions  in  any  individual  case  are  small  and 
petty  in  amount.  It  is  the  number  and  frequency  of  them 
that  renders  them  great  public  evils.  No  individual  could 
afford  to  enter  into  a  legal  contest  with  a  powerful  railroad 
corporation,  for  a  few  dollars,  with  the  burden  upon  himself 
to  make  out  an  overcharge,  however  plain  the  fact  of  extortion 
might  be  to  him.  Unless  the  State  interposes  its  authority 
and  determines  by  law  what  is  a  proper  charge  and  what  is  au 


WOMEK  yOT£  FOB  SCHOOL  OFFICERS. 


788 


Imprdper  one,  the  public  will  have  no  rights  against  railroad 
companies  worth  preservation  or  vindication. 

"  A  vested  right  in  a  railroad  company  to  charge  such  rates 
of  tolls  as  a  court  and  jury  shall  declare  to  he  proper  in  each 
individual  case,  is  practically  a  vested  right  in  the  company  to 
charge  such  tolls  as  it  shall  see  fit;  for  nobody  could  afford  to 
litigate  the  question  with  it." 

In  October,  1876,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
sustained  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Miniipsota, 
and  decided  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  charter  of  the  rail- 
road company  limiting  the  power  of  the  State  to  regulate  the 
rates  of  charge. 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature  approved  on  March  5th,  1874, 
the  Baldwin  School'  founded  by  private  munificence  early  in 
the  year  1853,  was  made  the  Preparatory  Department  of  Mac- 
ttlester  College. 

During  the  administration  of  Gov.  Davis,  the  people, 
at  the  election  of  November,  1875,  sanctioned  amend- 
ments to  the  Constitution  relative  to  judicial  districts,  and 
terms  of  office,  the  investment  of  funds  from  the  sale  of  school 
lands,  and  permission  of  women  to  vote  for  school  officers. 
The  last  amendment  is  in  this  language:  '"The  Legislature 
may,  notwithstanding  any  thing  in  this  article  [Article  7,  Sec- 
tion 8]  provide  by  law,  that  any  woman  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years  and  upward,  may  vote  at  any  election  held  for  the 
purpose  of  choosing  any  officers  of  schools,  or  upon  any  measure 
relating  to  schools,  and  may  also  provide  that  any  such  women 
shall  be  eligible  to  hold  any  office  solely  pertaining  to  the 
management  of  schools." 

1  Bee  Page  687. 


«!  tJrW-  fc**-.  ■ 


764 


BIHTOBT  Of  JUNNB80TA. 


John  S.  Pillsbury,'  on  the  7th  of  January,  1876,  delivered 
his  inaugural  message  as  Governor.' 

At  the  outset  of  his  administration  he  called  the  attention 
of  the  Legislature  to  the  importance  of  making  some  equitable 
settlement  with  the  holders  of  the  State  Railroad  Bonds.  In 
language  which  called  forth  a  hearty  response  from  every 
intelligent  citizen  who  had  dispassionately  investigated  the 
subject,  he  aaid — 

"  No  duty  surely  can  be  more  obligatory  upon  those  entrusted 
with  the  highest  public  interests  than  the  v"'  '%nt  mainte- 
nance of  a  sensitive  public  credit.  Without  \  ^deed,  little 
is  left  worthy  of  public  preservation.  The  fa^..  ~^dkb  the  hold- 
ers of  these  obligations  are  debarred  the  ordinary  remedy  pro- 
vided by  courts  of  justice,  and  are  forced  to  rely  wholly  upon 
the  honor  of  the  State,  should  deepen  rather  than  weaken  the 
sense  of  .such  obligation  in  the  minds  of  honorable  men. 

"  I  will  not  insult  your  understanding  or  sense  of  justice  so 
far  13  to  attempt  a  serious  argument  in  support  either  of  the 
validitj'  or  equity  of  this  claim  upon  the  State.  The  purpose 
to  evade  a  just  obligation  is  never,  indeed,  without  a  pretext, 
either  in  public  or  private  affairs.  In  this  case  it  will  suffice 
to  say  that  there  is.  if  possible,  less  than  the  customary  excuse 
for  a  resort  to  subterfuge.  The  measure  providing  for  the 
issue  of  these  bonds  underwent  an  unusually  protracted  and 
searching  discussion,  during  the  longest  legislative  session  ever 
held  in  the  Territory  or  State.  Its  various  provisions  were 
subjected  to  close  inspection  and  criticism  by  the  people,  con- 
vened in  piiblic  meetings,  and  by  a  jealous  and  watchful  public 


IJohn  S.  Pillsbury  was  born  on  July 
29.  1828,  at  Sutton.  New  Hanipsliire. 
After  a  common  .school  education,  at 
the  aiL;e  of  sixteen  he  entered  a  store, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  formed  a 
partnership  with  Walter  Harrlmon,  who 
became  Governor  of  New  Hampshire. 
In  June,  186S,  he  came  to  Minnesota, 
and  established  a  hardware  store  at 
8t.  Anthony,  and  after  a  few  yeara  be- 


came one  of  the  most  respected  mer- 
chants of  Mliiueapolis.  Since  IHK),  he 
has  been  a  faithful  regent  of  the  State 
Unlveraily,  and  for  nine  se.sslons  repre- 
sented Hennepin  county  as  Senator,  In 
the  Legislature  of  Minnesota. 
2  Vote  for  Oovemor,  A'ov.  1875. 

J.  8.  Pillsbury,  Kepublican 47,073 

D.  L.Buell,  Democrat 3S,27f 


YALIDITT  07  BAIL  ROAD  B0KD8. 


m 


press,  and,  finally,  following  the  maturity  of  the  scheme,  ample 
time  was  given  for  its  further  discussion  prior  to  its  submission 
to  the  people;  whereupon  it  received  the  popular  approval  by 
an  affirmative  vote  of  nearly  four  to  one,  and  thus  became,  not 
by  hasty  and  inconsiderate  action,  but  by  successive  deliberate 
steps,  a  part  of  the  Constitution,  entrenched  within  the  impreg- 
nable sanction  of  organic  law.  Moreover,  the  bonds  thus 
provided  for,  were  finally  issued  only  upon  the  most  rigid 
compliance  by  the  obligees  witli  every  legal  pre-requisite> 
insisted  upon  by  a  faithful  and  vi;   lant  Executive. 

"  The  bonds  thus  deliberately  issued  are  held  by  persons  in 
all  parts  of  the  country.  They  express  an  unmistakable  obli- 
gation, attested  by  the  great  seal  of  the  State,  but  they  convey 
no  hint  of  qualified  payment,  nor  intimation  that  could,  by 
any  possibility,  serve  as  a  warning  to  innocent  purchasers. 
Every  day  they  thus  remain  dishonored  threatens  the  lasting 
dishonor  of  our  State.  But  the  conclusive  estopple  of  the  last 
plea  for  nort-payment,  whether  upon  legal  or  equitable  grounds, 
is  the  fact  that  the  State  long  ago  obtained  by  foreclosure  the 
property  which  was  the  consideration  for  her  assumption  of 
the  debt  to  secure  which  such  property  was  pledged.  Except 
for  her  obligation  to  pay  such  debt,  she  had  no  right  to  the 
property  securing  it.  And  moreover,  this  property,  thus 
obtained,  consisting  of  lands,  road-beds  and  franchises,  by  are- 
grant  from  the  State,  served  to  forward  the  construction  of 
the  existing  railroads,  whose  benefits  we  have  since  enjoyed. 
Can  there  remain  a  possible  plea  for  the  non-payment  of  a 
debt  thus  honestly  contracted,  and  where  the  object  for  which 
it  was  contracted,  has  been  attained  and  enjoyed  ?" 

On  the  sixth  of  September,  1876,  the  quiet  inhabitants  of 
Minnesota  were  excited  by  a  telegraphic  announcement,  that 
at  midday,  a  band  of  outlaws  from  another  State  hiid  ridden 
into  the  town  of  Northfield,  recklessly  discharging  firearms, 
while  a  portion  proceeding  to  the  bank,  killed  the  acting 
Cashier,  in  an  attempt  to  take  out  the  funds.  Two  of  the 
desperadoes  were  shot  in  the  streets,  by  firm  citizens,  and  in  a 


766 


mSTOBT  07  MDrmSOTA. 


brief  period,  parities  from  the  neighboring  towns  were  in  pur- 
suit of  those  who  made  their  escape.  After  a  long  and  weary 
search,  four  were  surrounded  in  a  swamp,  and  one  was  killed 
and  the  others  captured.  At  the  November  term  of  the  Fifth 
District  Court  at  Faribault,  the  culprits  were  arraigned,  and 
under  an  objectionable  statute,  by  pleading  guilty,  secured  an 
imprisonment  for  life,  in  place  of  the  death  they  had  so  fully 
deserved. 

Ii.  1874,  in  some  of  the  counties  of  Minnesota,  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Locust,  of  the  same  ger  as,  but  a  diiferent  species 
from  the  European  and  Asiatic  locust,  driven  eastward  by  a 
failure  of  the  succulent  grasses  on  the  high  plains  of  the 
Upper  Missouri  and  Saskatchewan  vallej^s,  appeared  as 
a  short,  stout-legged,  devouring  army,  and  in  1875,  the 
myriads  of  eggs  deposited  were  hatched  out  and  these 
insects  born  within  the  State,  taking  unto  themselves 
wings,  flew  to  new  camping  grounds  to  deposit  their  ova. 
In  consequence  of  their  devastations,  many  farmers  were 
deprived  of  successive  crops.  As  other  States  between  the 
Mississippi  and  Rocky  Mountains  were  suffering  from  these 
pests,  at  the  suggestion  of  Governor  Pillsbury,  a  confer- 
ence of  Governore  was  convened  on  the  25th  of  October,  at 
Omaha,  Nebraska,  to  devise  measures  by  which  there  might 
be  a  diminution  of  their  vast  numbers.  A  circular  was  also 
prepared  and  distributed  by  the  Governor,  through  the  infested 
and  other  counties,  giving  directions  as  to  the  best  methods  of 
extermination.  By  visiting  the  suffering,  pledging  his  personal 
credit  before  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature,  and  inciting 
the  charitable  to  send  clothing  and  provisions,  he  did  much  to 
sustain  the  desponding. 

In  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature  of  1877,  Governor 
Pillsbury  agaiu  urged  upon  the  legislators  to  take  steps  which 
would  relieve  Minnesota  from  being  any  longer  classed  in  the 
money  markets  of  the  world,  with  those  States  which  repudi- 
at^?d  obligations,  to  which  were  affixed  the  seal  of  their  com- 
monwealths. 


PLKKTIFUL  HABYB8T. 


767 


An  act  was  passed,  and  approved  on  the  first  of  March, 
■providing  for  the  payment  of  bondis  known  as  the  "  Minnesota 
State  Railroad  Bonds."  The  efficiency  of  the  law,  however, 
was  conditioned  upon  the  assent  of  voters,  to  the  appropriation 
of  the  500,000  acres  of  Internal  Improvement  Lands,  towards 
the  liquidation  of  these  obligations;  and  a  special  election,  on 
the  12th  day  of  June,  was  held  to  adopt  an  amendment  to  the 
•Constitution,  to  allow  of  the  disposal  of  the  lands  for  the  pur- 
poses indicated.  To  the  surprise,  ad  well  as  mortification  of 
those  vvho  were  sensitive  as  to  the  honor  of  the  State,  the  pro- 
position was  rejected  by  a  very  large  vote. 

The  summer  of  1877  lifted  a  burden  from  the  hearts  of  the 
farmers  of  Minnesota.  In  the  spring,  the  locusts  began  to 
appear  in  some  counties,  but  by  an  ingenious  contrivance  of 
sheet  iron  covered  with  coal  tar,  their  numbers  were  rapidly 
reduced.  It  was  soon  seen  that  the  area  occupied  by  the 
locusts  was  limited,  and  before  the  harvest  time  arrived  they 
were  devoured  by  parasites,  or  had  flown  away,  and  weeping 
was  turned  into  joy.  By  observation  and  comparison  it  also 
was  ascertained  that  usually  only  one  hatching  of  eggs  took 
place  in  the  same  district,  and  it  wfis  evident  that  the  crops  of 
1877  wre  to  be  very  large.  When  the  National  Thanksgiv- 
ing /Day  was  observed,  on  the  29th  day  of  November,  nearly 
forty  millions  of  bushels  of  wheat  had  been  garnered,  and  many 
devoutly  thanked  Him  who  had  ag  in  given  plenty,  and  med- 
icated upon  the  expression  of  the  Psalmist,  "  He  maketh  peace 
within  thy  borders,  and  filleth  thee  with  the  finest  of  the 
wheat." 

Governor  Pillsbury,  in  November,  1877,  was  elected  by  the 
people  for  another  term  of  two  years.* 

At  this  election  amendments  to  the  Constitution  were 
adopted  relative  to  the  election  and  term  of  Senators  and 
Representatives;  the  canvassing  of  election  returns;  biennial 


1  Vote  for  Governor,  Nov.,  1877. 
J.  S.  PUlsbiiry,  Republican 57,071    W.  L.  Banning,  Democrat 39,241 


708 


HI8T0BT  OF  MIHNE80TA. 


sessions  of  the  legislature,*  and  the  prohibition  of  the  use  of 
State  funds  for  sectarian  schools.^ 

At  the  opening  of  the  Legislature  of  1878,  the  Governor 
used  these  words  relative  to  the  action  of  the  voters  at  the 
special  election  on  the  12th  of  June,  1877,  in  refusing  the  pro- 
posed settlement  of  the  Railroad  Bonds: 

"  The  measure  proposed  for  this  purposi  by  the  last  Legis- 
lature, and  submitted  to  the  people  in  Junj  last,  was  rejected, 
as  you  are  aware,  by  an  overwhelming  popular  vote.  This 
resulted,  I  am  persuaded,  from  a  prevalent  misapprehension 
respecting  the  real  nature  and  provisions  of  the  proposed  plan 
of  adjustment.  I  should  be  sorry,  indeed,  to  be  foiced  to  the 
conviction  that  the  people  by  this  act  intended  other  than 
their  disapproval  of  the  particular  plan  of  settlement  submitted 
to  them.  For  in  my  opinion  no  public  calamity,  no  visitation 
of  grasshoppers,  no  wholesale  destruction  or  insidious  pesti- 
lence, could  possibly  inflict  so  fatal  a  blow  upon  our  State  as 
the  deliberate  repudiation  of  her  solemn  obligations.  It  would 
be  a  confession  more  damaging  to  the  chafacter  of  a  govern- 
ment of  the  people  than  the  assaults  of  its  worst  enemies. 
With  the  loss  of  public  honor  little  could  reiaain  worthy  of 
preservation.  Assuming,  therefore,  as  I  gladly  do,  that  this 
vote  of  the  people  indicated  a  purpose  not  to  repudiate  the 
debt  itself,  but  simply  to  condemn  the  proposed  plan  for  its 
payment,  I  shall  be  happy  to  co-operate  in  any  practicable 
measure  looking  to  an  honorable  and  final  adjustment  of  this 
vexed  question." 

For  several  years,  the  scientific  men  of  Germany  had  been 
puzzled  to  account  for  the  sudden  explosions  within  flouring 


1  Amendment  to  Section  1,  Article  4. 

"The  legislature  of  the  State  shall 
consist  ot  a  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, who  shall  meet  biennially, 
at  the  seat  of  government  ot  the  State, 
at  such  time  as  shall  be  prescribed  by 
iaw,  but  no  session  shall  exceed  the 
term  of  sixty  days. 


2  Amendment  to  Sectii  nn.   \f .'  (cle  8. 

"  But  in  no  case  shall  the  .noneys  do- 
rlved  as  aforesaid,  or  any  portion  there- 
of, or  any  public  moneys  or  property,  be 
appropriated  or  used  for  the  support  of 
schools  wherein  the  distinctive  doc- 
trines, creeds,  or  tenets  of  any  particu- 
lar Christian  or  other  religious  sect,  are 
promulgated  or  taught." 


BXPLOSIOir  IN  FLOUR  MILLS. 


769 


mills,  and  a  prize  was  offered  for  the  best  essay  upon  the  sub- 
ject. A  professor  in  Berlin  was  the  successful  essayist,  and  he 
contended  that  there  was  always  a  liability  to  explode  when 
particles  of  dust  of  any  kind  were  thickly  distributed  in  the 
atmosphere  of  narrow  ducts  or  poorly  ventilated  rooms.^ 

An  explosion  wLich  occurred  in  Minneapolis,  between  seven 
and  eight  o'clock  of  the  evening  of  the  2d  of  May,  has  renewed 
investigation,  which  will  no  doubt  lead  to  an  improvement  in 
mill  machinery  and  architecture. 

One  of  the  largest  mills  in  the  world,  known  as  the  Wash- 
burn ''A,"  suddenly  exploded,  which  was  followed  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  by  the  explosion  of  two  mills  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity,  and  by  the  conflagratii  m  of  three  other  mills, 
the  loss  of  eighteen  lives,  and  the  d<.'struction  of  much  val- 
uable property.  The  concussion  wa.s  so  great  in  the  first 
mill  that  all  the  walls  fell,  anci  fdly  one  stone  was  left  upon 
another. 

The  personal  unpopularity  of  Judge  Fagp  which  had  existed 
for  several  years,  culminated  in  the  presentmen'  of  charges  v 
the  House  of  Representatives,  at  the  session  of  1878.  On 
Wednesday,  the  sixth  of  March,  the  Senate  of  Minnesota 
organized  as  a  Court  of  Impeachment,  to  consider  articles 
against  Sherman  Page,  Judge  of  the  Tenth  Judici  Dis- 
trict. On  the  8th  the  Court  adjourned  until  the  22d  of  May.* 


1  Prof.  McAdam  of  Great  Britain,  re-    feed  In  one  case,  and  led  to  a  violent 
lates  that  a  spider's  web  stopped  the    explosion  In  an  Englls?i  flour  mill 

* 

a  Managers  upon  the  part  of  thi  House  of  Representative$. 


.,■>»■ 


S.  L.  Campbell, 
C.  A.  Gllman, 
W.  H.  Mead, 
J.  P.  Wi'st, 
A.ttormys  for  Bespondtnt, 

C.  K.  Davis, 
J.  W.  Losey, 
J.  W.  Lovely. 


F.  L.  Morse. 
Henry  Hinds, 
W.  H.  Feller. 

Offkers  of  the  Court 
President,  J.  B.  Wakefield, 
Secretary,  Chas,  W.  Johnson, 
Sergeant-at-Arms,  M.  AndersoOi 


40 


770 


HISTORY  OP  MIKlTBSOtA. 


The  articles  charged  that  his  conduct  had  been  arbitrary, 
abusive  to  a  grand  jury,  and  that  he  subjected  a  deputy  sheriff 
to  humiliating  treatment.  On  the  28th  of  June  the  court 
voted  on  the  several  articles  of  impeachment,  and  the  Judge 
was  acquitted. 

During  the  year  1878,  one  of  the  first  men  to  labor  for  the 
■welfare  of  the  Sioux,  and  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  of  Minne- 
sota, the  Rev.  Gideon  H.  Pond,  departed  this  life  on  the  20th 
of  January,  at  his  home  in  Bloomingtou,  Hennepin  county,' 


1  The  following:  letter  written  in  1856  to 
the  author  ofthis  work,  by  the  Rev.  O.  H. 
Pond,  is  worthy  of  preservation : 

"  After  the  arrival  of  my  brother  and 
myae'lf  at  FortSnelling:,  in  May,  1834,  we 
ascertained  to  our  satisfaction  that  our 
first  move  should  be  to  assist  the  Indians 
about  their  cornfields,  as  by  this  we  could 
•how  our  good  will,  conciliate  their  favor, 
and  the  better  acquire  their  languaKe. 
Invited  by  the  father  of  the  present  chief 
of  Knposia,  my  brother  spent  about  one 
Week  at  that  village,  helping  them  plow. 
The  oxen  were  Indian  property  kept  at 
the  Fort  Snelling  agency.  At  that  time 
the  Indians  appeared  anxious  that  we 
ahould  locate  at  that  place,  but  after- 
wards the  chief  and  some  of  the  soldiers 
treated  us  coldly.  It  was  not  long  before 
the  agent  [Major  Lawrence  Taliaferro] 
returned  (rom  the  East,  where  he  had 
spent  the  winter.  He  was  from  the  day 
of  his  return  our  warm  friend,  and  treat- 
ed us  kindly.  Major  HIiss,  then  in  com- 
mand at  this  post,  was  so  much  our  friend 
•s  to  surprise  us. 

"  Major  Loomis  had  not  then  arrived. 
Mr.  Sibley  came  the  following  Septem- 
ber. By  advice  of  the  agont  we  vf.nt  to 
the  Lake  Calhoun  band  without  consult- 
ing the  Indians.  I  spent  a  few  days  with 
them,  immediately  after  my  brother  re- 
turned from  Kaposia,  helpingthem  plow. 
With  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  in  (I  liave  it 
now)  and  some  other  nccej*»ary  tools,  we 
commenced  to  chop  tinil»;r  in  a  beautiful 
grove  on  the  highest  gr<  id  on  the  east 
bank  of  Lake  Callioim,  lo  build  a  cabin. 
The  village  was  on  'he  lower  ground, 
■outh  or  down  the  rake,  toward  Lake 
HMTlet.    We  erected  a  log  hut,  and  ob- 


tained boulders  fh>m  the  lake  shore  to 
build  a  fireplace  and  chimney.  For  our 
supplies  we  purchased  a  barrel  of  pork 
and  a  barrel  of  flour.  We  were  unable 
to  plant  any,  thing  this  year  except  some 
beans,  which  the  pigeons  rooted  up.  Till 
our  hut  was  enclosed  we  left  our  effects 
at  the  agency  house,  carrying  on  our 
backs  occasionally  such  things  as  we 
needed.  At  times  I  took  my  load  of  pork 
and  (lour  oA  my  back,  and  carried  it  to 
the  lake  to  be  stolen  by  Indians  or  dogs, 
and  lay  me  down  to  sleep  empty.  More 
than  once,  rather  than  make  another 
tripimmediately  for  provisions,  we  dined 
on  muscles  from  the  lake ;  sometimes  on 
fish,  but  not  often,  for  it  took  too  long  to 
take  them.  Cooking  at  first  we  found 
very  unpleasant  business,  as  well  as  our 
washing ;  Indeed,  we  found  no  change  la 
this  respect  as  long  as  we  baked  and 
washed.  Wo  did  not  atttmipt  to  bake 
bread  but  a  few  times.  By  degrees  we 
adopted  the  habit  of  frying  our  pork  at 
each  meal  very  thoroughly,  and  then  ad- 
ding a  little  water,  we  stirred  in  (lour. 
l''or  a  change  we  made  it  thicker  or  thin- 
ner. This  was  our  food,  an  1  this  our 
uniform  manner  of  cooking  for  more 
than  a  year  and  a  half.  We  disliked 
cooking  so  much  that  we  did  not  oat  till 
we  were  hungry,  seldom  more  than  t^v!ce 
aday,and  often  but  once.  During  tlio  sum- 
mer we  had  learned  to  talk  considerably, , 
and  had  adopted  the  alphabet  to  write 
the  language  wliich  is  now  used,  except 
we  U5ed  e  instead  of  r  and  /  instead  of  g. 
"  During  the  winter  of  1834—35  we  Irnd 
taught  one  young  man  to  write  and  read; 
for  he  hod  to  write  first,  as  there  wore  no 
books. 


HISTORICAL  80CIETT  CASE. 


771 


On  the  11th  of  January,  1879,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  filed  a  decision  in  relation  to  the  charter  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Minnesota,  in  which  important  principles  relative 
to  eleemosynary  corporations  are  discussed. 

This  society  is  the  oldest  incorporation  of  the  literary  class 
in  the  commonwealth.  Its  charter  was  prepared  by  the  first 
Secretary  of  the  Territory,  who  desired  to  establish  an  associ- 
ation for  historical  purposei.  The  charter  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  granted  in  A.  D.  1806,  constitutes  certain 


"  In  the  summer  of  1835,  Dr.  William- 
ton  and  associates,  and  Rev,  J,  D.  Stevens 
arrived.  Mr.  Stevens  located  himself  on 
the  west  shore  of  Lake  Harriet,  about 
midway,  on  land  now  owned  by  Mr.  Eli 
Pettijohn.  He  labored  to  draw  the  In- 
dians to  him,  but  succeeded  with  only 
two  or  three  families.  Out  of  respect  to 
the  feelings  of  Mr.  Stevens,  we  left  Lake 
Calhoun  in  the  fall  of  tlie  same  year.  My 
brother  went  with  the  Indians  and  I  re- 
mained at  the  Mission.  After  my  broth- 
er's return  with  the  Indians,  in  mid-win- 
ter, we  opened  a  school  at  the  home  of 
Mr.  Stevens.  He  prepared  lessons  in 
manuscript.  The  younK  Indians  showed 
a  great  desire  to  learn.  It  was  not  long 
before  the  Indians  expressed  an  earnest 
desire  that  brother  and  I  should  return  to 
our  old  place  on  Lake  Calhoun  and  teach 
them  near  their  village;  and  broii.cr 
made  arrangements  to  do  so,  but  Mr.  Ste- 
vens did  not  approve,  and  we  abandoned 
the  plan. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1836  I  left  Lake  Har- 
riet and  went  to  Lac  qui  Parle,  where  I 
remained  three  years,  and  where,  in  No- 
vember, I  was  married. 

"  About  the  time  that  I  left  for  Lao  qui 
Parle,  my  brotlier  left  for  Connecticut,  to 
study  for  a  year.  He  was  ordai  ned  a  min- 
ister of  the  gospel  during  his  absence. 
He  returned  to  I>ake  Harriet.  Mr.  Ste- 
vens remained  at  the  place  till  the  sum- 
mer of  1838,  and  white  there  he  opened 
a  school,  whioit  resulted  in  some  good 
to  quite  a  number  of  mixed  bloods. 
She  who  is  how  Mrs.  Pettijohn  is  one  of 
them,  but  for  some  reason  the  scliool  fell 
til  rough. 

"  In  September,  1837,  the  land  east  of 


the  Mississippi  was  ceded  to  the  United 
States.  In  April.  1838,  with  my  wife  and 
eldest  daugliter,  I  floated  down  in  a  ca- 
noe from  Lac  qui  Parle  to  Mendota,  and 
returned  to  Lake  Harriet,  at  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  the  Indians  of  the  Lake 
Calhoun  band  and  their  a^cnt,  and  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  farmer  for 
that  band.  I  held  tliat  appointment  til' 
I  was  satisfied  thoroiiglily  that  I  could 
turn  it  to  no  good  account  to  the  I  ndians 
and  then  re.'^igned  and  put  myself  under 
the  Dakota  Presbytery  as  a  candidate  for 
the  ministry.  This  I  hnd  long  before 
been  urged  to  do,  and  I  had  already 
made  some  progress  in  Latin,  Greek  and 
French. 

"  When  we  returned  to  Lake  Harriet 
from  Lao  qui  Parle,  immediately  the 
Indians  sent  some  of  their  children  to  us 
for  Instructi  jn ;  which  they  continued  to 
il-'  till  routed  by  the  Chippeways  from 
that  place  and  Ihey  fled  for  safety  to  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Peters  (Minnesota). 

"  In  April  of  1837,  the  celebrated  Hole- 
in-the-Duy  butehered  thirteen  Dakotas  of 
Lac  qui  Parle,  an  you  know.  These  butch- 
ered ones  had  friends  living  at  Lake  Cal- 
houn, and  the  next  time  they  saw  Hole- 
in'-the-Day  at  Fort  Hnelling,  they  vowed 
they  would  kill  him.  Through  mistake 
they  killed  another  man,  in  consequence 
of  which  the  son-in-law  of  the  Lake  Cal 
houn  chief,  the  step-father  of  Mrs.  Jan* 
Titus,  was  killed,  and  the  Rum  River  and 
Stillwater  massacres  followed.  This 
drove  the  band  from  Lake  Calhoun,  be- 
cause that  was  a  place  of  peculiar  danger. 
When  the  band  left  thiit  place  it  split,  and 
a  part  held  with  us,  and  the  anti-mission- 
ary went  away.    Those  who  climg  to  oa 


772 


HISTOKT  OF  MIKNKSOTA. 


persons,  whose  names  are  mentioned,  "and  their  associates**,  a 
body  corporate  and  politic.  The  charter  of  the  Minnesota 
Historical  Society  uses  the  same  phraseology,  and  on  the  20th 
of  October,  1849,  the  act  of  incorporation  was  approved  by 
Alexander  Ramsey,  first  Governor  of  the  Territory. 

The  same  year,  with  others,  Governor  Ramsey  was  associated 
with  the  persons  mentioned  in  the  act  of  incorporation,  in  or- 
ganizing the  society,  was  chosen  its  first  President,  held  the 
office  continuously  for  nearly  fifteen  years,  and  until  his  ab- 
sence as  United  States  Senator  suggested  a  successor. 

For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  most  of  the  contribu- 
tions to  the  treasury,  and  also  to  the  printed  collections  of  the 
society,  were  by  persons  who  were  elected  associates  and  mem- 
bers, but  whose  names  were  not  mentioned  in  the  charter.  On 
the  2d  of  May,  1877,  eleven  of  the  nineteen  whose  names  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  act  of  1849,  having  died,  five  of  the  eight 
survivors  met  in  the  office  of  H.  H.  Sibley,  and  elected  eleven 
persons  as  corporators  to  fill  vacancies,  claimed  to  be  the  His- 
torical Society,  and  tiled  a  record  of  their  proceedings  with  the 
Secretary  of  State. 

As  Alexander  Ramsey,  the  first  President  of  the  Society, 
and  many  of  the  most  valuable  members  were,  by  these  five 
suddenly  declared  to  have  no  membership,  an  unpleasant  con- 
troversy arose,  and  the  legislature  of  1878,  in  making  the 
annual  appropriation  to  the  society,  enacted  that  none  of  it 
should  be  drawn  fron  the  treasury  until  a  competent  tribunal 
decided  who  were  the  rightful  custodians,  and  managers  of  the 
trust  and  assets  of  the  society. 


■ettled  here,  and  some  went  to  the  other 
bank  of  the  river.  The  chief,  a  sensible 
man,  has  alway:^  been  a  decided  friend  of 
the  missionaries.  If  he  had  not,  J  tliinlc 
he  would  still  have  been  chief,  whereu 
a  little  more  than  a  year  ago  he  was  de- 
posed and  his  rival,  a  bitter  enemy  of  all 
good,  was  advanced  to  the  head  of  the 
band. 

"  Major  Ix>omls  came  to  this  post  soon 
after  we  arrived  here,  and  we  soon  made 
his  acquaintance,  and  from  the  first 
formed  an  intimacy  with  him.  He  was  a 
iaaa  of  much  good  feeling  to  which  he 


gave  substantial  expression.  He  soon 
commenced  to  distribute  tracts  in  the 
companies'  quarters,  and  early  in  the 
winter  to  collect  as  many  of  the  soldiers 
as  would  consent,  and  read  to  them  a  ser- 
mon. Atraut  that  time  Finney's  lectures 
came  out  in  tlie  New  York  Evangelist. 
and  he  read  them  in  the  meetings.  My 
brother  or  myself  generally  attended- 
Major  talked,  and  we  talked  and  prayed. 
Soldiers  began  to  talk,  and  on  the  lltb  of 
June  a  Presbyterian  church  was  formed 
at  Fort  Snelling  with  twenty-two  mem- 
bers." 


^ISfyW"?^"" 


tmrn 


w^mmmmm 


BUPBEUB  COURT  DEOISIOK. 


778 


The  Executive  Council  of  the  Historical  Society,  therefore, 
in  the  name  of  the  State,  by  the  Attorney  General,  caused  a 
quo  warranto  to  be  issued  against  H.  H.  Sibley,  Aaron  Good- 
rich and  others,  for  the  determination  of  this  question.  The 
case  was  heard  by  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  result  was  that 
H.  H.  Sibley  and  those  he  represented  were,  in  legal  language, 
"ousted." 

The  court,  in  relation  to  the  force  of  the  word  "associates," 
in  the  charter,  remarked,  "That  the  term  as  here  used  is  not 
meaningless,  as  claimed  by  respondents,  is  further  apparent 
from  the  language  and  the  whole  tenor  of  the  act  itself.  It  is 
first  enacted  'that  the  nineteen  persons  therein  designated  and 
their  associates  be  and  they  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  cor- 
porate and  politic,  by  the  name  of  the  Minnesota  Historical 
Society,'  and  then,  in  proceeding  to  enumerate  the  specific 
powers  and  franchises  which  are  conferred,  and  how  and  by 
whom  they  shall  be  exercised,  this  significant  language  is  used: 
*  And  by  that  name  they  (the  corporators  and  their  associates) 
and  their  successors  shall  be,  and  they  are  hereby  made  capable 
in  law  to  contract  and  be  contracted  with,  sue  and  to  be  sued,' 
etc.  The  legislature  could  scarcely  have  chosen  more  plain 
and  unequivocal  language  in  which  to  express  an  intention 
that  the  continuous  artificial  body  it  was  about  to  create  should 
consist  of  a  membership  comprising  the  grantees  named  in  the 
charter,  their  associates,  and  the  successors  of  both  these  classes 
instead  of  the  successors  of  the  original  grantees  alone,  and 
that  the  powers  and  franchises  vested  in  the  corporation,  should 
belong  to  it  as  representing  for  the  time  being  the  entire 
body  of  the  existing  members  of  whatever  class." 

As  to  the  validity  of  an  amendatory  act  in  1856  the  Court 
said  :  "  That  there  has  been  an  unqualified  acceptaiice  by  the 
society  in  this  case  of  all  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  March 
1, 1856.  is  beyond  any  reasonable  controversy  upon  the  evi- 
dence before  us.  At  a  special  meeting  held  soon  after  its 
passage,  a  resolution  was  adopted  and  spread  upon  the  records 
of  the  society,  declaring  an  acceptance  in  express  terms,  and 
that  it  would  then  proceed  to  the  election  of  an  executive 
council  under  its  provisions,  to  take  charge  of  the  aifairs  of 


T74 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  corporation,  as  was  therein  provided,and  such  council 
was  there  and  then  unanimously  elected  by  the  morabera 
there  present.  Conceding  the  irregularity  and  even  the  inva- 
lidity of  these  proceedings,  as  claimed  by  respondents,  on  the 
ground  that  the  requisite  notice  of  such  meeting  had  not  been 
properly  served  upon  all  the  members,  it  is  clearly  shown  that 
their  validity  has  remained  unquestioned,  and  been  distinctly 
aid  repeatedly  recognized  and  acted  upon  by  the  society  at 
various  subsequent  regular  meetings  and  by  various  corporate 
acl.s  for  over  twenty  years.  The  entire  administration  of  the 
aff  lirs  of  the  society  for  that  whole  period  has  been  conducted 
by  the  executive  council  then  chosen  aud  ever  since  continued 
under  the  provisions  of  section  two  of  the  amendatory  act, 
by  the  exercise,  on  its  part,  of  the  corporate  powers  of  the 
society,  and  by  the  selection  of  its  agents  and  officers,  as 
therein  provided,  and  this  without  any  protest  whatever  from 
any  one  until  quite  recently.  The  additional  privileges  aud 
powers  granted  by  that  act  have  also  been  used  by  the  society 
in  acquiring  and  holding,  exempt  from  taxation,  a  large 
amount  of  real  and  personal  property  in  excess  of  the  limit 
prescribed  by  the  original  charter.  Under  these  circumstances, 
there  would  seem  to  be  no  ground  for  any  serious  controversy 
on  the  question  of  acceptance. 

"For  the  reasons  above  stated  the  Court  awards  judgment 
against  the  respondents." 

On  the  24th  of  June,  1879,  the  venerable  Sioux  missionary, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Williamson,  M.  D.,  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine  years  at  Samt  Peter. 

He  was  the  son  of  the  R9v.  William  Williamson,  and  born 
in  March,  1800,  in  Union  District,  South  Carolina.  His  father 
had  inherited  slaves,  but  to  give  them  their  freedom,  in  1805 
he  removed  to  Adams  County,  Ohio.  The  son,  Thomas,  was 
sent  to  Jefferson  College  at  Canousburg,  Pa.,  where,  in  1820, 
he  graduated.  He  then  commenced  the  study  of  medicine, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1824  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  from 
Yale  College. 

For  eight  years  he  practised  as  a  physician  at  Ripley,  Ohio . 
In  the  spring  of  1833,  from  a  sense  of  duty,  he  commenced  the 


NOTICE  OF  REV.  T.  8.  WILLIAMSOK,   M.  D. 


775 


study  of  thaology,  and  the  next  year  was  licensed  to  preach 
by  the  Piesbytery  of  Chillicothe,  and  was  soon  appointed 
by  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  "to  proceed  on  an  exploring 
tour  among  the  Indians  of  the  Upper  Misissippi,  with  special 
reference  to  the  Sacs  and  Poxes,  but  also  to  collect  what  in- 
formation he  could  in  reference  to  the  Sioux,  Winnabagos  and 
other  Indians." 

He  visited  Fort  Snelling  in  1834,  and  there  found  the 
brothers  Pond,  who  were  erecting  a  log  house  at  Lake  Cal- 
houn. Returning  to  Ohio,  he  made  his  report,  and  on  the 
18th  of  September  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Chilli- 
cothe as  an  Indian  missionary.  In  April,  1835,  with  hia 
wife  and  family,  accompanied  by  a  farmer  assistant,  Alexan- 
der G.  Huggins,  and  his  family,  he  left  Ripley,  Ohio,  and  on 
the  16th  of  May  landed  at  Fort  Snelling.  He  remained  here 
for  a  few  weeks,  and  in  June  organized  at  the  Fort  a  Presby- 
terian church  of  twenty-two  members.  On  the  9th  of  July,  he 
established  a  mission  on  the  north  side  of  Minnesota  River  in 
sight  of  Lac-qui-Parle.  In  the  fall  of  1839  he  went  to  Cin- 
cinnati to  superintend  the  printing  of  the  Gospel  of  Mark  ia 
the  Dakotah  language.  In  the  year  1842,  assisted  by  his 
associates  there  was  prepared  for  the  press  the  Book  of  Gen- 
esis, a  part  of  the  Psalms,  and  about  two-thirds  of  the  New 
Testament.  In  1846  he  was  invited,  through  the  Indian 
Agent,  to  establish  a  mission  among  the  Kaposia  Sioux,  four 
miles  below  where  is  now  the  city  of  Saiut  Paul.  VVliile 
there,  as  has  been  noticed  on  the  481st  page,  he  procured  a 
school  teacher  for  the  insignificant  hamlet,  which,  in  1849, 
was  designated  as  the  capital  of  Minnesota. 

After  the  treaty  of  1851  he  established  a  mission  at  Yellow 
Medicine,  in  the  upper  Minnesota  Valley,  and  there  he  labored 
until  the  Sioux  outbreak  of  1862,  and  with  difiBculty  escaped 
from  the  scalping  knives  of  those  for  whom  he  had  toiled  and 
prayed.  After  this  he  passed  two  years  with  the  Sioux  who 
■were  in  prison  at  Davenport,  Iowa.  In  1866  he  followed  the 
Sioux  to  the  Missouri  river,  and  superintended  the  establish- 
ment of  missions  among  them.  His  last  years  on  earth  were 
passed  in  translating  the  Sacred  Scriptures.    He  lived  to  teai 


776 


HIBTOBT  OF  MIKNB80TA. 


the  proofs  of  the  entire  Bible  in  Dakota,  althoufj^h  it  was  not 
published  until  after  his  death.  His  beloved  colleague,  Rev. 
S.  R.  Riggs,  LL.  D.,  the  editor  of  the  Dakota  Lexicon,  wrote 
of  his  death:  "Perhaps  it  was  most  fitting  that  he  shculJ  die 
as  he  lived,  with  no  exalted  imagery  of  the  future,  but  a  stern 
faith  which  gives  hope  and  peace  in  the  deepest  waters/' 

Patient,  capable  of  enduring  hardship,  fond  of  study,  plain 
in  manner,  slow  to  form,  but  decided  in  the  expression  of  his 
opinions,  a  gentleman  in  his  instincts,  to  those  who  knew  him 
he  appeared  a  calm  Christian  warrior,  ever  ready  to  do  the 
bidding  of  his  Master. 

In  the  fall  of  1879  the  Republican  party  nominated  John  S- 
Pillsbury,  as  Governor  for  a  third  term,  and  at  the  election  in 
November,  he  received  67,741  votes,  while  42,444  were  given 
for  Edmund  Rice,  the  candidate  of  the  Democratic  party. 

On  the  night  of  the  15th  of  November,  1880,  a  fire  was  dis- 
covered in  the  north  wing  of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum,  at 
St.  Peter,  and  it  was  entirely  destroyed.  The  shrieks  of  the 
lunatics,  and  wanderings  over  the  snow-covered  prairies,  can 
never  be  forgotten  by  the  witnesses  of  the  scene.  Twenty- 
seven  of  the  patients  lost  their  lives,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
the  building  was  set  on  fire  in  the  cellar,  by  a  patient  who 
had  been  employed  in  the  kitchen. 

The  twenty-second  session  and  the  first  biennial  session  of 
the  State  Legislature  convened  on  the  4th  of  January,  1881, 
and  Governor  Pillsbury,  in  his  message  read  on  the  6th,  again 
urged  the  settlement  of  the  State  railroad  bonds.  In  his  argu- 
ment he  said: 

"The  liability  having  been  voluntarily  incurred,  whether  it 
was  wisely  created  or  not  is  foreign  to  the  present  question. 
It  is  certain  that  the  obligations  were  fairly  given  for  which 
consideration  was  fairly  received;  and  the  State  having  chosen 
foreclosure  as  her  remedy,  and  disposed  of  the  property  thus 
acquired  unconditionally  as  her  own,  the  conclusion  seems  to 
me  irresistible  that  she  assumed  the  payment  of  the  debt  rest- 
ing upon  such  property  by  every  principle  of  law  and  equity.! 
And,  moreover,  as  the  State  promptly  siezed  the  railroad  pro- 
perty and  franchises,  expressly  to  indemnify  her  for  payment 


BBTTLBMENT  OP  IIAU.ROAD  BOKDS. 


777 


of  the  bonds,  it  ia  difficult  to  see  what  possible  justification 
there  can  be  for  her  refusal  to  make  that  payment." 

On  the  19th  of  January  the  legislature,  in  joint  convention, 
re-elected  S.  J.  R.  McMillan  United  States  Senator  for  the 
term  which  on  March  4, 1887,  expires. 

Selah  Chamberlain,  in  behalf  of  a  majority  of  the  holders  of 
the  State  railroad  bonds,  having  expressed  a  willingness  to  ac- 
cept new  bonds  to  one-half  ot  the  amount  of  the  old,  an  act 
.-""s  approved  on  March  2,  1881,  for  the  purpose  of  eifecting 
a  liquidation  of  bonds  which  had  been  a  source  of  controversy 
for  so  many  years. 

The  act  provided  that  the  Supreme  Judges  should  hear  ar- 
guments, and  decide  whether  the  legislature  had  power  to 
provide  for  the  payment  of  the  bonds  without  submitting  the 
matter  to  a  vote  of  the  electors  of  the  State,  and  this  tribunal 
was  ordered  on  March  22, 1881,  to  convene.  Provision  was  also 
made  that  in  case  any  of  the  Supreme  Judges  declined  to  be  a 
member  of  this  tribunal,  the  Governor  could  appoint  a  District 
Judge.  After  some  delay  a  tribunal  was  appointed  composed 
wholly  of  District  Judges,  and  about  the  time  they  were  to 
enter  upon  their  duties,  David  A.  Secombe,  of  Minneapolis, 
one  of  the  oldest  lawyers  of  the  State,  asked  the  Supreme 
Court  to  issue  a  writ  of  prohibition  restraining  the  tribunal 
from  taking  any  action.  Able  arguments  were  heard  on  both 
side,  and  on  the  9th  of  September  the  Supreme  Court  decided 
that  the  amendment  of  1860  to  the  Constitution  was  invalid 
as  it  impaired  the  obligation  of  contracts,  also  that  the  act 
of  March  2,  1881,  was  null  and  void,  because  it  delegated 
legislative  power  to  the  tribunal  created  by  the  act.  A 
writ  of  prohibition  restraining  the  tribunal  was  therefore 
issued. 

Legal  difficulties  having  been  removed  by  this  decision. 
Governor  Pillsbury  caused  an  extra  session  of  the  legislature 
for  the  settlement  of  the  bond  question,  which  convened  in 
October,  and  provision  was  made  for  cancellins  bonds,  the 
ignoring  of  which,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  had  been  a 
humiliation  to  the  ^ore  thoughttul  citizens,  and  a  blot  upon 
the  otherwise  fair  aame  of  Minnesota. 


T78 


HISTORY  OP  MINKESOTA. 


Lucius  F.  Hubbard,!  who  had  been  Colonel  of  the  Fifth 
Regiment,  was  nominated  by  the  Republican  party  for  Gov- 
ernor, and  at  the  election  in  November,  1881,  received  65,025 
votes,  while  37,168  votes  were  polled  for  Richard  W.  Job  i .  in, 
the  nominee  ot  the  Democratic  party. 

The  Mouse  of  Representatives  of  the  legislature  of  1881 
impeached  E,  St.  Julien  Cox,  Judge  of  the  ninth  District 
for  conduct  unbecoming  his  position,  resulting  from  the 
intemperate  use  of  intoxicants,  and  the  Senate,  silting  as  a 
Court,  after  a  long  trial,  found  him  guilty,  and  he  was  deposed. 

The  legislature  had  elected  William  Windom  United  States 
Senator  for  the  term  which,  on  March  4th,  1883,  would  expire, 
but  in  March,  1881,  having  been  appointed  by  President  ■  ar- 
field  as  the  head  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury  Departm.  *•,  e 
resigned,  and  Governor  Pillsbury  appointed  A.  J.  Edgertoa 
to  fill  the  vacancy  until  there  was  an  election  by  the  legislature. 

After  the  death  of  President  Garfield,  in  September,  1881, 
from  the  bullet  fired  by  an  assassin,  Mr.  Windom  resigned 
the  Secretaryship  of  the  Treasury,  having  been,  on  the  26th 
of  October,  by  the  Minnesota  legislature  again  elected  to  fill 
a  vacancy  which  had  been  caused  by  his  own  acceptance  of 
the  Secretaryship  of  the  Treasury.  A.  J.  Edgerton,  who  had 
been  appointed  U.  S.  Senator,  ad  interim,  by  the  Governor, 
before  this  election,  was  in  a  few  months  made  Chief  Justice 
of  Dakota  Territory. 

On  the  night,  of  the  1st  of  March,  1881,  the  Capitol,  first 
occupied  in  1853,  was  destroyed  by  fire.  About  nine  o'clock 
m  the  evening,  two  gentlemen  who  lived  opposite  discovered 
the  roof  was  on  fire,  and  immediately  notified  the  occupants. 
The  flames  rapidly  covered  the  cupola,  and  licked  the  flag  fly- 


1  Lucius  Frederick  Hubbard  was  born 
January  28th,  1836,  at  Troy,  N.  Y.  His 
fother  died  sheriff  of  Rensselaer  county. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  left  Korth  Oran- 
▼llle  Academy,  N.  Y.,  and  learned  the 
(inner's  trade.  After  living  four  yeara  in 
Chicago,  in  1867  he  came  to  Minnesota, 
and  established  at  Red  Wing  a  paper 
called  tlie  "  Republican,"  which  he  con- 
ducted until  1861,  when  he  enlisted  as  a 


private  in  the  Bth  Minnesota  regiment, 
and  in  less  than  a  year  was  its  colonel. 
For  military  record,  see  page  710 

He  was  made  Brevet  Brig.  General  for 
services  in  the  l>attie  of  Nashville. 

After  the  war  he  returned  to  Red  Wing, 
and  has  been  engaged  in  the  flour  and 
commission  business.  He  was  State  San- 
ator  1871  to  1875. 


OAPITOL   DE8TR0YED  BY   FIRE. 


TW 


ing  from  the  stafiF  on  top.  One  of  the  reporters  of  the  Pio- 
neer Press,  who  wiis  in  the  Senate  CKamber  at  the  time, 
graphically  describes  the  scene  within. 

He  writes  :  "  The  senate  was  at  work  on  third  reading  of 
house  bills  ;  Lieutenant  Governor  Qilnuin  in  his  seat,  and 
Secretary  Jennison  reading  something  about  restraining  cat- 
tle in  Rice  county  ;  the  senators  were  lying  back  listening 
carelessly,  when  the  door  opened,  and  Hon.  Michael  Doran 
announced  that  the  building  was  on  fire.  All  eyes  were  at 
once  turned  in  that  direction,  and  the  flash  of  the  flames  was 
visible  from  the  top  of  the  gallery,  as  well  as  from  the  hall, 
which  is  on  a  level  with  the  floor  ot  the  senate.  The  panic 
that  ensued  had  a  different  ett'ect  upon  the  different  persons, 
and  those  occupying  places  nearest  the  entrance,  pushing  open 
the  door,  and  rushing  pell  mell  through  the  blinding  smoke. 
Two  or  three  ladies  happened  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
doors,  and  happily  escaped  uninjured.  But  the  opening  of 
the  door  produced  a  draft,  which  drew  into  the  senate  chamber 
clouds  of  smoke,  the  fire  in  the  meantime  having  made  its 
appearance  over  the  center  and  rear  of  the  gallery.  All  this 
occurred  so  suddenly  that  senators  standing  near  the  reporters' 
table  and  the  secretary's  desk,  which  were  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  chamber  from  the  entrance,  stood  as  if  paralyzed, 
gazing  in  mute  astonishment  at  the  smoke  that  passed  in 
through  the  open  doors,  at  the  flames  over  the  gallery,  and 
the  rushing  crowd  that  blocked  the  doorways.  The  senate 
suddenly  and  formally  adjourned.  President  Gilman.  how- 
ever, stood  in  his  place,  gavel  in  hand,  and  as  he  rapped  his 
desk  loud  and  often,  he  3'elled,  'Shut  that  door!'  Shut  that 
door!' 

"  The  cry  was  taken  up  by  Colonel  Crooks  and  other  sena- 
tors, and  the  order  was  finally  obeyed;  after  which,  the  smoke 
clearing  away,  the  senators  were  enabled  to  collect  their  senses 
and  decide  what  was  best  to  be  done.  President  Gilman,  still 
standing  up  in  his  place,  calm  and  collected,  as  if  nothing  un- 
usual had  happened,  was  encouraging  the  senators  to  keep 
cool.  Colonel  Crooks  was  giving  orders  as  if  a  battle  was 
raging  around  him. 


78e 


HISTOBT  OF  HUTEmSOTA. 


"Other  senators  were  giving  such  advice  as  occurred  to 
them,  but,  unfortunately,  no  advice  vras  pertinent  except  to 
keep  cool,  and  thai  was  all.  Some  were  importunins:  the 
Secretary  and  his  assistants  to  save  the  records,  and'  Qeneral 
Jennison,  his  hands  full  of  papers,  was  waiting  a  chance  to 
walk  out  with  them.  But  that  chance  looked  remoie  indeed, 
for  there,  locked  in  fcha  senate  chamber,  were  at  least  fifty 
men  walking  ai'our'.i,  some  looking  at  each  other  in  a  dazed 
sort  of  way,  '^thers  at  the  windows  looking  out  at  the  snow- 
covered  yard,  now  illuminated  from  the  flames,  that  were  heard 
roaring  and  crackling  overhead. 

Prom  some  windows  men  were  yelling  to  the  limited  crowd 
below,  'Get  some  ladders!  Send  for  ladders!'  Other  windows 
were  occupied.  About  this  time  terror  actually  siezed  the 
members,  when  Senator  Buck  remarked  that  the  fire  was 
raging  overhead,  and  at  the  same  moment  burning  brands 
began  to  drop  through  the  large  ventilators  upon  the  deeka 
and  floor  beneath.  K  flitr^i 

"  Then,  for  a  moment,  it  seemed  as  if  all  hopes  of  escape 
were  cut  ofi'.  ♦**♦♦♦♦ 
But,  happily,  the  flames  having  made  their  way  through  the 
dome,  a  draught  was  created  strong  enough  to  clear  the  hallu 
of  smoke.  The  dome  was  almost  directly  over  lae  entrance 
of  the  senate  chamber,  and  burning  brands  and  timbers  had 
fallen  down  through  the  glass  ceiling  in  front  of  the  door, 
rendering  escape  in  that  direction  impossible. 

''  But  a  small  window  looking  from  the  cloak  room  of  the 
senate  chamber  to  the  first  landing  of  the  main  stairway  fur- 
nished an  avenue  of  escape,  and  through  this  little  opening 
every  man  in  the  senate  chamber  managed  to  get  out. 

"  The  window  was  about  ten  feet  high,  but  Mr.  Michael 
Doran  and  several  other  gentlemen  stood  at  the  hot  }om,  and 
nobly  rendered  assistance  to  those  who  came  tumbling  out, 
some  headlong,  some  sideways,  and  some  feet  foremost. 

"  As  the  reporter  of  the  Pioneer-Press  came  out  and  landed 
on  his  feet,  he  paused  for  a  moment  to  survey  the  scene  over- 
head, where  i-hc  flatnes  were  lashing  themselves  into  fury  aa 


LAW  LIBRARY  LAKOELY  DESTUOYED. 


781 


they  played  underneath  the  dome,  and  saw  the  flag-staff  burn- 
ing, and  coals  dropping  down  like  fiery  hail. 

"  It  took  but  a  few  minutes  for  the  senators  to  get  out;  after 
which  they  assembled  on  the  outside,  and  they  had  no  sooner 
gained  the  street  than  the  ceiling  of  the  senate  chamber  fell 
in,  and  in  ten  minutes  that  whole  wing  was  a  mass  of  fi^ames." 

Similar  scenes  took  place  in  the  hall  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives. A  young  lawyer,  with  a  friend,  as  soon  as  the  fire 
was  noticed,  ran  into  the  law  library,  and  began  to  throw 
books  out  of  the  windows,  but  in  a  few  minutes  the  density  of 
the  smoke  and  the  approach  of  the  dames  compelled  them  to 
desist,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  law  library  was  burned.  The 
portraits  of  Generals  Sherman  and  Thomas,  which  were  hung 
over  the  stairway,  were  saved.  The  books  of  the  Historical 
Society,  in  the  basement,  were  removed,  but  were  considerably 
damaged.  In  three  hours  the  bare  walls  alone  remained  of  the 
Capitol  which  for  thirty  years  had  been  familiar  to  the  law- 
makers and  public  men  of  Minnesota. 

Immediate  steps  were  taken  by  Governor  Pillsbury  for 
the  removal  of  the  debris,  and  building  a  new  capitol,  which 
was  so  far  completed  as  to  be  used  in  January,  1883,  by  the 
legislative  assembly. 

The  present  capitol  is  of  red  brick,  upon  a  high  base- 
ment of  cut-stone,  and  is  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross.  The 
Governor's  room,  and  State  offices  are  upon  the  first  mair. 
tioor,  aad  the  Supreme  Court  room,  State  Library,  and 
legislative  chambers  an.  upon  the  story  above. 

The  halls  upon  each  floor  are  wide  and  well  lighted. 
The  Senate  chamber  is  forty  by  fifty-one  feet  in  dimensions, 
and  that  of  the  House  of  Representatives  is  forty-four  by 
eighty-five  feet.  The  tower  of  the  capitol  is  seen  from  every 
part  of  the  city,  and  is  to  be  surmounted  with  a  dome. 

At  tb?  election  in  November,  1882,  Milo  WMte,  J.  B. 
Wakefield,  H,  B.  Strait,  W.  D.  Washburn,  and  Knute 
Nelson  were  elected  to  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives, 
and  by  the  legislature  of  1883,  Dwight  M.  Sabin  was  elected 
United  States  Senator,  a  sketch  of  whom  will  be  found  in 
Appendix  Q. 


<*iJb^    ■, 


782 


HISTOKT  OF  MlNN£i.^OTA. 


fWi'i-'^' 


,k/>  '^^.v  ii^iA i'^L.ii- 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


MnSTKEBCTA  RAILWAT  SYSTEM. 

The  History  of  Minnesota  would  not  be  complete  without 
at  least  a  brief  notice  of  the  development  of  its  far  -  reaching 
railway  system. 

For  the  construction  of  the  first  railroad  within  the  borders 
of  the  State,  its  citizens  will  always  acknowledge  their  indebt- 
edness to  Edmund  Rice'  and  his  associates. 

In  1860  the  State  had  foreclosed  the  mortgages  it  held 
against  certain  railroads  as  security  for  bonds  issued  under  the 
seal  of  Minnesota,  and  in  March,  1862,  the  legislature  incor- 
porated the  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific  Railroad,  and  assigned  to 
them  certain  franchises  of  a  company  chartered  in  1857  as  the 
Minnesota  and  Pacific. 

Mr.  Rice,  as  the  first  President  of  the  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific, 
visited  New  York  and  other  cities,  and  was  successful  in 
securing  funds  for  the  use  of  the  road.  A  contract  was  made 
with  Elias  F  Drake  and  other  gentlemen  from  Ohio  for  the 
immediate  construction  of  ten  miles,  to  the  town  of  Saint 
Anthony,  now  the  east  division  of  the  city  of  Minneapolis. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  1862,  at  the  hour  when  the  citizens 
were  filled  with  anxiety  by  the  news  passing  over  the  tele- 
graphic wires  that  a  battle  was  raging  in  front  of  Richmond, 


Edmund  Rice,  on  February  14th,  1819, 
was  born  in  Waitsfleld,  Vermont.  In  1842 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Kalnna- 
xoo,  Michigan,  and  baoamo  clerk  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  During  the  Mezlcai 
war  be  was  Ist  Lieutenant  of  Co.  A,  1st 
Miohi)(an  regiment.  In  July,  1840,  he 
came  to  St.  Paul,  and  for  six  years,  as  the 
senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Rice,  Hol- 


linshead  and  Becker,  was  a  successful 
lawyer.  In  IBS';'  he  became  President  of 
Minnesota  and  Paciflo  K,  R.  He  has  fre- 
quently been  in  both  branches  of  the 
legialature.  lu  ISTO  he  was  the  Democrat- 
ic candidate  for  Governor,  and  in  May, 
1881,  was  elected  Mayor  of  St.  Paul  by  a 
large  majority. 


FIRST  RAILWAY  IN  iliiiilJSboTA. 


788 


and  the  day  before  the  two  sharp  conflicts  of  the  I'irst  Minne- 
sota Regiment,  the  first  locomotive  in  Minnesota  with  a  train 
of  cars  left  Saint  Paul  for  Saint  Anthony. 

The  editor  of  the  St.  Paul  Press,  in  the  issue  of  the  29th, 
wrote,  "  An  important  event  in  the  history  of  Minnesota 
transpired  yesterday.  The  first  division  of  the  Saint  Paul  and 
Pacific  Railroad  is  finished,  and  trains  have  commenced  to  run 
from  Saint  Paul  to  Saint  Anthony. 

"  Let  it  be  recorded  for  the  benefit  of  the  f  ut  re  historian  of 
the  vast  Northwest,  that  on  the  28th  of  June,  1862,  the  first 
link  in  the  great  chain  of  railroad  which  will,  in  the  course  of 
a  few  yeara,  spread  all  over  this  State,  from  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  and  from  Lake 
Superior  to  the  Iowa  boundary  line,  was  completed,  and  a 
passenger  train  started  in  the  direction  of  Pugets'  Sound." 

Early  in  1864  this  railway  corporation  was  divided  into  two 
companies.  The  line  from  Saint  Paul  to  Breckenridge,  called 
the  "  First  Division,"  was  under  the  presidency  of  George  L. 
Becker,^  and  the  other  portion  remained  under  the  presidency 
of  Edmund  Rice,  who  several  times  visited  London.  M;.  Rice 
in  1864,  gave  his  attention  to  the  construction  of  a  branch 
line  from  Saint  Paul  to  Winona,  and  in  1867  the  directors 
gave  this  the  name  of  the  Saint  Paul  and  Chicago  Railway. 

Slowly  but  steadily  the  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific  company  laid 
its  rails  to  the  banks  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North.  In  1864 
the  road  was  completed  to  Elk  River,  34  miles  from  Saint 
Paul,  and  in  1866  to  Saint  Cloud,  74  miles,  a  branch  line.  On 
the  main  line  it  was,  in  1867,  completed  to  Wayzata,  on  Lake 
Minnetonka,  25  miles;  in  1869,  to  Willmar,  104  miles;  in  1870, 
to  Benson,  134  miles,  and  in  October,  1871,  to  Breckenridge, 
on  the  Red  River,  217  miles. 


lOcorgo  Li.  Becker  was  bom  Februnry 
4lh,  1829,  in  Ijocke,  Cayuga  county,  N.  Y. 
In  1841,  hl«  father's  family  having  re- 
moved to  Ann  Arbor,  Micliigan,  lie,  in 
1848,  graduated  at  the  University  of  Mich- 
igan. He  studied  law  with  George  Sedg- 
wick, and  on  the  iDth  of  October,  18J'J, 
arrived  in  St.  Paul,  and  formed  a  law 
partnership  with  Rdmumd  Riee,  and 
■ubsequently  with  William  HoUinshcad. 
In  1862  he  was  the  Land  Commissioner 


of  St.  Paul  and  Paciflo  R,  R.,  andin  Feb- 
ruary, 1801,  Presit  entof  its  First  Division. 
In  1S16  was  Mayoi  of  St.  Paul ;  in  1857  a 
member  of  the  Coiij'itutional  Conven- 
tion ;  in  1859  elected  to  Coiifc-".'is,  on  the 
supposition  that  the  State  was  entitled  to 
three  members.  In  lt<57  he  was  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  Governor.  Ho 
lias  also  served  four  terms  in  the  State 
Senate,  and  is  President  of  the  West- 
ern Railroad  Company.     . 


784 


BISTORT  or  MINNMSOTA. 


In  September,  1872,  trains  began  to  ran  on  the  Chicago  and 
St.  Paul,  by  way  of  Winona,  to  a  point  opposite  the  city  of 
La  Crosse. 

In  i873,  the  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific  became  involved  in  a 
di£Bculty  with  the  bondholders,  and  in  time  the  court  appointed 
J,  P.  Farley,  receiver.  The  road  subsequently  was  purchased 
by  a  syndicate  of  capitalists,  and  George  Stephens,  of  Mon- 
treal, became  President,  and  James  J.  Hill,  of  Saint  Paul, 
Manager,  and  the  name  of  the  road  was  changed  to  Saint 
Paul,  Minneapolis,  and  Manitoba. 

On  the  22d  of  August,  1882,  Mr.  Hill  was  chosen  President. 
The  Pioneer  Press  the  next  day,  in  an  editorial,  wrote  :  "The 
promotion  of  James  J.  Hill  to  the  presidency  of  the  Saint 
Paul,  Minneapolis  &  Manitoba  Railway  Company,  at  the  Di- 
rectors' meeting  yesterday,  was  an  appropriate  recognition  ol 
his  practical  primacy  in  the  administration  of  its  affairs.  The 
whole  scheme  of  acquiring  possession  of  the  magnificent 
property  of  the  bankrupt  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific  railroad, 
with  its  splendid  possibilities  of  future  development,  originated 
with  Mr.  Hill.  He  went  to  work  to  investigate  the  financial 
condition  of  the  road,  and  was  thoroughly  master  of  the  sub- 
ject, in  all  its  details,  when  he  finally  laid  the  whole  project 
before  his  Canada  friends,  and  with  the  aid  of  Norman  W. 
Kittson,  whose  active  support  he  had  early  enlisted,  secured 
their  co-operation  and  the  capital  necessary  to  purchase  the 
outstanding  bonds  at  the  prices  then  current.  If  Mr.  Hill 
was  the  master  spirit  of  this  grand  enterprise  in  its  inception 
and  earlier  days,he  has  been  equally  its  master  spirit  ever  since." 
The  road  stretches  in  two  lines  toward  Lake  Winnipeg,  and 
the  line  through  the  valley  of  the  Red  River  ot  the  North  to 
the  town  of  St.  Vincent  near  the  line  of  the  Dominion  ol 
Canada  is  393  miles  in  length. 

In  1864,  the  legislature  incorporated  the  Minnesota  Valley 
Railroad,  whose  first  President  and  guiding  mind  was  Elias 
F.  Drake.^    In  November,  1865,  its  trains  ran  to  Shakopee, 


E.  F.  Drake  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  for 
■everal  years  was  Cashier  ot  the  Ohio 
State  Banlc,  and  at  one  time  Spealcer  of 
the  Ohio  LeKislature.  In  .Tune,  1862, 
witli  hts  asBooiates,  he  completed  tlie  con- 
tract to  build  the  first  ten  miles  cf  rail- 


way in  Minnesota,  for  the  St.  Paul  and 
Pacific  R.  K  ,  extending:  to  8t.  Anlliony. 
For  two  years,  lh74  and  187S.  he  was  a 
Stat«  Senator  in  Minnesota,  and  ia  one  ot 
tlie  most  energetic  of  the  citizens  of  Ht> 
Paul. 


MINNESOTA  RAILROAD  CORPORATIONS. 


t86 


28  miles  from  Saint  Paul ;  in  November,  1866,  to  Belle 
Plaine,  46  miles  ;  in  December,  1867,  to  Le  Sueur,  62  miles; 
in  August,  1868,  to  Saint  Peter,  74  miles  ;  in  October  to 
Mankato  ;  in  December,  1869,  to  Lake  Crystal  ;  in  Septem- 
ber, 1870,  to  Madeliii,  109  miles  ;  in  November,  187U.  to  Saint 
James,  122  miles ;  in  1871,  to  Worthington,  178  miles,  and 
the  next  year,  by  a  branch  called  the  Sioux  City  and  Saint 
Paul  R.  R.,  it  reached  the  bank  of  the  Missouri  River.  On 
the  first  of  June,  1881,  this  road  was  consolidated  with  the 
West  Wisconsin,  and  is  now  known  as  the  "Chicago,  Saint 
Paul,  Minneapolis  and  Omaha  R.  R."  ■■■'"'^ 

The  Lake  Superior  and  Mississippi  Railroad  was  in  1861 
incorporated,  but  nothing  of  importance  was  done  toward  the 
linking  of  the  waters  of  the  Misissippi  to  Lake  Superior, 
until  1865,  when  William  L.  Banning^  was  elected  Presi- 
dent, who  enlisted  J.  Edgar  Thompson,  Moorhead.  Hincliley, 
Felton  and  other  capitalists  of  Philadelphia  in  the  building 
of  the  road.  .  -»  ia  ,w;ri?ii.7rPW;  r 

On  the  22d  of  August.  1870,  the  cars,  through  the  winding 
valley  of  the  St.  Louis  River,  reached  the  docks  of  Dnlutb, 
on  Lake  Superior,  and  it  has  been  the  great  inlet  of  fuel  to 
Minnesota  from  the  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  and  an  im- 
portant outlet  for  the  wheat  of  the  Northwest. 

Among  those  on  the  first  train  Irom  Saint  Paul  was  Chief 
Justice  S.  P.  Chase,  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court.  It  is  now 
known  as  the  Saint  Paul  and  Duluth  Railroad. 

The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  Saint  Paul  is  an  outgrowth  of 
the  Minnesota  Central,  which  was  sold  in  1867  to  the  Mil- 
waukee and  Saint  Paul.  The  line  to  the  Iowa  boundary,  was, 
in  1867,  completed  by  way  of  Northfield,  Faribault  and  Austin, 
and  in  1872  this  company  obtained  possession  ot  the  Chicago 
and  Saint  Paul  the  river  route  by  way  of  Hastings,  Red  Wing 
and  Winona,  to  La  Crosse.     It  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque 


IWillinm  L.  Banning  was  born  in  Wil- 
mington, Delaware,  but  at  an  early  age 
removed  U>  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and 
•tiidled  law.  He  was  in  1845  a  memlwr 
of  the  I'ennsylvania  legislature.  In  1855 
lie  came  to  St  Paul,  and  becnme  a  bank- 
er.    In  1860  he  was  elected  to  the  Minne- 


sota legisiature.  In  1K61  he  was  appoint- 
ed a  Captain  and  Commissary  of  U.  8, 
Volunteers,  uiid  for  two  years  of  the  lost 
war,  was  on  duty  in  Missouri.  For  about 
seven  years  he  was  President  of  the  St. 
Paul  and  Duluth  R.  R,,  when  he  resig:ne<L 


786 


HI&TOBY  OF  MINiraSOTA. 


and  best  mauBged  roads  in  the  State,  and  controls  the  Hast- 
ings and  Dakota,  and  the  Southern  Minnesota.  Its  central 
depot  is  at  Minneapolis. 

The  Winona  and  Saint  Peter,  organized  in  1860,  was  the 
outgrowth  of  the  ''  Transit"  that  in  1855  had  been  chartered. 
In  1864,  the  rails  were  laid  to  Rochester;  in  1867,  the  road 
reached  Waconia;  in  1870,  Janesville;  in  1871,  Saint  Peter; 
in  1872,  NewUlra;  in  1874,  the  boundary  of  Dakota  Territory. 

The  Minneapolis  and  Saint  Louis,  under  the  efficient  presi- 
dency of  W.  D.  Washburn,  was  in  1877.  completed  to  Albert 
Lea,  and  in  1879  to  the  Iowa  State  line. 

The  Northern  Pacific  was  chartered  by  U.  S.  Congress,  on 
the  21st  of  July,  1864,  and  was  completed  on  September  2, 
1871,  to  Moorehead,  on  the  Red  River,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  Duluth.  Owing  to  financial  difficulties,  the  com- 
pany was  reorganized  in  1875,  and  daring  the  last  year  has 
made  rapid  strides,  and  soon  expects  to  reach  the  gates  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  at  Helena,  Montana. 

We  append  a  page  from  the  last  report  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Statistics  of  1881,  which  is  an  admirable  coadeusatioa. 


COKGBBSSIONAI.  DSLBOATIOir. 


787 


.fflW"  ■■ 


CHAPTER  XXX IX. 


MINNESOTA  8  EEPRE8BNTATIVE8  IN  CONaRBSS  OP  UNITBD 
STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

From  JUor?h,  1849,  to  May,  1858,  Minnesota  was  a  Territory, 
and  entitled  to  stnd  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  one 
delegate  with  the  privilege  of  representing  the  interests  of  hia 
constituents,  but  not  allowed  to  vote. 

TEBBITORIAL  DELEGATES. 

Before  the  recognition  of  Minnesota  as  a  separate  Territory, 
Henry  H.  Sibley^  sat  in  Congress,  from  January,  1849,  as  a 
delegate  of  the  portion  of  Wisconsin  Territory  which  was 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  in  1848, 
admitted  to  the  Union.  In  September,  1850,  he  was  elected 
delegate,  by  the  citizens  of  Minnesota  Territory,  to  Congress. 

Henry  M.  Rice^  succeeded  Mr.  Sibley  as  delegate,  and  took 
his  seat  in  the  thirty-third  Congress,  which  convened  on  Dec.  5, 
1863,  at  Washington.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  thirty-fourth 
Congress,  which  assembled  on  the  3d  of  December,  1865,  and 
expired  on  the  3d  of  March,  1867.  During  his  term  of  office, 
Congress  passed  an  act  extending  the  pre-emption  laws  over 
the  unsurveyed  lands  of  Minnesota,  and  Mr.  Rice  obtained 
valuable  land  grants  for  the  construction  of  railroads. 

William  W.  Kingsbury^  was  the  last  Territorial  delegate. 
He  took  his  seat  in  the  thirty-fifth  Congress,  which  convened 

1  For  notices  of  Mr.  Sibley,  the  reader  Is  referred  to  General  and  Mllita  ry  Index. 
-.    3  For  notices  of  Mr.  Rice,  see  General  Index. 

3  William  W.  Kingsbury,  in  1828,  was  a  member  of  the  Minnesota  Legislature, 
bom  in  Towaiida,  Bradford  Co.,  Pa.,  and  in  iSfiT,  a  member  of  the  Coastitu- 
-and  was  self-educated.  He  was,  in  18S6,   tionai  Convention, 


788 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


on  the  7th  of  December,  1857,^  and  the  next  May  his  seat  was 
vacated  by  the  admission  of  Minnesota  as  a  State. 


STATE  BBPRESKNTATION  IN  U.  S.  HOUSE  OF  BEPRE8ENTATITE8. 

William  W.  Phelps  was  one  of  the  first  members  of  U.  S. 
House  of  Representatives  from  Minnesota.  Born  in  Michigan, 
in  1826,  he  graduated  in  1846,  at  its  State  University.  In 
1854  he  came  to  Minnesota  as  Register  of  the  Land  Offise  at 
Red  Wing,  and  in  1857,  was  elected  a  Representative  to  Con- 
gress.2 


James  M.  Cavanaugh  was  of  Irish  parentage,  and  came  from 
Massachusetts.  He  was  elected  to  the  same  Congress  as  Mr. 
Phelps,  and  subsequently  removed  to  Colorado. 

William  Windora  was  elected  in  the  fall  of  1859,  to  the 
thirty-sixth  Congress,^  and  was  continuously  re-elected,  and 
occupied  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives  until  1870^ 
when  he  entered  the  U.  S.  Senate. 

Mr.  Windom  was  born  on  May  10,  1827,  in  Belmont  Co., 
Ohio.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1850,  and  was  in  1853, 
elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  for  Knox  Co.,  Ohio.  The  next 
year  he  came  to  Minnesota,  and  has  represented  the  State  in 
Congress  longer  than  any  other  person.  He  has  occupied  a 
responsible  position  upon  some  of  the  most  important  com- 
mittees, and  acquitted  himself  with  honor. 


"•  ihi  Ts 


W»  ..,!.: 


1  Vote  for  Delegate,  186T. 
Kingsbury,  Democrat 15,188   McCliu-e,  RepubUcan. 


.12,999 


2  At  the  first  Cougresslonal  Election  of  two  members  of  Congress  were  eleet- 

of  the  State,  by  mistake,  three  instead  ed.    The  vote  was  as  follows  : 

W.  W.  Phelps,  Democrat 18,218  H.  A.  Swift,  Republican 16,937 

J.  M.  Cavanaugh,  Democrat 18,064  Cyrus  Aldrioh,  Republican 16,956 

Geo.  L,  Becker,  Democrat 18,019  M.S.Wilkinson,  Republican 16,938 

SCongresitlonal  Vote,  Nov.,  1859. 

tst  Dist.,  William  Windom,  Rep.. 21,016  C.  Graham,  Dem IT.'JIT 

2d  Dist.,  Cyrus  Aldrieh,  Rep 21,300  J.  M.  Cavanaugh.  Dem 17,G68 


ALDEIOH,   DONBLLT,  WILSON. 


789 


Cyrus  Aldrich,*  of  Minneapolis,  Hennepin  county,  waa 
«lected  R  member  of  the  thirty-sixth  Congress,  which  convened 
Dec.  5th,  1859,  and  waa  re-elected  to  the  thirty-seventh  Con- 
gress. During  his  last  term  he  was  chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Indian  Affairs. 

Ignatius  Donnelly  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1831 ;  grad- 
uated at  the  high  school  of  that  city,  and  in  1853  wafj  admitted 
to  the  bar.  In  1857  he  came  to  Minnesota,  and  in  1859  was 
elected  Lt.  Governor,  and  re-elected  in  1861.  He  became  a 
representative  of  Minnesota  in  the  U.  S.  Congress  which  con- 
vened on  Dec.  7th,  1863,  and  was  re-elected  to  the  thirty-ninth 
Congress,  which  convened  on  Dec.  4th,  1865.  He  was  also 
elected  to  the  fortieth  Congress,^  which  convened  in  Dec,  1867. 
Since  1873  he  has  been  an  active  State  Senator  from  Dakota 
County,  in  which  he  has  been  a  resident,  and  is  editor  of  the 
Anti-Monopolist. 

Eugene  M.  Wilson,  of  Minneapolis,  was  elected  to  the  forty- 
first  Congress,  which  assembled  in  December,  1869.  He  was 
bom  Dec.  25,  1833,  at  Morgantown,  Virginia,  and  graduated 
at  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvsinia.  Prom  18.57  to  1861,  he 
was  U.  S.  Dist.  Attorney  for  Minnesota.  During  the  civil 
war  he  was  Captain  in  First  Minnesota  Cavalry.    While  in 


1  Gyrus  Aldrlcli  was  born  In  1808,  at 
Smithfleld,  R.  I,  In  boyhood  he  worked 
on  a  farm  and  went  to  sea.  At  the  age 
ot  29  he  came  to  Alton,  111.,  and  in  1842 
came  to  Galena,  and  became  a  propri- 
etor ol  stage  coaches.  In  1845  and  1846 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Legis- 
lature. In  1847  he  was  elected  Register 
of  Deeds  for  Jo  Daviess  Co.,  111.,  and  In 


1849  became  Receiver  of  U.  8.  Land 
Office  at  Dixon,  111.,  which  he  held  four 
years.  In  1855  he  removed  to  Minnesota, 
and  In  1857  was  a  member  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention.  In  1865  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Minnesota  Legislature, 
and  in  1867  became  Post  Master  at  Min- 
neapolis, and  held  the  office  four  years. 
He  died  Oct.  5, 1871. 


2  CongresiHondl  Vote,  Nov.,  1862. 

W.  WIndom,  Republican 8,663   A.  G.  Chatfleld,  Democrat 6,428 

L  Donnelly,  Republican 7,091    W.  J.  CuUen,  Democrat 6,01P 

Congresniiynal  Vote,  1864. 

W.  WIndom,  Republican 1.3,86,5   H.  W.  Lamberton,  Democrat 9,092 

I.  Donnelly,  Republican 10,874   J.  M.  Oilman,  Democrat 8,212 

Conf/ressional  Vote,  1866. 

W.  WIndom,  Republican 13,961    J.  R.  .lones.  Democrat 8,021 

L  Donnelly,  Republican 12,022   W.  ColvlUe,  Democrat 7,7M 


790 


HISTORY  OF  MIKKE80TA. 


Congress  he  was  a  member  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Committee^ 
and  introduced  a  bill  by  which  the  State  University  obtained 
the  lands  which  had  long  been  claimed.      ""^  *" 

Mr.  Wilson's  father,  grandfather,  and  maternal  great  grand- 
father were  members  of  Congress. 

M.  S.  Wilkinson,  of  whom  mention  will  be  made  as  U.  S. 
Senator,  was  elp'*^"d  in  1868*  a  representative  to  the  Congress 
which  convent         Dec,  1869. 

Mark  H.  Dunuell,  of  Owatonna,  in  the  fall  of  1870,  was 
elected  from  the  First  District  to  fill  the  seat  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  so  long  occupied  by  Mr.  Windom. 

Mr.  Dunnell,  in  July,  1823,  was  born  at  Buxton,  Maine. 
He  graduated  at  the  college  established  at  Waterville,  in  that 
State,  in  1849.  From  1855  to  1859  he  was  the  State  Superin- 
tendent of  Schools,  and  in  1860  commenced  the  practice  of 
law.  For  a  short  period  he  was  Colonel  of  the  5th  Maine 
regiment,  but  resigned  in  1862,  and  was  appointed  U.  S. 
Consul  at  Vera  Cruz,  Mexico.  In  1865  he  came  to  Minnesota, 
and  was  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  from 
April,  1867,  to  August,  1870.  Mr.  Dunuell  still  represents 
his  district.       ;<;■     j^^i'i^mj-i 

John  T.  Averill  was  elected  in  November,  1870,  from  the 
Second  District,  to  succeed  Eugene  M.  Wilson.^ 

Mr.  Averill  was  born  at  Alma,  Maine,  and  completed  his 
studies  at  the  Maine  Wesleyan  University.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Minnesota  Senate  in  1858  and  1859,  and  during  the 
rebellion  was  Lieut.  Colonel  of  the  6th  Minnesota  regiment. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  enterprising  firm  of  paper  manufac- 
turers, Averill,  Russell,  and  Carpenter.  In  the  fall  of  1872*  he 
was  re-elected  as  a  member  of  the  forty-second  Congress, 
which  convened  in  December,  1873. 


1  Congresgio-  -al  Vote,  1868. 

M.S.  Wilkinson,  Republican 23,724   (i.  W.  Batehelder,  Democrat 14,648 

O.C.Andrews,  lieptibllcan 8,595   E.  M.  Wilson,  Democrat 13,506 

I.  Donnelly,  ludepeudeut 11,229 

2  Congressional  Vote,  1870. 

Mark  H.  Dunnell,  Republican  ....19,606   C.  F.  Black,  Democrat 14,904 

John  X.  Averill,  Republican 17,138   Ignatius  Donnelly 14,491 


1f9i 

> 

Horace  B.  Strait  was  elected  to  the  43d  and  iith  Congress. 
and  is  still  a  representative.  He  was  bom  on  the  26th  of 
January,  1835,  and  in  1846  removed  to  Indiana.  In  1855  he- 
came  to  Minnesota.  In  1862  he  was  made  Captain  of  the  9th 
Minnesota  regiment,  and  became  Major, 

William  S.  King  ot  Minneapolis,  was  born,  Dec.  16,  1828, 
at  Malone,  New  York.  He  has  been  one  of  the  most  active 
citizens  of  Minnesotn,  in  developing  its  commercial  and  agri- 
cultural interests.  For  several  years  he  was  Postmaster  of  the 
U.  S.  House  of  Representatives,  and  was  elected  to  the  44th 
Congress,  which  convened  in  1875.^ 

Jacob  H.  Stewart,  M.  D.  was  elected  to  the  45th  Congress,! 
which  convened  in  December,  1877.  He  was  born  Jan.  15thi 
1829,  in  Columbia  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  in  1851,  graduated  at  the 
University  of  New  York.  For  several  years  he  practiced 
medicine  at  Peekskill,  N.  Y.,  and  in  1855  removed  to  St.  Paul. 
In  1859  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  was  Chairman 
of  the  Railroad  Committee.  In  1864  he  was  Mayor  of  St. 
Paul.  He  was  Surgeon  of  First  Minnesota,  and  taken  prisoner 
at  first  battle  of  Bull  Run.  From  1869  to  1873  he  was  again 
Mayor  of  St.  Paul. 

UNITED  STATES  SENATORS. 

Henry  M.  Rice,  who  had  been  for  four  years  delegate  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  was  on  the  19th  of  December,  1857, 
elected  one  of  two  U.  S.  Senators.'  During  his  term  the  civil 


ConoreMionai  Vote,  1873. 

ist  Dlsl— M.  H.  Dunnell,  Rep 20,371    M.S.  WUklnMu,  Ind.  Rep 10,841 

2d  Dlst— H.  B.  Strait    Uep 16,287    (J.  Graham.  Democrat 10,832 

4d  Dlst— J.  T.  Averill,  £ep 19,182   O.  L.  Beckur,  Democrat 12,009 

1  ConfrreasUmal  VoU  of  1874. 

Horace  B.  Strait,  Rep 13,742   E.  St.  J,  Cox,  Democrat 13,621 

W.  0.  King.Rep 17,177   E.  M.  Wilson,  Democrat is.ow) 

3  Congressional  Vote  of  1876. 

,T.  H.  Stewart,  Rep 22,823   MoNaIr,  Dem 20,727 

H.  B.  Strait,  Rep 19,730    Wilder,  Dem 14,900 

M.  H,  Duunell,  Rep 26.910   Stacy,  Dem 16,06fi 

3  Vote  for  U.  S.  Senator,  Dec.  19, 1867. 

Henry  M.  Rloe,  Democrat 86   David  Cooper,  Republican 60 

James  Sliieldi,  Democrat 66   H.  D.  Hufl,  Republican 64 


709 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


war  began,  and  he  rendered  efficient  service  to  the  Union  and 
the  State  he  represented.  For  notices  of  Mr.  Rice,  see  Gen- 
eral Index. 

James  Shields,  elected  at  the  same  time  as  Mr.  Rice  to  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  drew  the  short  term  of  two  years.* 

Morton  S.  Wilkinson^  was  chosen  by  a  joint  convention  of 
the  Legislature,  on  Dec.  15,  1859,  to  succeed  General  Shields. 
During  the  rebellion  of  the  Slave  States  he  waa  a  firm  sup- 
porter of  the  Union.  He  served  as  Chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Revolutionary  Claims,  and  was  one  of  the  Committee 
on  Indian  Affairs. 

Alexander  Ramsey^  was  elected  by  the  Legislature,  on  the 
14th  of  Jonuary,  ISeS,*  as  the  successor  of  Henry  M.  Rice.  He 
served  on  Naval,  Post  Office,  Pacific  Railroad,  and  other  im- 
portant committees.  The  Legislature  of  1869'*  re-elected  Mr. 
Ramsey  for  a  second  term  of  six  years,  ending  March,  1875. 

Daniel   S.   Norton^   was    on    January    10,  1865,  elected 


1  James  Shields  came  from  Ireland  In 
1820,  a  lad  ol  sixteen  years  of  aKe.  In 
1812  he  opened  a  lawyer's  ofllce  at  Kas- 
kaskla,  111.  In  1843  he  was  appointed 
Judge  of  the  Illinois  Supreme  Court, 
and  In  1845  was  made  Commissioner 
of  the  U.  8.  Land  Office,  Washington. 
During  the  Mexican  War  he  was  a  Brig- 
adier General,  and  distinguished  him- 
self by  gallant  services.  In  1849  he  was 
elected  United  States  Senator  from  Illi- 
nois, and  served  six  years.  In  18M  he 
came  to  Minnesota.  After  his  brief 
term  as  Its  representative.  General 
Shields  removed  from  Minnesota.  He 
was  for  a  time  a  General  In  the  Army  of 
the  Union  during  the  rebellion  of  tlie 
Slavu  States,  and  Is  now  a  resident  of 
Missouri. 

2  Morton  S.  Wilkinson,  on  January  22, 
1819,  was  born  at  Bkaneateles,  N.  V. 
After  studying;  law,  be  settled  at  Eaton 
Rapids,  Mlc'iigan,  and  In  1847,  came  to 
Minnesota.  He  was  a  member  In  1849, 
«I  the  first  Territorial  Legislature.   In 


1808  he  was  elected  to  the  U.  S.  House 
of  Representatives,  and  since  tlien  he 
has  represented  Blue  Earth  county,  in 
which  he  resides.  In  the  State  Senate. 

3  Alexander  Ramsey  :  for  notices  o( 
see  General  Index. 

4  Vottfor  U.  S.  Senator.      " 

Alexander  Ramsey,  Republican 4S 

A.  G.  Chatfteld,  Democrat 17 

6  Vole  for  U.S.  Senator,  iseo, 

Alex.  Ramsey,  Rep 62 

0.  W.  Nash.Dem 14 

6  Daniel  8.  Norton,  on  April  12,  1829, 
was  born  in  Mt.  Vernon,  Knox  County, 
Ohio,  and  was  educated  at  Kenyon  Col- 
lege. He  served  wltii  the  2d  Ohio  regi- 
ment In  the  Mexican  War.  In  1848  he 
became  a  law  stiulunt,  and  in  186U  went 
to  California,  and  from  thence  to  Nica- 
ragua. Returning  to  Ohio,  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1862,  and  in  1855 
removed  to  Minnesota.  lu  1857,  18fio, 
1863,  and  1864,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Minnesota  Senate,  and  of  the  Minne- 
sota House  of  Bepri^sentattves  in  1862, 


VOKTOV,  WUmOU,   M  HILLAN. 


to  the  United  States  Senate,  as  the  successor  of  Mr. 
Wilkinson.*  Mr.  Norton,  having  offended  the  party  by 
whom  he  was  elected,  its  members  manifested  their  dis- 
pleasure, in  the  Legislattire  of  1867,  by  the  passage  of 
resolutions  requesting  him  to  resign,  which  were  unnoticed 
by  the  Senator,  who  felt  that  ho  did  not  go  to  Washington  to 
be  a  blind  instrument.  Mr.  Norton,  who  had  been  in  feeble 
health  for  years,  died  in  June,  1870. 

0.  P.  Stearns^  was  elected  on  January  17,  1871,  for  the  few 
weeks  of  the  unexpired  terra  of  Mr.  Norton. 

William  Windom,  so  long  a  member  of  the  U.  S.  House  of 
Representatives,  was  elected  U.  S.  Senator  for  a  term  of  six 
years,  ending  March  4, 1877,  and  has  been  re-elected  for  a 
second  term  ending  March  4,  1883.^ 

S.  J.  R.  McMillan*  of  St.  Paul,  on  the  19th  of  February, 
1875,  was  elected''  U.  S.  Senator  for  the  term  expiring  March 
4th,  1881.        .  •  ..,,--  ,-.,..... 


1  Vote  for  United  State*  Senator. 

Daniel  B.  Norton,  Hep 46 

James  C.  George,  Dein 13 

2  O.  P.  Steams,  on  January  IB,  1832, 
was  born  at  De  Kalb,  St.  Lawrence  Co., 
New  York.  In  1858  he  graduated  In 
literature  at  University  o(  Michigan, 
and  in  1800  finished  bis  studies  in  the 
Law  School  of  that  Institution.  The 
same  year  be  settled  at  Kochester, 
Minnesota.  He  entered  as  a  private 
soldier  of  the  9th  Minnesota  Regiment, 
and  was  appointed  in  April,  1864,  Colo- 
nel of  39th  Begt,  U.  S.  Colored  Troops, 
and  was  present  at  the  attack  on  Fort 
Fisher,  and  Petersburg. 


3  Vote  for  U.IS.  Senator,  1877, 

WUllam  Windom.  Kep «6 

M.  8.  Wilkinson,  Dem 36 

4  S.  J.B.McMlllan  was  bom  at  Browns- 
ville, Pa.,  and  in  1846  completed  his  aca- 
demic education  at  Duquesue  College, 
Pittsburg.  He  studied  law  In  the  offlce 
of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  late  Secretary  of 
War,  and  In  1849  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  In  1862  he  settled  at  Stillwater,  and 
In  18fi7  was  elected  Judge  of  1st  Judicial 
District.  From  1864  to  1874  he  was  an 
Associate  Ju.stlceof  the  Supreme  Couit, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  election  to  the 
V.  8.  Senate,  was  Chief  Justice. 
5  VoUfor  V.  8.  Senator,  1876. 

8.  J.  B.  McMillan,  Bep K 

Wm.  Lochren,  Dem 61 


;:     -hi'- i  '  yxftl   nwr  lA1r(^l'^i?.^'M)t.■^-" 

-"  HV-..-,.(,..4l*W*^,4l  #-Vf.v,5«  t.u,!«v.   t'i:i..it/,.... 
.".■"r.,.  ..if.  .,.Y'.(.-f,-.w»'4  ??   ■  .«l';,^T.....,, 

-''S^ .....^whi^ifM.  •  - 


794 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Henry  Poehler  waa  born  at  Lippe  Detmold,  Germanj',  on 
the  22d  of  August,  1833,  and  came,  in  1S48,  to  the  United 
States.  After  living  in  Iowa  for  some  time,  he  removed  to 
Minnesota,  and  settled  at  Henderson,  Sibley  County. 

Twice  he  was  elected  to  the  Minnesota  House  of  Represent- 
atives, and  twice  to  the  State  Senate.  In  November,  1878, 
he  was  nominated  by  the  Democratic  party  for  the  U.  S. 
House  of  Representatives,  and  elected.^ 

William  Drew  Washburn  was  born  on  January  14th,  1831, 
at.  Tirermore,  Maine.  In  1854  he  graduated  at  Bowdoin  Col- 
lege, and  in  1857  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  this  year  was 
appointed  Agent  of  the  Minneapolis  Mill  Company.  In  1861 
he  was  commissioned  U.  S.  Surveyor  General  for  Minnesota. 
In  November,  1878,  he  was  elected,  for  the  Third  District,  a 
member  of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives. 

At  the  election  in  November,  1880,  Marie  fl.  Dunnell,  Henry 
B.  Strait,  and  William  D.  Washburn  were  elected  members 
of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives'  for  the  Congress  which, 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1883,  expires.  .    , ,,  ..^.^ 


HEADS  OF  DEPARTMENTS  OF  XT.  8.  GOVERNMENT. 


''■'?' 


Alexander  Ramsey,  appointed  Secretary  of  War  by  Presi- 
dent Hayes,  to  take  the  place  of  Judge  McCrary,  and  in  office 
until  March  4,  1881. 

William  Windom,  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  by 
President  Garfield.  The  fall  of  1881  b  ^  resigned,  having  been 
returned  to  the  U-  S.  Senate  by  the  Mmnesota  Legislature. 

'        ■   ■       ■  ...  ,.~-„.     ,;  ■:■'-.■.     I-    .'u;  -   ■ 

J.     OOHOBBmOVAI.  yOTB,  1878. 
Jtrat  DitlrUA-ii.  H.  Dunnell,  Bep...l8,613    Third  i>MrM— W.  D.  Washburn,  R.a0,9tt 

—  Meigben,  Dem 12,84S  I.  DonDelly,  D 17,929 

Aoond  iNKriei— H.  Poehler,  Dem  ...U,Wi 
H.  B.  Strait,  Bep...a3,748 


n.    coNOBBBgioirAi.  von,  1880. 

JVm  yUtriei-W.  H.  DunneU 22,892    Second  DidHct-H.  B.  Sb«U „,24,588 

WeMi 18,768  H.  Poehle- a 18,707 

WMd 7,M0    Third  Diibriet^Yf.  D.  Woshb  im 36,428 

H.  H.  Siblqr 28,804 


ermany,  on 


MEMBRRB  OP  CXJNQBESe.  i  795- 

f"?'^  RECi^PITULATION.     ' 'i 


TBaBITOULA.L  DBLEOATES. 


Henry  H.  Sibley,   - 
Henry  M.  Rice, 
W.  W.  Kingsbury, 


-  1849  to  December,  1853 

-  1853  to  December.  18*^7 

-    1867  to  May,  1868 


U.  8.  HOUSE  OF  BEPBESEKTATIVES. 


W.  W.  Phelps,      - 
J.  M.  Cavanagh.     - 
William  Wiudom,  - 
Cyrus  Aldrich, 
Ignatius  Donnelly, 
Morton  S.  Wilkinson, 
Eugene  M.  Wilson, 
M.  H.  Dunnell,       - 
J.  T.  Averill, 
H.  B.  Strait, 
W.  S.  King, 
Jacob  H.  Stewart,  - 
Henry  Poehler, 
W.  D.  Washburn,  - 


Dec.  1858  to 

"  1858  to 

"  1^59  to 

"  1859  to 

"  1863  to 

"  1869  to 

"  1869  to 

"  1871 

"  1871  to 

"  1871 

"  1875  to 

"  1877  to 

"  1879  to 

"  1879 


Dec,  185^ 

"     1859 

"     1870 

"     1868 

"     186» 

"     1871 

"     1871 

(in  office) 

Dec.  1875 

(in  office) 

Dec.  1877 

"     1879 

"     1881 

(in  office) 


^!«*tii*'-'"'1^| 


U.  S.  SENATORS. 


,'ft 


% 


Vashburn,  B.aO.942 
lelly  D 17.9W 


Henry  M.  Rice, 
James  Shields, 
Morton  S.  Wilkinson, 
Alexander  Ramsey, 
Daniel  S.  Norton,  - 
0.  P.  Steams, 
William  Windom  - 
A.  J.  Edgerton,      - 
S.  J.  R.  McMillan, 


-  1857  to  1868—  6  years^ 

-  1857  to  1859—  2  years. 

-  1859  to  1865—  6  years. 

-  1863  to  1875—12  years. 
1865  to  1870— died  in  June. 

-  1871 — a  few  weeks. 

-  1871~in  office. 

-  1881 — a  few  months. 

-  1876— in  office. 


796 


HISTOET  OF  MINNESOTA. 

GOVERNORS  OF  MINNESOTA. 


IlIBBITOBIAL. 


Alexander  Ramsey, 
Willis  A.  Gorman, 
Samuel  Medary, 


-  March,  1849,  to  May,  1853 

-  May,  1863,  to  April,  1857 

-  April.  1857,  to  May,  1858 


STATE. 


Henry  H.  Sibley, 
Alexander  Ramsey,    - 
Henry  A.  Swift, 
Stephen  Miller, 
William  R.  Marshall, 
Horace  Austin, 
Cushman  K.  Davis,    - 
John  S.  Pillsbury,      - 
L.  F.  Hubbard, 


U-l 


May,  1858,  to  January,  1860 
January,  1860,  to  July,  1863 
July,  1863,  to  January,  1864 
January,  1864,  to  Jan.  1866 
January,  1866,  to  Jan.  1870 
January,  1870,  to  Jan.  1874 
January,  1874,  to  Jan.  1876 
January,  1876,  to  Jan.  1882 
January,  1882,        (in  office) 


cv.  >■■».     l\t 


X^'"i 


»;V.rl 


.Mu'A.  ,-B  .V? 


■•  '-•-  ■'•!  .?  .'T 


."ft ',  f 


:u-      *  1' 


-   .li'-r-  ,,'i    ,-•;   ;..;..,,lt 


lABLT  MAPS  OF  UPPEB  HmSISSIPPI. 


797 


.-.7     ,.).i  t 

'.  'H  ' 

APPENDIX  A. 

PAGE  XLV 

■fm 


EARLY  CHAETS  OF  LAKE  8UPEB  f/B  AND  UPPER  MISSISSIPPI. 

In  the  Parliament  library  "it  Ottawa,  there  are  tracings  of 
several  now  rare  maps  in  the  archives  at  Paris.  One  by 
Du  Val,  based  upon  Champlain's,  prepared  in  1664,  shows  an 
isle  of  copper  between  the  isles  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Igrace,  in 
the  upper  extremity  of  Lake  Huron,  and  places  the  Nadouessss 
about  the  Falls  of  Saint  Mary. 

Randin,  an  engineer  in  the  service  of  Govtmor  Frontenac, 
visited  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior  before  Du  Luth, 
and  had  interviews  with  the  Sioux  and  Ojibwt.ys.  At  the 
request  of  Frontenac  he  prepared  ^  map  ot  the  country,  and 
Harrisse  mentions  that  he  called  the  river  Mississippi,  after 
the  family  name  of  the  Govirnor  of  Canada,  " Buade,"  and 
the  region  west  of  Lake  Superior,  also  in  compliment  of  the 
Governor,  "  Frontenacie."  J/nif  it*-' v;m 

There  is  also  a  tracing  in  the  Parlian^ent  library  at  Ottawa 
of  an  unpublished  map  in  the  archives  of  the  tVeuch  Govern- 
ment, prepared,  apparently,  before  A.  D  1673,  by  Joliet  and 
Franquelin,  which  culls  the  Wisconsin  the  Riviere  Miscou,  and 
above,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  marks  "  Mine  de  fer," 
then  a  river  with  an  island,  and  thereon  the  word  "  Siou." 
Above  this,  on  the  same  side,  are  marked  the  following  tribes : 
Thanetsa,  Pintoua,  NapapatS,  SapikSti,  Chaiena,  AgalomitS, 
8bsit8a,  Alempigouak.  To  the  north  of  Lake  Superior  is 
marked  Lac  Assinibonels.  This  is  the  only  map  which  repre- 
sents ihe  Cheyennes  at  their  old  home,  and  is  the  first  attempt 
to  trace  the  Mississippi  above  the  Wisconsin.  The  sign  like 
a  figure  8,  in  the  names,  is  a  contraction  for  on. 

Gravier  in  1880,  published,  at  Paris,  an  original  map  of 
Joliet  (often  written  Jolliet),  prepared  in  1674,  which  marks 
the  Assiniboelii  as  uorth  of  Lake  Superior,  and  the  Naduues- 


Wl 


798 


.n-i     HISTORY  OF   MTWNESOTA.  i.'lA?r 


siz  between  that  lake  and  the  Mississippi,  which  is  called, 
"  Riviere  de  Buade."  In  Lake  Superior  Isle  Royale  and  those 
at  La  Pointe  appear,  bat  without  any  names,  and  the  whole 
region  north  of  the  Wisconsin  River,  is  marked,  "  La  Fron- 
tenacie." 

Harrisse  also  states  that  in  the  library  of  the  "  Depot  de 
Cartes  de  la  Marie,"  Paris,  there  is  a  map  of  1682,  with  the 
discoveries  of  Du  Luth.  The  Mississippi  is  represented  as 
rising  in  the  country  of  the  Tintouha,  not  far  from  which  is 
marKed  a  tree  with  the  inscription,  '"  Arms  of  the  king  graven 
on  this  tree  in  the  year  1679."  Harrisse  mentions  that  there 
is  a  beautiful  oval  drawing  in  the  corner  of  this  map,  with  the 
Virgin  Mary  hovering  above,  holding  a  cross  with  the  motto, 
"  In  hoc  Signo  Vinces." 

The  next  year,  A.  D.  1683,  a  map  appeared  with  Hennepin's 
"  Description  of  Louisiana,"  which  appears  to  have  been  the 
former,  with  a  few  alterations.  The  same  tree  appears  with 
the  arms  of  the  king  of  France,  but  the  year  1679  is  omitted. 
In  the  same  vicinity  appears  a  house,  marked,  "  Missions  des 
Recollects,"  far  beyond  where  Hennepin  claimed  to  have  been, 
and  a  region  which  no  priest  had  ever  visited.  The  cartouche  on 
this  map  is  also  an  oval,  within  which  is  the  inscription,  "  (Jarte 
de  la  Nouvelle  France  et  de  la  Louisiana,  nouuellemeut  decou- 
urte,  dediee  au  Roy,  An.  1683,  Par  le  Reuerend  Pere,  Louis 
Hennepin,  Missionaire  Recollect  et  Notaire  Apostolique." 
w.  The  inscription  is  surrounded  by  an  embellished  desigp 
In  the  place  of  a  virgin  carrying  a  cross  with  the  motto,  '*  In 
hoc  Signo  Vinces,"  as  in  the  map  of  1682,  appears  a  cross  with 
"La  Triomphe  de  la  Louisiane"  printed  above,  and  at  a  right 
angle  with  the  feet  on  the  cross,  a  flying  angel  wita  flaming 
sword  expelling  the  Evil  One,  the  demon  of  unbelief 

FEAifQUBLIK's  MAP,  A.  D.   1688. 

One  of  the  most  complete  of  the  unpublished  maps  in  the 
French  archives  is  that  of  J.  B.  Franquelin,  and  was  prepared 
in  A.  D.  1688,  for  Louis  the  Fourteenth.  Before  this  he  had 
made  several  other  charts,  as  the  hydrographer  of  France,  re- 
sidiuff  at  Quebec.    As  early  as  A.  D.   1683,   GoA'ernur  de  la 


FEANQtTELINT  8  MAP. 


799 


BRf 


Barre  wrote  to  the  Minister  of  Marine,  "The  map  of  the 
country  I  have  had  prepared  for  you,  will  give  you  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  every  thing,  and  the  means  of  interesting  his 
Majesty  therein.  The  young  man  who  made  these  maps  is 
named  Franquelin.  He  is  as  skillful  as  any  in  France,  but 
exceedingly  poor,  and  in  need  of  a  little  aid  trom  his  Majesty 
as  an  engineer;  he  is  at  work  on  a  very  correct  map  of  the 
country,  which  I  shall  send  you  next  year,  in  his  name." 

The  map  of  1688,  a  section  of  which  is  reduced,  and  accom- 
panies this  edition  of  the  History  of  Minnesota,  has  this  title: 
"  Carte  de  V  Araerique,  Septentrionale,  depuis  le  25  jusqu'au 
65  degre  de  latitude  e  environ  140  et  235  degre  de  longitude,  con- 
tenant  le  paysde  Canada,  ou  la  Nouvelle  France,  la  Louisiane, 
la  Floride,  Virginie,  Nouvelle  Suede,  Neuvelle  York,  Nouvelle 
Angleterre,  Acadie,  et  iie  de  Terre  Neuve.  4  feuilles.  1688." 
An  examination  of  the  part  presented  will  show  that  the  term 
Kamanistigouian  was  applied  to  the  Three  Rivers,  the  outlets 
of  the  chain  of  lalces  which  form  the  northern  boundary  of 
Minnesota.  It  is  the  only  map  we  have  seen  which  marks 
Du  Luth's  post  on  Lake  Nepigon,  Fort  La  Tourttte,  estab- 
lished after  his  first  post  at  Kamanistigouia.  It  differs  from 
the  early  printed  maps  in  making  one  of  the  small  streams 
below  the  Grand  Portage  the  Grosilliers  River.  It  also  shows 
the  trading  post  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Saint  Croix  River,  to 
which  Belliu  alludes,  as  abandoned.  It  names  the  post  estab- 
lished by  Perrot,  at  the  time  of  his  first  visit  to  Lake  Pepin, 
Port  St.  Autoine,  and  correctly  marks  'is  situation  on  the  Wis- 
consin side,  a  short  distance  above  the  Chippeway  River.  It 
also  marks  where  the  first  party  of  L'errot  wintered  above  Black 
River,  and  the  first  trading  post  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  called,  in 
compliment  to  Perrot's  baptismal  name,  Fwrt  St.  Nicholas, 
and  marks  the  trail  by  which  voyageurs  stt  that  early  period 
came  from  Lake  Superior,  by  way  of  the  Montreal  River,  to 
the  portage  of  Wisconsin.  In  notices  of  Du  Luth  and  Perrot, 
further  allusion  will  be  made  to  this  interesting  chart,  which 
settles  several  hitherto  doubtful  points. 

LATER  MANU80RIPT  MAPS. 

From  the  publishtid  ^^  Transactions  of  the  Department  of 


^i'ih 


800 


HISTORY   OP  MINNESOTA. 


American  History  of  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society"  for 
1879,  is  extracted  the  following  from  the  November  pro> 
ceedings  :  v'.^-  r* '■"■  J't  - 

^'Rev.  Edward  D.  Neill  deposited  tracings  of  several  maps, 
and  read  a  brief  description.  The  maps  deposited  are  copies  ot 
unpublished  tracings  in  the  archives  of  the  French  govern- 
ment, which  illustrate  the  genesis  of  the  northern  route  to 
the  Pacific,  west  of  Lake  Superior. 

ochagach's  map. 

"Ochagachs,  an  intelligent  Indian,  assured  Pierre  Gaultier 
de  Varenne,  known  as  the  Sieur  Verendrye,  in  1728,  while  he 
wad  stationed  at  Lake  Nepifjon,  north  of  Lake  Superior,  that 
there  was  a  communication,  largely  by  water-,  west  of  Lake 
Superior  to  the  great  sea,  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

"The  route  rudely  drawn  by  this  Indian  and  others,  \.  i 
placed  before  the  Governor  of  C«.  \da,  and  about  1730,  sent  to 
France.  The  map  places  the  French  post,  Kamanestigouia, 
first  establisned  by  DuLnth  and  reopened  in  171T  by  Robertel 
de  la  Noue,  where  Fort  Willian  now  stands.  Pigeon  river  is 
called  Mantohavagane.  Lac  Lisakanaga  appears,  and  Rainy 
Lake  is  marked  Tecameraiouen  The  river  St.  Louis,  of  Min- 
nesota, is  called  the  K..  fond  du  L.  Superieur,  and  the  Indians 
appear  to  have  passed  from  the  headwaters  of  the  St.  Louis  by 
portages  to  Rainy  Lake.  The  western  extremity  of  the  map 
shows  a  river  called  the  River  of  the  West  and  a  ridge  called 
Montagnes  de  Pierres  Brillantes. 

"The  French  geographer,  Bellin,  in  his  'Remarks  upon 
the  Map  of  North  America,'  publi3hed  in  1755,  at  Paris,  alludes 
to  this  unpublished  sketch  of  Ochagach,  or  Otchaga,  and  states 
that  it  was  the  earliest  drawing  of  the  region  west  of  Lake 
Superior,  in  the  Depot  de  la  Marine. 

•  veeendrye's  sketch,  a.  d.  1737. 
"This  unpublished  chart  shows  Red  Lake,  of  Northern 
Minnesota,  and  the  point  of  the  Big  Woods  in  the  Red  River 
valley.  The  source  of  the  Mississippi  is  a  lake  southwest  of 
Red  Lake.  It  also  marks  Fort  St.  Pierre,  on  the  west  shore 
of  Rainy  Lake,  established  by  Jemeraye,  the  nephew  of  Veren  ■ 


Society"  for 
member  pro- 

BTeral  maps, 
are  copies  ot 
nch  govern- 
srn  route  to 

arre  Gaultier 
r28,  while  he 
uperior,  that 
vest  of  Lake 

1  others,  \.  i 
1730,  sent  to 
lanestigouia, 
by  Robertel 
geoa  river  is 
8,  aail  Rainy 
louis,  of  Mia- 
l  the  Indians 
i  St.  Louis  by 
y  of  the  map 
a  ridge  called 

jmarks  upoa 
Paris,  allud»: 
,ga,  and  states 
west  of  Lake 


of  Northern 
he  Red  River 

southwest  of 
le  west  shore 
lew  of  Verea  ■ 


DB  LA  JBVERATE  8  MAP. 


801 


drye,  in  the  fall  of  1731;  Fort  St.  Charles,  on  the  west  shore 
of  the  Lake  ol  the  Woods,  established  the  next  year,  and  Port 
Maiirepas,  established  ia  1731^,  near  the  entrance  of  T-  ike 
Winnipeg.  West  of  the  Mississippi  appears  the  great  nver 
of  the  nation  of  the  Couhatchalle,  intended  for  the  Missouri, 
and  beyond  this  is  the  country  of  the  Hiattcheriting. 

"  The  map  was  prepared  under  the  direction  of  Pierre  Va- 
rennea,  the  Sieur  Verendrye,  and  was  sent  to  France  by  Gov. 
Beauharuois,  of  Canada. 

V.'    >.-  •K>.i  ^  ^^  ^^  JEMERATES  MAP,        ,    ,,^    .  ,,  i      .  .":■  •.<■ 

"  The  map  drawn  by  De  la  Jemeraye  contains  the  names  of 
posts  established  after  Verendrye's  sketch  was  sent  to  France, 
De  la  Jemeraye,  or  Gemerais,  was  a  brother  of  Mary  Marga- 
ret, the  widow  of  Francis  Youville,  the  devout  woman  who 
founded  the  order  of  the  Grey  Siste»6  and  a  hospital  at  Mon- 
treal, and  their  mother  was  a  sister  of  Sieur  Verendrye.  Under 
hia  uncle's  direction,  he  was,  in  1731,  among  the  first  to  ad- 
vance from  the  Grand  Portage  of  Lake  Superior  by  way  of 
the  Nalaouagon,  Groselliers  or  Pigeon  River,  to  Rainy  Lake, 
and  from  thence  the  next  year  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods. 

"  In  addition  to  the  posts  on  Verendrye's  sketch,  is  marked 
Fort  Rouge,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Assiuniboine,  at  its 
junction  with  the  Red  River,  opposite  the  present  Fort  Garry; 
and  on  the  Assinniboine,  not  many  miles  westward,  is  Fort  la 
Reine,  which  was  established  as  an  advanced  post  on  the  third 
of  October,  1738;  and  at  the  head  of  Lac  des  Prairies,  now 
Manitoba,  is  marked  Fort  Dauphin;  and  on  the  northwest 
ehore  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Riviere  aux 
Biches,  is  Fort  Bourbon. 

"  The  Sioux  are  marked  as  dwelling  at  the  headwaters  of 
Fond  du  Lac,  now  St.  Louis  river,  and  the  Tkonachipouans 
around  Red  Lake,  in  Minnesota,  with  the  Assinuiboines  to  the 
west  of  Red  River.  The  Assinniboine  is  marked  St.  Chfu-les, 
in  compliment  to  Charles  Beauharnois,  Governor  of  Canada, 
and  a  tributary,  St.  Pierre,  after  Pierre  Verendrye. 

"At  the  bottom  of  the  map,  in  French,  is  a  statement  to 
this  eifect : 


-^ii^ 


8)2 


HISTORY  OP  MINNKdOTA. 


'"Chart  of  one  part  of  Lake  Superior,  with  the  discovery 
from  tlie  Grand  Portage,  marked  A,  up  to  the  'barriers'  (on 
the  Winnipeg  River.)  Fort  St.  Charles  is  built  at  Lake  ol 
the  Woods,  and  at  liainy  Lake,  a  fort  whieh  bears  the  name 
of  the  lake. 

"  '  The  fort  at  Rainy  Lake  is  about  47  deg.  21  rain.  lat. 
.    " '  The  Grand  Portage  is  about  47  deg.  21  min.  lat. 

'"  Fort  at  Canianestigouia  is  about  47  deg.  27  min.  lat.       i 
.     " '  Fort  Lake  of  the  Woods  is  about  48  deg.  27  min.  lat.    ;  i 

"  '  The  Barriers  of  Winnipeg  is  about  49  deg.  lat. 

" '  The  river  from  the  Grand  Portage  to  the  Falls  of  Win- 
nipeg, lately  discovered,  is  marked  in  color,  the  other  rivers, 
upon  the  report  of  Indians,  was  drawn  by  M.  Do  la  Jemeraye.' 

"  The  additions  beyond  Lake  Winnipeg  appear  to  have  been 
subsequently  added. 


U\ 


ANOTHER  MAP. 


■  'h'>h\ 


"  The  fourth  map  exhibited  is  called  a  'C  i.art  of  the  western 
portion  of  Canada,  showing  the  recent  discoveries  of  French 
officers  west  of  Lake  Superior,  with  the  rivers  and  lakes  alluded 
to  by  Jemeraye  in  his  Relation  of  Hudson  Bay.' 

"  It  is  more  extended  and  prepared  at  a  later  period  than 
the  others,  and  is  similar  to  those  published  before  A.  D.  1750. 
It  shows  Sault  Ste.  Marie  on  the  east,  and  the  Sea  of  the  West 
as  the  western  boundary.  Its  northern  limit  is  Hudson  Bay, 
and  the  southern  portion  shows  Ouisconsing  and  Moingona 
rivers.  Pigeon  river  is  called  the  Nalaouagon,  and  the  Red 
River  flows  from  Red  Lake.  The  Poskoyac  River,  now  Sas- 
katchewan, is  marked  with  mountains  around  its  supposed 
source.  All  the  forts  appear  which  are  on  the  Jemeraye  map. 
The  Bourbon,  now  Nelson  River,  is  marked  as  flowing  into 
Hudson  Bay  near  the  mouth  of  St.  Theresa,  named,  says  Char- 
levoix, after  Grosellier's  wife,  now  called  Hayes'  river.  One 
hundred  leagues  southeasterly,  enters  the  New  Severn,  or 
St.  Huite's  River." 


GK03RLLIKRS  A 


-rV4Hj 


ORoain.TiTiiiw,  rauissom,  menahd. 


808 


•■M"i.  ..!      API»END1X  B.    PAGE  107.      ,      ;<       ,.  ' 

OUOSKLLIERB  AND  BADIHSCi.^ — THB  ROUTB  OP  FATHER  MENARD— 
REFUGEE  HURON8. 

The  first  white  men  in  Minnesota,  of  whom  we  have  any 
record,  were  according  to  Qurneau,  two  persons  of  Huguenot 
affinities,  Medard  Chouart,  known  as  Sieur  Qroselliers  and 
I'ierre  d'Esprit,  called  Sieur  Riidiason. 

Groselliers  (pronounced  Gro-zay-yay)  was  born  near  Perte- 
80U8-Jouarre,  eleven  miles  east  of  Meaux.in  France,  and  when 
about  sixteen  years  of  age,  in  the  year  1641,  came  to  Canada. 
The  fur  trade  was  the  great  avenue  to  prosp(<rity,  and  in  1646 
he  was  among  the  Huron  Indians,  who  then  dwelt  upon  the 
eastern  shores  of  Lake  Huron,  bartering  lor  peltries.  On  the 
second  of  September,  1647.  at  Quebec,  he  was  married  to  Helen, 
the  widow  of  Claude  EUenne,  who  was  the  daughter  of  a  pilot, 
Abraham  Martin,  whose  baptismal  name  is  still  attached  to 
the  Huburi'  'f  that  city,  the  "Plain  of  Abraham,"  made 
famous  by  1.  death  thero.  of  General  \^'olfe,  of  the  English 
army,  in  175'J,  md  of  Geii-ral  Montgomer  ■,  of  the  Continental 
army,  in  December,  1775,  at  the  beginning  of  the  "  War  for 
Independence."  Inl6(!t.  he  sited  Prance.  His  son,  Medard, 
was  born  in  1651,  and  Tangiiay  gives  the  same  year  as  the 
date  of  hip  'nother's  death.  After  her  death,  thf  father  went 
to  Acadia,  .vhere  he  met  the  celebrat  '1  La  Tour.  Upon  his 
return,  on  th»'  24th  of  August,  1653,  ne  married  at  Quebec, 
another  widow,  Grand  -  Menil,  only  tv/enty  -  one  years  old, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Margar^'^  Hayet  Radisson,  *he  sister 
of  his  associate  in  the  exploration  of  the  Sioux  country.  His 
tl'-st  child  by  this  wife,  was  born  at  Three  Rivers,  July  25th, 
■j')54  ;  the  second,  Maria  Anna  was  born  August  7th,  1657; 
t'\  third,  Marguerite,  was  born  April  15th,  1659  ;  the  fourth, 
M  .rie  Antoinette,  June  7th,  1661,  and  the  fifth,  Marie  Jeaue, 
iii  '662. 

These  births  show,  that  his  visits  to  the  Indian  country  were 

periodic. 

RAmssoN'*         . 

Pierre  d'Esprit,  the  Sieur  Radisson  was  born  at  St.  Malo, 

and  came  to  Paris  when  a  boy,  and  from  thence  to  Canada, 


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801 


HISTORY  OF  MIIITKESOTA. 


and  at  Three  Rirem,  in  1656,  married  Elizabeth,  the  daughter 
of  Madeleine  HainauU,  and  after  her  death,  the  daughter  of 
Sir  John  Kirk,  or  Kertk,  a  zealous  Huguenot,  became  hia  wife. 
In  1654.  as  Sergeant-Major,  he  was  residing  at  Three  Rirers, 
on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

While  in  1659-60  Qroselliershad  intercourse  with  the  Assin- 
niboines.  and  heard  of  the  chain  of  lakes  reaching  to  Winni- 
peg, there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  ascended  the  rivers  that 
flow  into  Lake  Superior  at  its  western  eztreD\iiy.  In  August, 
1660,  Qroselliers  returned  from  the  region  soithwest  of  Lake 
Superior,  and  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month  again  departed 
from  Three  Rivers  with  his  companion,  Radisson,  and  six 
Frenchmen  besides  the  Jesuit,  Menard,  and  his  servant,  Jean 
Guerin.  Daring  the  fall  of  1660,  or  the  winter  of  1661,  he 
seems  to  have  been  at  Nepigon,  and  Perray,  a  Frenchman, 
about  this  time  found  the  tributaries  of  a  river  which  led  north- 
easterly to  Hudson's  Bay. 

In  the  spring  of  1662,  Groselliers  was  at  Qtieboc,  pnd  left 
on  the  2d  of  May,  with  a  parley  of  ten  men,  on  an  overland 
expedition  to  the  Sea  of  the  North,  as  Hudson's  Bay  was 
called. 

Returning  from  Hudson's  Bay,  be  made  suggestions  which 
appeared  chimerical.  A  disagreement,  in  consequence  occur- 
ring between  Groselliers  and  his  partners  in  Quebec,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Paris,  and  from  thence  to  London,  where  he  was 
introduced  to  Prince  Rupert,  the  nephew  of  Charles  I.,  who 
led  the  cavalry  charge  against  Fairfax  and  Cromwell  at  Naseby, 
afterwards  commander  of  the  English  fleet.  The  prince  lis- 
tened with  pleasure  to  the  narrative  of  travel,  and  endorsed 
the  plans  for  prosecuting  the  fur  trade  and  seeking  a  north- 
west passage  to  Asia.  The  scientific  men  of  England  were 
also  full  of  the  enterprise,  in  the  hope  that  it  would  increase 
a  knowledge  of  nature.  The  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Society 
wrote  to  Robert  Boyle,  the  distinguished  philosopher,  a  too 
sanguine  letter.  His  words  were,  "  Surely  I  need  not  tell  you 
from  hence  what  is  said  here,  with  great  joy,  of  the  discovery 
of  a  northwest  passage,  and  oy  two  Englishmen  and  one 
Frenchman  represented  to  his  Majesty  at  Oxford,  and  an- 


OAPTAIX  GILLAM  OF  BOSTON. 


806 


«wered  by  the  grant  of  a  vessel  to  sail  into  Hudson's  Bay  aud 
channel  into  the  South  Sea," 

The  ship  Nonsuch  was  fitted  out,  in  charge  of  Captain  Zach- 
ary  Gillaiii,  a  son  of  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Boston,  and 
in  this  vessel  Groselliers  and  Radisson  left  the  Thames  in  June, 
1668,  and  in  September  reached  a  tributary  of  Hudson's  Bay. 
The  next  year,  by  way  of  Boston,  they  returned  to  England, 
and  in  1670,  a  trading  company  was  chartered,  still  known 
among  venerable  English  corporations  as  *''  The  Hudson's 
Bay  Company." 

The  Reverend  Mother  of  the  Incarnation,  Superior  of  the 
Ursulines  of  Quebec,  in  a  letter  of  the  27th  of  August,  1670, 
writes  thus:  *'It  was  about  this  time  that  a  Frenchman  of  our 
Touraine,  name  Les  Groselliers,  married  in  this  country,  and, 
as  he  had  not  been  successful  in  making  a  fortune,  was  seized 
with  a  fancy  to  go  to  New  England  to  better  his  condition. 
He  excited  a  hope  among  the  English  that  he  had  found  a 
passage  to  the  Sea  of  the  North.  With  this  expectation,  he 
was  sent  as  envoy  to  England,  where  there  was  given  to  him 
a  vessel,  with  crew  and  every  thing  necessary  for  the  voyage. 
With  these  advantages  he  put  to  sea,  and,  in  place  of  the  usual 
route,  which  others  had  taken  in  vain,  he  sailed  in  another 
direction,  and  searched  so  wide  that  he  found  the  grand  Bay 
of  the  North.  *  •  •  *  *  JJe  has  taken  possession  of 
this  great  region  for  the  king  of  England,  and  for  his  personal 
benefit.  A  publication  for  the  benefit  of  this  French  adven- 
turer has  been  made  in  England." 

Gov.  Denonville  wrote  on  the  12th  of  February,  1668,  that 
he  had  appointed  De  Trois  to  go  to  the  Bay  of  the  North  to 
establish  posts,  and  especially  to  arrest  Radisson  and  associ- 
ates, and  in  November,  1681,  Gov.  Frontenac  alludes  to  Radis- 
son, "who  is  married  in  England." 

RENE  MSKARD,  JB8UIT  MISSIOITART. 


When  in  August,  1660,  Groselliers  and  Radisson  left  Mont- 
real to  return  to  trade  in  the  Lake  Superior  region,  they  were 
accompanied  by  eight  persons,  one  of  whom  was  the  devoted 


806 


HT8T0BT  OF  MUTNESOTA. 


priest.  Rene  Menard,  who  appears  to  have  stopped  near  what 
is  still  called  Huron  Bay,  in  the  vicinity  of  Keweenaw. 

An  examination  of  Franquelin's  map  of  A.  D.  1688,  shows 
an  Indian  trail  from  Lake  Superior  by  the  Menomonee  River 
to  Green  Bay,  and  another  from  the  headwaters  of  the  Mont- 
real River  to  the  portage  between  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin 
Rivers. 

Nicholas  Perrot,  who  was  a  young  man  at  this  time,  gives 
the  following  description  of  Menard's  journey  to  the  Hurons 
by  way  of  the  Mississippi:  '*  Father  Menard,  who  was  sent  as 
missionary  among  the  Outaouas,  accompanied  by  certain 
Frenchmen  who  were  eoing  to  trade  with  that  people,  was 
left  by  all  who  were  with  him  except  one,  who  rendered  to 
him  until  death,  all  of  the  services  and  help  he  could  have 
hoped. 

"  The  Father  followed  the  Outaouas  to  the  Lake  of  the  lUi- 
noets  [now  Michigan],  and  in  their  flight  to  the  Louisiana 
[Mississippi]  to  above  the  Black  River.  There  the  missionary 
had  but  one  Frenchman  for  a  companion.  This  Frenchman 
carefully  followed  the  route,  and  made  a  portage  at  the  same 
place  as  the  Outaouas"!  If  this  statement  is  correct,  Menard's 
canoe  floated  on  the  Mississippi  twelve  years  before  it  was 
disturbed  by  the  paddles  of  Joliet  and  Marquette. 

THB  PLIGHT  OF  THE  HURONS. 


About  the  year  1650  the  Iroquois,  of  New  York,  drove  the 
Hurons  from  their  villages,  and  they  were  merged  with  their 
friends  the  Tinontates,  called  by  the  French,  Petuns,  because 
they  cultivated  tobacco.  In  time  the  Hurons  and  Ottawa^ 
were  again  driven  by  the  Iroquois,  and  found  a  temporary 
residence  on  the  isles  of  Lake  Michigan  at  Green  Bay.  After- 
wards they  came  to  the  Mississippi,  and  ascending  above  the 
Wisconsin,  they  went  west  to  the  Ayoes  [loway]  villages,  but 
were  not  pleased  with  a  treeless  region. 

Retracing  their  steps,  they  ascended  the  Mississippi,  and 
were  met  by  some  of  the  Sioux,  who  were  much  pleased  with 
the  axes  and  knives  of  European  manufacture  which  they  re- 


HVR0K8  IN  WISCONSIN. 


807 


ceived  from  them,  and  allowed  them  io  ^ottle  upon  an  island 
about  nine  miles  below  the  site  of  Hastings. 

Possessed  of  fire-arms  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas  asserted 
their  superiority,  and  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  Sioux,  and 
were  compelled  to  leave.  Descending  the  Miosissippi,  below 
Lake  Pepin,  they  reached  the  Black  River,  and  the  Hurons 
made  a  retreat  in  the  lake  and  marsh  region  between  the 
sources  of  that  and  the  Ghippeway  River,  while  the  Ottawas 
advanced  to  Lake  Superior,  and  settled  at  Ghagouamikon, 
near  the  modern  Bayfield,  and  there  cultivated  Indian  corn 
and  squash,  aud  engaged  in  fishing.  They  hunted  along  the 
lake  towards  Kioncouan  (Keweenaw)  and  traded  with  the 
Nepissings  and  Amikouets  at  Lake  Almibegon  (Nepigon). 

On  one  occasion,  about  A.  D.  1662,  the  Ojibways  and  Otta- 
was and  their  allied  bands,  went  toward  Sault  St.  Marie,  to 
catch  white-fish,  and  perceived  smoke,  which  the  Ojibways 
ascertained  ascended  from  a  camp  of  one  hundred  Iroquois. 
Carefully  approaching,  the  Ojibways  and  their  associates  com- 
pletely defeated  their  ancient  foes,  and  the  point  where  they 
were  camped  is  to  this  day  known  as  Iroquois  Point,  which  is 
seen  by  the  traveler  on  a  steamboat  after  he  passes  around  the 
Falls  of  St.  Mary  and  enters  Lake  Superior. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Iroquois,  the  Ojibways  and  Ottawas 
returned  in  triumph  to  Keweenaw  and  La  Pointe,  and  here 
they  quietly  remained  until  some  Hurons  went  to  hunt  in  the 
territories  of  the  Sioux,  fifty  or  sixty  leagues  to  the  westward. 
The  Sioux  captured  some  and  took  them  to  their  villages,  but 
did  not  kill  them,  but  sent  them  away  with  present*),  and 
asked  them  to  come  again.  The  invitation  was  accepted,  and 
the  Sinagos  Chief  of  the  Ottawas,  with  four  Frenchmen  and  a 
number  of  his  band  entered  the  Sioux  country,  and  were  re- 
ceived with  honor  and  cordiality,  and  they  came  back  to  La 
Pointe  well  pleased  with  their  visit. 

After  this  some  Hurons  went  again  to  hunt  in  the  Sioux 
country,  and  were  taken  prisoners  by  some  ot  the  Sioux  young 
men.  The  Chiet  who  had  entertained  the  Sinagos  Chief  wa* 
indignant,  demanded  their  release,  and  went  in  person  to  La 
Pointe  to  make  explanations.    With  fivehien  and  one  woman 


808 


BISTORT  OF  Uiy^BSOTA. 


he  reached  the  Sinagos  village,  and  then  the  Hurons  proved 
tricky  and  treacherous,  and  persuaded  the  Chief  of  the  Siuagos 
band  of  Ottawas  to  put  him  to  death. 

Fear  now  compelled  the  Hurons  to  fly  to  Mackinaw.  The 
next  year  they  went  down  to  Montreal  and  sold  their  furs  for 
the  munitions  of  war,  and  returning  to  Lake  Superior  with 
the  Sinagos  Chief  and  the  Chief  of  the  Sauks,  of  Green  Bay, 
and  some  Foxes  and  Pottawattomies,  they  pushed  into  the 
Sioux  country,  and  destroyed  some  small  villages.  The  Sioux 
afterwards  rallied  in  torce,  routed  them  and  took  the  Sinagos 
and  Sauk  Chief  prisoners. 

Sinagos  was  reproached  for  his  perfidy,  and  in  bitter  irony 
he  was  told  that  he  would  not  be  put  to  death,  as  he  had 
killed  their  Chief,  while  on  a  friendly  visit.  They  then  took 
slices  from  his  own  body,  broiled  them,  and  fed  him  upon  his 
own  flesh  until  he  died.  A  Pawnee  slave  which  was  taken, 
was  returned  to  his  own  tribe.  About  A.  D.  1670  these  events 
occurred.  Traders  and  missionaries  followed  the  Hurons  and 
their  allies  to  Keweenaw,  Sault  St.  Marie  and  Mackinaw. 

In  1674,  some  Sioux  warriors  came  down  to  Sault  St.  Marie, 
to  make  a  treaty  of  peace  with  adjacent  tribes.  A  friend  of 
the  Abbe  de  Gallinee  wrote  that  a  council  was  had  at  the  fort, 
to  which  "the  Nadouessioux  sent  twelve  deputies,  and  the 
others  forty.  During  the  conference,  one  of  the  latter,  knife 
in  hand,  drew  near  the  breast  of  one  of  the  Nadouessioux,  who 
showed  surprise  at  the  movement,  when  the  Indian  with  the 
knife  reproached  him  for  cowardice.  The  Nadouessioux  said 
he  was  not  afraid,  when  the  other  planted  the  knife  in  his 
heart,  and  killed  him.  All  the  savages  then  engaged  in  con- 
flict, and  the  Nadouessioux  bravely  defended  themselves,  but 
overwhelmed  by  numbers,  nine  of  them  were  killed.  The  two 
who  survived  rushed  into  the  chapel  and  closed  the  door. 
Here  they  found  munitions  of  war,  and  fired  guns  at  their 
enemies,  who  became  anxious  to  burn  down  the  chapel,  but 
the  Jesuits  would  not  permit  it,  because  they  had  their  skins 
stored  between  its  root  and  ceiling.  In  this  extremity,  a 
Jesuit,  Louis  De  Boeme,  advised  that  a  cannon  should  be 


DKCLim  OF  jEsnn  missions. 


m 


pointed  at  the  door,  which  was  discharged,  and  the  two  brave 
Sioux  were  killed." 

Governor  Fronteuac,  of  Canada,  v;a3  indignant  at  the  occur, 
rence,  and  in  a  letter  to  Colbert,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Louis 
the  Fourteenth,  speaks  in  condemnation  of  this  discharge  of  a 
cannon  by  the  consent  of  a  brother  attached  to  the  Jesuit 
mission. 

From  this  period,  the  missions  of  the  Church  of  Rome  near 
Lake  Superior  began  to  wane.  Shea,  a  devout  historian  of 
that  church,  writes:  "In  1680,  Father  Eojalran  was  appa. 
rently  alone  at  Green  Bay,  and  Pierson  at  Mackinaw;  the  lat- 
ter mission  still  comprising  the  two  villages,  Huron  and 
Eiskakon.  Of  the  other  missions,  neither  Le  Clerq  nor  Hen- 
nepin the  Recollect,  writers  of  the  West  at  this  time,  makes 
any  mention  or  in  any  way  alludes  to  their  existence,  and  La 
Houtau  mentions  the  Jesuit  missions  only  to  ridicule  them." 


APPENDIX  C.    PAGE  121. 


DANIEL  aaSYSOLOK  DU  LUTH. 

'^^  Upon  the  authority  of  La  Hontan  in  the  Fifth  Chapter, 
Lyons  is  mentioned  as  Du  Luth's  birth  place,  but  Harris-se 
writes  that  he  was  born  at  St.  Germain  en  Laye,  a  few  miles 
from  Paris. 

Du  Luth's  first  post  was  built  fifteen  leagues  northeast  of 
Qrosellier's  river,  at  Kamanistigoya,  or  Three  Rivers.  Baraga, 
in  his  dictionary,  defines  the  modern  Ojibway  word,  Ningita- 
witiarweiag  as  "  The  place  where  the  river  divides  into  several 
branches." 

On  the  6th  of  April,  1679,  while  in  the  woods  on  the  south 
shore  of  Lake  Superior,  nine  miles  beyond  Sault  St.  Marie,  he 
writes  to  Governor  Frontenac,  that  he  "will  not  stir  from  the 
Nadouessioux  until  further  orders,  and  peace  being  concluded, 


«10 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


he  will  set  ap  the  king's  arms,  lest  the  English  and  other 
Europeans,  settled  towards  California,  take  possession  of  the 
country." 

Reaching  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  he  probably  entered 
the  Sioux  country  by  the  Fond  du  Lac,  or  St.  Louis  River,  and' 
visited  the  great  village  of  the  Sioux  Kathio,  perhaps  at  Sandy 
Lake.  An  account  of  his  explorations  will  be  found  on  the 
one  hundred  and  twekty-second  page.  Upon  his  return  to 
Canada  he  continued  in  trade  with  his  uncle  Patron. 

Du  Chesneau,  the  Intendant  of  Justice  for  Canada,  on  the 
18th  of  November,  1681,  wrote  to  the  Marquis  de  Siegnelay, 
in  Paris,  "  Not  content  with  the  profits  to  be  derived  from  the 
king's  dominion,  the  desire  of  making  money  everywhere, 
has  led  the  Governor  [Frontenac],  Boisseau,  Dulut,  and  Pat- 
ron, his  uncle,  to  send  canoes  loaded  with  peltries,  to  the 
English.  It  is  said  sixty  thousand  livres'  worth  has  been  sent 
thither;"  and  he  further  stated  that  there  was  a  very  general 
report  that  within  five  or  six  days,  Frontenac  and  his  associates 
had  divided  the  money  received  from  the  beavers  sent  to  New 
England. 

At  a  conference  in  Quebec  of  some  of  the  distinguished  men 
in  that  city,  relative  to  difficulties  with  the  Iroquois,  held  on 
the  10th  of  October,  1682,  Du  Luth  was  present. 


LA  SALLE  8  DISPARAGEMENT  OF  DU  LUTH. 

The  discovery  of  the  water  route  from  Lake  Superior  to  the 
Mississippi,  through  the  Saint  Croix  River  by  DuLuth  caused 
La  Salle  to  look  upon  him  as  a  rival,  and  in  a  letter  written 
to  France  in  August,  1682,  he  sought  to  disparage  the  discov- 
erer. After  narrating  that  Aecault,  or  Ako,  and  his  associates, 
Hennepin  and  Du  Qay,  in  ascending  the  Mississippi,  passed 
the  Ouisconsin,  or  "  Meschets  Odeba,"  perhaps  intended  for 
Meshdeke  Wakpa,  River  of  the  Foxes,  and  the  "  Black  River» 
called  by  the  Nadouassioux,  Chabadeba,"  (Chapa  Wakpa,  or 
Beaver  River)  and  the  Buffalo,  now  Chippewa  River,  he  con- 
tinues : 

"  Thirty-eight  or  forty  leagues  above  you  find  the  river  by 
which  Sieur  Du  Luth  discovered  the  Mississippi.    He  had  been 


LA  BALLl  JXALOUB  OF  DULDTH. 


8U 


for  three  years,  contrary  to  orders,  on  Lake  Superior,  with  • 
band  of  coareurs  des  hois;  he  had  borne  himself  bravely,  pro- 
claiming everywhere  that  at  the  head  of  his  brave  fellows  he 
did  not  fear  the  Grand  Prevost,  and  that  he  would  compel  an 
amnesty.  The  coureurs  des  bois,  whom  he  was  tbe  iirst  to 
induce  to  raise  the  mask,  have  been  and  have  returned  to  the 
settlements  several  times,  loaded  with  goods  and  peltries,  of 
which,  during  that  time,  they  drained  Lake  Superior,  every 
entrance  to  which  they  besieged,  and  this  year  they  have  pre- 
vented the  Outaouacs  from  descending  to  Montreal. 

"  While  he  was  at  Lake  Superior,  the  Nadouesioux,  enticed 
by  the  presents  that  the  late  Sieur  Randin  had  made  on  the 
part  of  Count  Frontenac,  and  the  Sauteurs  [Ojibways],  who 
are  the  savages  who  carry  the  peltries  to  Montreal,  and  who 
dwell  on  Lake  Superior,  wishing  to  obey  the  repeated  orders 
of  the  Count,  made  a  peace  to  unite  the  Sauteurs  and  French, 
and  to  trade  with  the  Nadouesioux  situated  about  sixty  leagues 
to  the  west  of  Lake  Superior.  Du  Luth,  to  disguise  his  deser- 
tion, seized  the  opportunity  to  make  some  reputation  for  hiwr 
self,  sending  two  messengers  to  the  Count  to  negotiate  a  truce, 
during  which  period  the  comrades  negotiated  still  better  for 
beaver. 

"  Several  conferences  were  held  with  the  Nadouesioux,  and  a& 
he  needed  an  interpreter,  he  [e>\  off  one  of  mine,  named  Fafifart, 
formerly  a  soldier  at  Fort  Frontenac.  During  this  period 
there  were  frequent  visits  between  the  Sauteurs  [Ojibways] 
and  Nadouesioux,  and  supposing  it  might  increase  the  number 
of  beaver  skins,  he  sent  FafiPart  by  land,  with  the  Nadouesioux 
and  Sauteurs  [Ojibways].  The  young  man  on  his  return, 
having  given  an  account  of  the  quantity  of  bea.  ar  in  that  re- 
gion, he  wished  to  proceed  thither  himself,  and,  guided  by  a 
Sauteur  and  a  Nadouesioux  and  four  Frenchmen,  he  ascended 
the  river  Nemitsakouat,  where,  by  a  short  portage,  he  de- 
scended that  stream,  whereon  he  passed  through  forty  leagues 
of  rapids  [Upper  St.  Croix  River]  and  finding  that  the  Nadoue- 
sioux were  below  with  my  men  and  the  Father  who  had  come 
down  aguin  frora  the  village  of  the  Nadouesioux,  he  discov- 
wed  them.    They  went  up  again  to  the  village,  and  from 


812 


HISTOBT  OF  HUrKBSOTA. 


thence  they  all  together  came  down.  They  returned  by  the 
river  Ouisconsing,  and  came  back  to  Montreal,  where  Dii  Luth 
insulta  the  commissaries,  and  the  deputy  of  the  'procureur 
general/  named  d'Auteuil.  Count  Frontenao  had  him  arrested 
and  imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  Quebec,  with  the  intention  ot 
returning  him  to  France  unless  the  amnesty  accorded  to  the 
coureurs  des  bois  did  not  release  him. 

"  To  know  the  said  Du  Luth,  it  is  only  necessary  to  inquire 
of  M.  Dalera.  He  pretends  to  have  made  a  remarkable  dis- 
covery, and  asks  this  country,  as  above  the  Illinois  in  advan- 
tage, which  is  very  laughable,  that  he  expects  a  reward  for  his 
rebellion. 

"Secondly,  there  are  only  three  routes  to  go  there;  one  by 
Lake  Superior,  another  by  the  Baye  des  Puans,  the  third  by 
the  Islinois,  and  the  lands  of  my  commission.  Tlie  first  two 
are  doubtful,  and  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  open  the  third  to 
him  to  my  disadvantage,  he  having  without  expense  and  risk 
gained  much,  while  I  have  been  exposed  to  great  hardship, 
peril  and  loss;  by  the  Islinois  there  is  for  him  a  detour  of 
three  hundred  leagues. 

"  Moreover,  the  country  of  the  Nadouesibux  is  not  a  country 
which  he  has  discovered.  It  has  been  long  known,  and  the 
Rev.  Father  Hennepin  and  Michael  Accault  were  there  before 
him.  The  first,  one  of  my  soldiers,  whom  he  enticed  away. 
Besides,  the  region  is  not  habitable,  unfit  for  cultivation,  there 
being  only  marshes  full  ot  wild  rice  on  which  the  people  live, 
and  no  advantage  can  be  had  from  this  discovery,  whether  it 
is  attributed  to  my  men  or  Da  Luth,  because  the  streams  are 
not  navigable. 

"But  the  king  having  granted  us  the  trade  in  buffalo  skins, 
it  would  be  destroyed  by  coming  and  going  to  the  Nadoue- 
sioux  by  any  other  way  than  Lake  Superior,  through  which 
the  Count  de  Frontenac  can  send  to  procure  beaver,  according 
to  the  power  which  he  has  to  grant  licenses." 

DU  lute's  bbplt  to  this  dispabaokment. 

Du  Luth  determined  to  meet  the  charges  which  had  been 
made  against  him,  and  in  ^he  fall  of  1682  went  to  France.    He 


Lake 


■H 


DU  LUTH  8  VISIT  TO  PARIS. 


818 


was  in  Paris  in  the  winter  of  1683,  when  Hennepin's  first 
book  appeared,  and  there,  prepared  an  account  of  his  explora- 
tions in  Minnesota,  for  the  Marquis  de  Seignelay,  the  Minister 
of  Marine,  which  remained  in  manuscript  until  published  by 
Harrisse,  in  1873,  in  his  "  Notes  pour  servir  a  I'Historie,"  etc. 

The  following  translation  is  appended  to  Shea's  Hennepin, 
and  in  several  particulars  directly  contradicts  the  Recollect 
Father  as  well  as  La  Salle.  Harrisse  givns  A.  D.  1685,  as  the 
date  of  the  letter,  and  is  followed  by  Shea,  which  is  a  mistake. 
It  was  written  in  1683,  when  Du  Luth  was  in  France;  in  1686 
he  was  in  the  Lake  Superior  region. 
Monseiokeuk: 

After  having  made  two  voyages  from  here  to  New  France, 
when  all  the  people  there  were  then,  did  not  believe  it  possible 
to  discover  the  country  of  the  Nadouecioux  nor  have  any  trade 
with  them,  both  on  account  of  their  remoteness,  which  is  more 
than  800  leagued  from  our  settlements,  and  because  they  were 
generally  at  war  with  all  kinds  of  nations. 

This  difficulty  made  me  form  the  resolution  to  go  among 
them,  a  project  which  I  could  not  then  carry  out,  my  affairs 
having  compelled  me  to  return  to  this  country,  when,  after 
having  made  the  campaign  of  Franche  Gomte  and  the  battle  of 
Senef,  where  I  had  the  honor  of  being  a  gendarme  in  his 
Majesty's  guard,  and  squire  of  the  Marquis  de  Lassay,  oar 
ensign,  I  sot  out  to  return  to  Quebec,  where  I  had  no  sooner 
arrived  than  the  desire  which  I  had  already  had  to  carry  out 
this  design  increased,  and  I  began  to  take  steps  to  make  my- 
self known  to  the  Indians,  who,  having  assured  me  of  their 
friendship,  and  in  proof  thereof  given  me  three  slaves,  whom 
I  had  asked  from  them  only  to  accompany  me,  I  set  out  from 
Montreal  with  them  and  three  Frenchmen,  on  the  first  of 
September  in  the  year  1678,  to  endeavor  to  make  the  discovery 
of  the  Nadouecioux  and  Assenipoulaks,  who  were  unknown  to 
us,  and  to  make  them  make  peace  with  all  the  nations  around 
Lake  Superior,  who  live  under  the  sway  of  our  invincible 
monarch. 

I  do  not  think  that  such  a  departure  could  give  occasion  to 
any  one  whatever  to  charge  me  with  having  contravened  the 


«14 


HIBTORT  OV  MlMlIBBOrA. 


orders  of  the  king  in  the  year  1676,  sincD  he  merely  forbid  all 
his  subjects  to  go  into  the  remote  foniB  ;s  there  to  trade  with 
the  Indians.  This  I  have  never  done,  nor  have  I  even  wished 
to  take  any  presents  from  them,  althoiigl-.  they  have  repeatedly 
thrown  them  to  me,  which  I  have  alway^s  refuted  and  left,  in 
order  that  no  one  might  tax  me  with  liaving  carried  on  any 
indirect  trade. 

"On  the  2d  of  July,  1679, 1  had  the  honor  to  plant  his 
Majesty's  arms  in  the  great  village  of  the  Nadouecioux  called 
Izatys,  where  never  had  a  Frenchman  ')een,  no  more  than  at 
the  Songaskitons  and  Houetbatons,  distant  six  score  leagues 
from  the  formsr,  where  I  also  planted  his  Mnjesty's  arms,  m 
the  same  year,  1679. 

"  On  the  16th  of  September,  having  f  iven  the  Agrenipoulaks 
as  well  as  all  the  other  northern  nations  a  rendezvous  at  the 
extremity  of  Lake  Superior,  to  induce  them  to  make  peace 
with  the  Nadouecioux,  their  commc  n  enemy,  they  were  all 
there,  and  I  was  happy  enough  to  gain  their  esteem  and 
friendship,  to  unite  them  together;  ar,d  in  order  that  the  peace 
might  be  lasting  among  them,  I  taough'c  that  I  could  not 
cement  it  better  than  by  inducing  ihe  nations  to  make  recip- 
rocal marriages  with  each  other,  "this  I  could  not  effect  with- 
out great  expense.  The  foUowinf;  winter  I  made  them  hold 
meetings  in  the  woods,  which  I  attend'jd,  in  order  that  they 
might  hunt  together,  give  banquets,  and,  by  this  means  con- 
tract a  closer  friendship. 

"  The  presents  which  it  cost  me  to  -induce  the  Indians  to  go 
down  to  Montreal,  who  had  been  diverted  by  the  Apenagaux 
and  Abenakis  at  the  instigation  o'l  the  English  and  Dutch 
who  made  them  believe  that  the  plague  raged  in  the  French 
Settlements,  and  that  it  had  spread  as  far  as  Nipissingue, 
where  most  of  the  Nipissirinian^  had  died  of  it,  have  also 
entailed  a  greater  expense. 

"  In  June,  1680,  not  being  satisfied  with  having  made  my 

discovery  by  land,  I  took  two  canoes,  with  an  Indian,  who 

was  my  interpreter,  and  four  Frenchmen,  to  seek  means  to 

make  it  by  water.    With  this  view  I  eutered  a  river  which 

•empties  eight  leagues  firom  the  extremity  of  Lake  Superior  on 


DU  LTTTH   MIKTS  HKKNKFtK. 


81S 


the  south  side;  where,  after  having  out  some  trees  and  broken 
about  a  hundred  beaver  dams,  I  reached  the  upper  waters  of 
the  said  river,  and  then  I  made  a  portage  of  half  a  league,  to 
reach  a  lake  the  outlet  of  which  fell  into  a  very  fine  river, 
which  took  me  down  to  the  Mississippi.  Being  there,  I  learned 
from  eight  cabins  of  Nadouecioiix  whom  I  met,  that  the  Rev- 
erend Father  Louis  Hennepin,  Recollect,  now  .it  the  convent 
of  Ut.  Germain,  with  two  other  Frenchmen,  had  been  robbed 
and  earned  ofiP  as  slaves  for  more  than  300  leagues,  by  the 
Nadoueci'.>ux,  themselves. 

"  Thk  intelligence  surprised  me  so  much  that,  without  hesi- 
tating, I  left  two  Frenchmen  with  these  said  eight  cabins  of 
Indians,  as  well  as  the  goods  which  I  had  to  make  presents, 
and  took  one  of  the  said  Indians,  to  whom  I  made  a  present, 
to  guide  me,  with  my  interpDter  and  two  Frenchmen,  to  where 
the  said  Reverend  Father  Louis  was;  and  as  it  was  a  good  80 
leagues,  I  proceeded  in  a  canoe  two  days  and  two  nights,  nnd 
the  next  day  at  ten  o^clock  in  the  morning,  I  found  him  with 
about  1000  or  1100  souls.  The  want  of  respect  which  they 
showed  to  the  said  Reverend  Father  provoked  me  ;  and  this  I 
showed  them,  telling  them  that  he  <vas  my  brother.  And  I 
had  him  placed  in  j^r  c»moe,  to  come  with  me  into  the  villages, 
to  the  said  Nadouf vJioux ;  whither  I  took  him,  and  in  which,  a 
week  after  our  arrival  there,  I  caused  a  council  to  be  convened 
exposing  the  ill  treatment  which  they  had  been  guilty  of.  both 
to  the  said  Revei-end  Father  and  to  the  other  two  Frenchmen 
who  were  with  him;  having  robbed  them  and  carried  them  oflF 
as  slaves,  and  even  taken  the  priestly  vestments  of  the  said 
Reverend  Father.  I  had  two  calumets  which  they  had  danced 
to  them,  returned  to  them  on  account  of  the  insult  which 
they  had  offered  to  them,  being  what  they  hold  most  in  esteem 
among  them  to  appease  matters;  telling  fhem  I  did  not  take 
calumets  from  people,  who,  after  they  had  seen  me  and  received 
my  peace  presents,  and  been  for  a  year  -'ways  with  French- 
men, robbed  them  when  they  went  to  visit  them. 

''Each  one  in  the  council  endeavored  to  throw  the  blame 
from  himself,  but  their  excuses  did  not  prevent  my  telling  the 
Reverend  Father  Louis  that  he  would  have  to  come  with  me 


810 


HIBTCRY  OF  MtKNESOTA. 


towards  the  Outagamys,  as  he  did;  snowing  him  that  it  would 
strike  a  blow  at  the  French  nation,  in  a  new  discovery,  to  suf- 
fer an  insult  of  this  nature  without  manifesting  resentment, 
although  my  design  was  to  push  on  to  the  sea  in  a  west  north- 
westerly direction,  which  is  that  which  is  believed  to  be  the 
Red  Sea  [Gulf  of  California],  whence  the  Indians  who  had 
gone  warring  on  that  side  gave  salt  to  three  Frenchmen  whom 
I  had  sent  exploring,  and  who  brought  me  said  salt,  having 
reported  to  me  that  the  Indians  had  told  them  that  it  was 
only  twenty  days'  journey  from  where  they  were  to  find  the 
great  lake  of  which  the  watere  were  worthless  to  drink.  This 
has  made  me  believe  that  it  would  not  be  absolutely  difficult 
to  find  it,  if  permission  would  be  given  to  go  there.  However* 
I  preferred  to  retrace  my  steps,  manifesting  to  them  the  just 
inc'fgnatiou  which  I  felt  against  them  rather  than  to  remain 
after  the  violence  which  they  had  done  to  the  Reverend  Father 
and  the  other  two  Frenchmen  who  were  with  him,  whom  I 
put  in  my  canoes,  and  brought  them  back  to  Michelimakinak, 
a  mission  of  the  Reverend  Jesuit  Fathers;  where,  while  winter- 
ing together,  I  learned  that'-,  far  from  being  approved  for  what 
I  was  doing,  consuming  my  property  and  risking  my  life  daily, 
I  was  regarded  as  the  chief  of  a  band;  although  I  never  had 
more  than  eight  men  with  me. 

"  It  wa"  not  necessary  to  tell  me  more  to  induce  me  to  set  out 
over  the  ice,  on  the  29th  of  March  in  tho  year  1681,  with  the 
said  Reverend  Father  and  two  other  Frenchmen,  having  our 
canoe  aud  provisions  dragged  along,  in  order  to  reach  our 
settlements  as  soon  as  possible,  and  to  make  manifest  the  up- 
rightness of  my  conduct,  having  never  been  in  a  humor  to 
wish  myself  withdrawn  from  the  obedience  which  is  due  to 
the  king's  orders. 

"  I  accordingly  proceeded  to  our  settlements  three  months 
before  the  amnesty,  which  it  has  pleased  his  Majesty  to  grant 
to  his  subjects  who  might  have  contravened  his  orders,  had 
arrived;  but  the  Intendent  was  unwilling  to  hear  any  request 
that  I  might  have  been  able  to  present  to  him. 

'^  As  to  the  manner  in  which  I  lived  on  that  voyage,  it  would 
be  superfluous  for  me  to  expatiate  on  the  subject,  and  to  annoy 


DU  LUTH  STATIONED  AT  MACKINAW. 


817 


your  Grace  by  a  long  story,  being  convinced  that  thirteen 
original  letters  from  the  Reverend  Nouvel,  Superior  of  the 
Outaouais  missions;  the  Reverend  Father  Enjolran,  missionary 
of  Saint  Francis  de  Borgias;  the  Reverend  Father  Bailloquet. 
missionary  of  Sainte  Marie  du  Sault,  and  the  Reverend  Father 
Pierson,  missionary  of  the  Hurons,  at  St.  Ignace,  all  Jesuits 
will  suffice,  on  the  whole,  to  inform  your  Grace  amply  and' 
fully." 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1683,  DuLuth  had  returned  to  America, 
and  he  was  stationed  at  Mackinaw,  where  he  was  sent  by  Gov. 
De  la  Barre,  with  thirty  men  and  six  canoes,  to  visit  the  Illi- 
nois country;  which  La  Salle  considered  an  infringement  upon 
his  rights.  During  the  summer  of  this  year  he  formed  alli- 
ances with  the  Indians  who  came  down  to  the  west  and  north 
shores  of  Lake  Superior.  On  the  9th  of  November,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Canada  wrote  to  the  French  Government  that  these 
Indians,  "when  they  heard  by  expresses  sent  them  by  DuLhut, 
on  his  arrival  at  Missilimakinak,  that  he  was  coming,  they 
sent  him  word  to  come  quickly,  and  they  would  unite  with 
him  to  prevent  all  others  going  thither.  *  ♦  •  •  *  The 
English  of  the  Bay  [Hudson's  |  excite  against  as  the  savages, 
who  Sieur  Du  Lhat  alone  can  quiet." 

During  the  summer  of  1683,  two  traders,  Colin  Berthot  and 
Jacques  Le  Maire,  while  on  their  way  to  Keweenaw,  on  Lake 
Superior,  were  robbed  and  murdered.  On  the  24th  of  October, 
Du  Luth,  still  at  Mackinaw,  was  informed  that  one  of  the  ac- 
complices had  arrived  at  Sault  St.  Marie  with  fifteen  families 
of  Ojibways  who  had  fled  from  La  Pointe,  to  escape  from  the 
"  Nadouecioux,"  who  meditated  revenge  for  an  attack  they 
had  made  upon  them,  which  they  had  made  that  spring. 

The  next  day  after  Du  Luth  received  this  information,  he 
left  Mackinaw  in  a  canoe,  accompanied  by  Father  Engelran 
and  six  Frenchmen,  the  Chevalier  de  Fourcelle,  Cardonniere, 
Baribauld,  Le  Mere,  La  Fortune  and  Macons,  aud  at  Sault  St. 
Marie,  took  steps  for  the  arrest  of  the  other  murderers,  who 
were  near  Keweenaw. 

On  the  2'tth  of  November,  Perray,  at  ten  o'clock  at  night, 
arrived  with  the  iatelligence  that  he  had  brought  the  assas* 


61fi 


BISTORT  OP  IfnnVESOTA. 


sins,  and  left  them  at  a  point  four  leagues  distant.  The  next 
day  at  day-break  he  returned  with  four  men  to  the  prisoners, 
who  were  under  a  guard  of  twelve  Frenchmen,  and  at  two 
o'clock  the  same  afternoon  they  were  brought  to  Sault  St. 
Marie,  and  confined  in  a  room  of  the  house  Du  Luth  occupied. 
After  a  fair  trial  they  were  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to 
death.  One  was  pardoned,  and  on  the  29th  of  November,  the 
other  two  were  led  out  by  Du  Luth,  at  the  head  of  forty-two 
Frenchmen,  and  shot. 

During  the  winter  of  1683-4,  Du  Luth  was  at  a  post  fifteen 
leagues  above  what  is  known  as  the  Grand  Portage,  the  site 
of  what  is  now  Fort  William,  at  the  extremity  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior, La  Hontan,  in  "Memoires  de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale," 
printed  at  LaHaye,  1702,  writes,  "M.  Dulhut  had  established 
a  fort  with  pickets,  in  which  he  bad  a  store -house  filled  with 
goods,  and  the  fort  was  called  '  Camanistigoyan,'  and  inter- 
cepted the  trade  with  English  of  Hudson's  Bay." 

In  March,  1684,  a  band  of  Senecas  and  Gayugas  attacked 
seven  canoes  filled  with  goods  and  manned  by  fourteen  French- 
men, in  the  Illinois  country,  and  Governor  De  la  Barre,  of 
Canada,  deter^nined  to  punish  them,  and  sent  to  the  Lake 
Superior  region  for  Indian  allies. 

In  June,  of  this  year,  Du  Luth  was  at  Lake  Nepigon,  making 
presents  to  the  Indians,  to  prevent  their  trading  with  the 
English  at  Hudson's  Bay,  and  while  th^re,  M.  de  la  Croix, 
with  two  companions,  arrived  with  dispatches  from  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Canada,  and  letters  to  be  forwarded  to  the  son  of  Gro- 
selliers  stationed  at  Nelson  River,  In  the  month  of  July,  by 
way  of  Green  Bay,  he  came  to  Mackinaw,  and  from  thence  went 
to  Canada,  with  Indian  allies  for  the  Iroquois  war. 

On  the  10th  of  September,  1684,  having  arrived  at  the 
Portage  below  the  Teragon,  he  wrote  to  Gov.  De  la  Barre: 
"  As  I  was  leaving-  lake  Almepigon,  I  made  in  June,  all  the 
presents  necessary  to  prevent  the  savages  carrying  their  bea- 
vers to  the  English. 

"  I  have  met  the  Sieur  de  la  Croix,  with  his  two  comrades 
who  gave  me  your  dispatches,  where  you  tell  me  to  omit 
nothing  in  forwarding  your  letter  to  the  Sieur  Chouart  [Gro^ 


TORT  AT  LAKE  NEPIQON. 


819 


flelliera'  son],  at  Nelson  River.  To  carry  out  your  instruc- 
tions there  was  but  Mons.  Pere'  [Perray]  who  will  have  to  go, 
hinlself,  the  Savages  having  all,  at  that  time,  withdrawn  into 
the  interior,  to  secure  their  blueberries.  The  said  Mons.  Pere' 
will  have  left  m  August.  During  the  month  of  August  he 
will  have  remitted  your  letter  to  the  said  Sieur  Chouart. 

"  It  remains  for  me  to  assure  you  that  all  the  savages  of  the 
North  have  great  confidence  in  me,  and  this  enables  me  to 
promise  you  that,  before  the  lapse  of  two  years,  not  a  single 
savage  will  visit  the  English  at  Hudson's  Bay,  This  they 
have  all  promised,  and  have  bound  themselves  thereto  by  the 
presents  which  I  have  given  or  caused  to  be  given. 

'^The  Klistinos,  the  Assenipoulaos,  the  people  from  the 

Sapiniere,  the  0 ,  Dachiling,  the  Outouboulys  and 

Tabitibis,  which  comprise  all  the  nations  to  the  west  of  the 
Northern  Sea,  have  promised  to  be  next  spring  at  the  fort 
which  I  have  constructed  nepi  the  River  a  la  Maune,  at  the 
bottom  of  Lake  Almepigon,  and  next  summer  I  will  construct 
one  in  the  country  of  the  Kilistinos,  which  will  be  an  effectual 
barrier.  Finally,  sir,  I  wish  to  lose  my  life  if  I  do  not  abso- 
lutely prevent  the  savages  from  visiting  the  English.  ♦  •  • 
It  is  necessary,  to  carry  out  my  promises,  that  my  brother,  in 
the  early  spring,  should  go  up  again,  with  two  canoes  loaded 
with  powder,  lead,  fusils,  hatchets,  tobacco,  and  necessary 
presents." 

In  the  fall  of  1684,  Du  Luth  returned  to  the  Lake  Superior 
region,  and  Denonville,  the  Governor  of  Canada,  the  successor 
of  De  la  Barre,  under  date  of  the  12th  of  November,  1685,  wrote, 
"  I  likewise  wrote  to  M.  De  la  Durantaye,  who  is  at  Lake  Supe- 
rior, under  orders  from  M.  De  la  Barre,  and  to  Sieur  Du  Luth, 
who  is  also  at  a  great  distance  in  another  direction,  and  all  so 
far  beyond  reach  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  can  have 
news  from  us  this  year.  •  *  *  In  regard  to  Sieur  Du  Luth, 
I  sent  him  orders  to  repair  here,  so  that  I  may  learn  from  him- 
self the  number  of  savages  on  whom  I  may  depend;  he  is  ac- 
credited among  them,  and  rendered  great  services  to  M.  De  la 
Barre,  by  a  considerable  number  of  savages  he  brought  to 
Niagara." 


m 


820 


HIBTOBT  OF  MINNESOTA. 


In  the  early  autumn  of  1686,  English  traders  appeared  in 
the  waters  of  Lake  Huron,  and  were  captured  by  the  French, 
and  Duluth  was  sent  to  the  narrows  between  Lake  Huron  and 
Lake  Erie,  to  build  the  post  Fort  St.  Joseph,  as  a  barrier  to 
New  York  traders.  During  the  month  of  May,  ltt87,  Henry 
Tonty,  a  cousin  of  Du  Luth,  arrived  with  allies  from  Illinois, 
near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Detroit,  where  he  was  soon 
joined  by  Du  Luth  and  Durantaye,  who  came  down  from  Fort 
St.  Joseph,  the  site  of  the  modern  Fort  Gratiot,  with  allies  and 
also  some  English  prisoners.  From  this  point  they  journeyed 
together  to  Niagara,  and  on  their  way  captured  more  English 
traders,  under  Major  McGregory,  from  Albany. 

After  participating  in  the  battle  with  the  Senecas,  on  the 
18th  of  July,  near  the  site  of  the  town  of  Victor,  twenty  miles 
southeast  of  Rochester,  New  York,  preparations  were  begun 
for  the  return  voyage. 

Late  in  1686,  the  Governor  of  Canada  wrote  to  DuLuth, 
*•  If  you  can  so  arrange  your  affairs  that  your  brother  can  be 
near  you,  in  the  spring,  I  shall  be  very  glad.  Heia  an  intelli- 
gent lad,  and  might  be  of  great  assistance  to  you;  he  might, 
also  be  very  serviceable  to  us." 

This  lad,  Greysolon  de  la  Tourette,  reached  Canada  from  the 
Northwest,  after  the  conflict  with  the  Senecas.  Governor 
Denonville,  on  the  25th  of  August,  wrote,  "  Du  Luth's  brother, 
who  has  recently  arrived  from  the  rivers  above  the  Lake  ot  the 
AUempigons  [Nipegon],  assures  me  that  he  saw  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  persons  come  to  trade  with  him,  and  they  were 
very  sorry  he  had  not  goods  sufficient  to  satisfy  them.  They 
are  of  the  tribes  accustomed  to  reporf  to  the  English  at  Port 
Nelson  and  River  Bourbon,  where  they  say  they  did  not  go 
this  year,  through  Sieur  Du  Lhu's  influence." 

Upon  Franquelin's  map  of  1688  (facing  title  page),  Fort  La 
Tourette  is  marked  at  the  northeastern  extremity  of  Lake 
Alepimigon. 

In  September,  Du  Luth  returned  to  Fort  St.  Joseph,  and 
Lahontan  appears  to  have  been  in  charge  of  the  soldiers  who 
accompanied  him.  Lahontan,  in  one  of  his  letters,  writes,  "  I 
am  to  go  along  with  M.  Dulhut,  a  Lyons  gentleman,  and  a 


DU  LUTH  AT  FOB!  FBONIEKAO. 


821 


person  of  great  merit,  and  has  done  his  king  and  his  country 
very  considerable  services.  M.  de  Tonti  makes  another  of  our 
company." 

On  the  14th  of  September,  the  fort  was  reached,  which  La- 
faontan  describes  as  ^'  built  by  Du  Luth,  and  garrisoned  at  his 
own  charges,  by  the  coureurs  des  bois,  who  had  taken  care  to 
sow  some  bushels  of  Turkey  wheat."  Du  Luth  did  not  remain 
at  his  fort,  and  he  probably  accompanied  his  cousin,  Henry 
Tonty,  to  the  Illinois  country.  Joutel,  in  his  journal,  men- 
tions that  Tonty,  on  the  27th  of  October,  1687,  returned  with 
one  of  his  cousins  and  some  Frenchman  from  an  expedition 
against  the  Iroquois. 

After  Denonville  evacuated  Niagara,  Fort  St.  Joseph,  on  the 
27th  of  August,  1688,  was  abandoned,  and  the  buildings  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  In  1693,  Du  Luth  applied  for  a  concession  of 
Fort  Eamanistigoya.  A  certificate  still  preserved  among  the 
French  archives  shows  that  he  was  in  favor  of  prohibiting  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquor  to  the  Indians.  It  reads:  "  I  certify 
that  at  different  periods,  I  have  lived  almost  ten  years  among 
the  Ottawa  nation;  from  the  time  that  I  made  an  exploration 
to  the  Nadouecioux  people,  until  Fort  Saint  Joseph  was  estab- 
lished by  order  of  the  Monsieur  Marquis  Denonville,  Governor 
Oeneral,  at  the  head  of  the  Detroit  of  Lake  Erie,  which  is  in  the 
Iroquois  country,  and  which  I  had  the  honor  to  command. 

"  During  this  period,  I  have  seen  that  the  trade  in  eaude  vie 
(brandy)  produced  great  disorders;  the  father  killing  the  son, 
and  the  son  throwing  his  mother  into  the  fire;  and  I  maintain 
that,  morally  speaking,  it  is  impossible  to  export  brandy  to  the 
woods  and  distant  missions,  without  danger  of  its  producing 
misery." 

On  the  19th  of  July,  1695,  with  forty  men,  he  was  placed  in 
charge  of  Fort  Frontenac,  now  Kingston,  Canada,  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  Marquis  Grisafy,  deceased,  and  in  about  four  weeks  he 
erected  a  new  building,  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length, 
for  oflBcers'  quarters,  chapel,  bakery,  and  store-rooms.  While 
in  command  of  this  post,  he  thought  he  was  perfectly  cured 
of  the  gout  by  the  intercession  of  a  deceased  Iroquois  maiden, 
Saint  Catharine.    His  statement  upon  this  subject,  dated  the 


8i» 


HI810BY  OF  XIKNI80TA.. 


18th  day  of  August,  1696.  has  already  been  printed  upon  the 
one  hundred  and  forty -second  page.  But  he  had  a  relapse, 
as  one  writing  from  the  post  uses  these  words:  '"Every  body 
was  then  in  good  health,  except  Captain  Dulbut,  the  com- 
mander, who  was  unwell  of  the  gout."  The  Governor  ol 
Canada,  o:i  May  1, 1710,  wrote  to  France,  "Captain  DuLud 
died  this  winter." 


APPENDIX  D.    PAGE  127. 

NOTICE  OF  HBNKBPIN's  WRITINGS. 

The  first  account  of  Ako  and  Hennepin's  ascent  of  thi» 
Mississippi  was  written  by  La  Salle  in  August,  1682,  who  must 
have  obtained  his  information  from  Ako  or  Hennepin.  It  waR 
first  published  in  Paris,  in  1877,  in  the  2d  volume  of  the  Mar^ 
gry  Documents.  Among  the  differences  in  the  narrative  ot 
Hennepin  and  La  Salle  are  the  following: 


HBNNBPIK,  A.  D.  16S3. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1680,  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  we  Bud- 
denly  perceived  thirty -three  bark 
canoes,  manned  by  a  hundred  and 
twenty  Indians.  •  •  *  These 
brutal  men  were  leaping  irora  their 
canoes,  some  on  land,  others  into  the 
water,  with  frightful  cries  and  yells 
approached  us,  and  as  we  made  no 
resistance.  •  •  •  one  of  them 
wrenched  a  calumet  from  our  hands. 
•  •  •  These  savages  would  not 
smoke  our  peace  calumet.  •  •  • 
Two  head  chiefs  approaching  showed 
ns  by  signs  that  the  warriors  wished 
to  tomakawk  us.  This  compelled 
me  to  go  to  the  war  chiefs  with  one 
of  my  men,  leaving  the  other  by  our 
property,  and  threw  into  their  midst 


la  8AI.Ut,  i  D  1682. 


Three  o'clock. 


One  hundred  Indians. 

Micbael  Accault,  who  was  tL*- 
conductor,  had  the  calumet  present- 
ed to  them.  They  received  it  and 
smoked,  after  having  made  a  circle 
on  land  covered  with  straw,  in  which 
they  made  the  Frenchmen  sit.    * 

*  *  *  On  landing,  Michael  Ac- 
sault  made  them  a  present  of  twenty 
knives  and  a  fathom  and  a  half  of 
tobacco,  which  they  accepted.    * 

•  •  They  then  marched  ten  days 
together  without  showing  any  mark 
of  discontent  or  ill  will. 


HENKBPIN  AND  LA  SALUt  OOMPAKKI). 


898 


six  axes,  fifteen  knives,  and  six  fath- 
oms of  tobacco,  then  bowing  my 
head,  I  showed  them,  with  an  axe, 
that  they  might  tomahawk  us,  if 
they  thought  proper. 

After  five  days'  march  by  land, 
Buffering  hunger  and  outrages, 
marching  all  day  long  without  rest, 
fording  lakes  and  rivers,  we  descried 
a  number  of  women  and  children 
coming  to  meet  our  little  army. 

All  the  elders  of  this  nation  assem- 
bled on  our  account,  and  as  we  saw 
cabins  and  bundles  of  straw  hanging 
from  the  posts  of  them,  to  which 
these  savages  bind  those  whom  they 
take  as  slaves,  and  bum  them,  and 
seeing  that  they  made  the  Picard  da 
Gay  sing,  •  *  •  we  not  unrea- 
sonably thought  that  they  wished 
to  kill  us,  as  thiy  performed  many 
ceremonies  usually  practised  when 
they  intend  to  bum  their  enemies. 

The  worst  of  it  was,  too,  that  not 
one  of  us  three  could  make  himself 
understood  by  these  Indians.  *  * 
•  •  •  Onthe25thof  July,  1680, 
we  met  the  Sieur  DuLuth,  •  •  • 
as  we  had  some  knowledge  of  their 
language,  they  begged 


They  were  well  received  there,  and 
at  first  feasted  Accault,  who  was  in 
a  different  village  from  that  in  which 
the  Rev.  Father  Louis  and  the 
Picard  were,  who  were  also  well  re- 
ceived, except  that  some  wild  young 
fellows  having  told  the  P'card  to 
sing,  the  fear  which  he  fc'.t  made 
him  commit  an  act  of  cowardice,  as 
it  is  only  slaves  who  sing  on  reach- 
ing a  village. 

Accault,  who  was  not  there  could 
not  prevent  it,  but  they  had  sub- 
jected them  to  no  treatment  like 
that  given  to  slaves.  They  were 
never  tied,  and  payment  was  at  once 
promised  for  what  the  young  men 
had  broken,  because  Accault  having 
found  some  by  whom  he  could  make 
himself  understood,  made  them  feel 
the  importance  of  doing  so.  *  * 
•  •  •  They  were  not  treated  as 
slaves,  and  that  DuLuth  is  wrong  in 
boasting  that  he  relieved  them  from 
bondage. 


Having  arrived,  on  the  nineteenth 
day  of  our  navigation,  five  leagues 
below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  these 
Indians  landed  us  in  a  bay. 

On  the  26th  of  July,  1680,  we  met 
the  Sieur  de  Luth  •  •  •  as  we 
had  some  knowledge  of  their  lan- 
guage, they  begged  us  to  accom- 
pany them. 


When  they  were  eight  leagues 
below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  they 
resolved  to  go  by  land  to  their  vil- 
lage. 

La  Salle  writes  that  Da  Luth  had 
an  interpreter,  named  Faffart,  once 
a  soldier  at  Fort  Frontenac,  and 
tiiat  he  had  also  a  Sioux  guide  with 
him  when  he  came  down  the  Saint 
Croix. 


The  discrepancies  of  Hennepin's  account  and  that  of  Du 
Lnth,  both  written  in  the  same  year,  by  comparison  will  be 
ireadily  seen. 


824 


HISTORY  OF  UUTNESOTA. 


uknnkpin's  narrative. 

"On  the  '25th  of  July,  1680,  as  we 
were  ascendinK  the  rirer  Colbert, 
after  the  Buffalo  hunt,  to  the  Indian 
▼illaKe,  we  met  the  Sieur  de  Luth, 
who  came  to  the  Nadouessioua  with 
five  French  soldiers.  They  joined 
UB  about  two  hundred  and  twenty 
leagues  distant  from  the  country  of 
the  Indians  who  had  taken  us. 

Aa  xre  had  8ome  knowledge  of  their 
language,  they  begged  us  to  accompany 
them  to  the  villages  of  those  tribes; 
to  which  I  readily  agreed,  knowing 
that  these  Frenchmen  had  not  ap- 
proached the  sacraments  for  two 
years.  "The  Sicmr  De  Luth,  who 
acted  as  Captam,  seeing  me  tired  of 
tonsuring  the  children  and  bleeding 

thmatic  old  men  to  get  a  mouthful 
of  meat,  told  the  Indians  that  I  was 
his  elder  brother,  so  that,  having  my 
subsistence  secured,  I  labored  only 
for  the  salvation  of  these  Indians, 
We  arrived  at  the  villages  of  the 
Issati,  on  the  14th  of  August,  1680." 


DU  LtlTH  8  NAHRATITB. 

Du  Luth  having  reached  the  Miss* 
issippi  by  way  of  the  Saint  Croix, 
writes: 

"Being  there,  I  learned  from 
eight  cabins  of  the  Nadouecioux 
whom  I  met,  that  the  Rev.  Father 
Louis  Hennepin,  Recollect,  now  at 
the  convent  of  St.  Germain,  with  two 
other  Frenchmen  had  been  robbed 
and  carried  off  as  slaves  ibr  mora 
than  300  leagues,  by  the  Nadoue- 
cioux, themselves. 

"The  intelligence  surprised  mt 
so  much,  that  without  hesitating,  I 
left  two  Frenchmen  with  these  said 
eight  cabins  of  Indians,  as  well  as 
the  goods  I  had  to  make  presents, 
and  took  one  of  the  said  Indians  to 
guide  me,  with  my  interpreter,  and 
two  Frenchmen,  to  where  the  said 
Reverend  Father  Louis  was,  and  as 
it  was  a  good  80  leagues,  I  proceed- 
ed in  canoe  two  days  and  two  nights, 
and  on  the  next  day  at  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  I  found  him  with 
about  1000  or  1100  souls. 
"  The  want  of  respect  which  they 
showed  to  the  said  Reverend  Father 
provoked  me;  and  this  I  showed  tAem, 
telling  them  that  he  was  my  brother^ 
and  I  had  him  placed  in  my  canoe,  to 
come  with  me  into  the  villages  of  the 
said  Nadouecioux,  whither  I  took 
him." 

The  full  title  of  Hennepin's  first  book  was,  "  Description  de 
la  Louisiane,  Nouvellement  Decouverte  au  Snd  'Oue^t  de  la 
Nouvelle  France,  par  ordre  du  Roy. 

"  Avec  La  Carte  du  Pays;  les  moeurs  and  la  maniere  de  rivre 
des  Sauvages. 

"  Dediee  a  aa  Majeste,  par  le  R.  P.  Louis  Hennepin,  Mis- 
sioaaire  Recollect  &  Notaire  Apostolique. 


PRKNOH  WRITBB8. 


8S6 


"  A  Pnrid,  Chez  la  reave  Sebastian  Hure' ;  rne  Saint  jncquea, 
a  rimage  S.  Jerome,  proa  S.  Severin.  M.  DC.  LXXXIII. 
Avec  privilege  du  Roy." 

In  the  dedication  of  his  book  to  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  he 
writes,  "  We  have  given  the  name  of  Louisiana  to  this  great 
discovery."  Documents,  however,  prepared  before  the  book 
was  printed,  call  the  region  "  Louisiana."  On  the  map  accom- 
Jpanying  his  first  book,  he  boldly  marks  a  Recollect  mission 
;  many  miles  north  of  the  point  he  had  visited.  In  the  Utrecht 
edition  of  1697,  this  deliberate  fraud  is  erased. 

Chagrined  that  this  book  was  not  considered  trustworthy 
!by  some,  he  wrote  the  following  to  the  Abbe  Runaudot,  "at 
his  house  in  Paris:"  "  Sir;  You  know  that  I  gave  to  you  the 
first  intelligence  of  our  discovery,  at  my  arrival,  and  made  you 
aware  of  the  troubles  I  had  endured  for  four  years.  Never- 
theless, I  perceive  that  M.  I'Abbe  Beriiou  has  not  acted  as  he 
should.  He  will  know  in  time  and  eternity,  the  sincerity  of 
my  intentions,  and  yon  will  one  day  see  that  I  am,  in  all  pos- 
sible respect,  the  most  humble  and  devoted  of  your  servants. 

F.  LOUIS  HENNEPIN, 
Pauvre  esclave  des  barbars." 

Tronson,  an  ecclesiastic  of  high  character  in  Paris,  wrote  on 
March  13th,  1653,  to  Abbe  Belmont,  of  Montreal,  relative  to 
Hennepin's  book,  which  had  just  been  published:  "I  have 
interviewed  the  P.  Recollect,  who  pretends  to  have  descended 
the  Mississippi  river  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  I  do  not  know 
that  one  will  believe  what  he  speaks  any  more  than  that  which 
is  in  the  printed  relation  of  the  P.  Louis,  which  I  send  you 
that  you  may  make  your  own  reflections."  Abbe  Bernou,  on 
the  29th  of  February,  1684.  writes  from  Rome  about  the 
"paltry  book"  (meschant  livre)  of  Father  Hennepin: 

•       *'  NOUVBLLB  DBOOUVBRTB,"    A.  D.  1697. 

The  second  work  of  Hennepin,  an  enlargement  of  the  first, 
appeared  in  Utrecht  in  the  year  1697,  ten  years  after  LaSalle'a 
death.  Its  full  title  reads:  "  Nouvelle  Decouverte  d'un  trea 
£^rand  Pays,  situe  dans  I'Amerique,  entre  le  Nouvear  Mexique, 


HI8T0BT  OV  MINNBSOTA. 


et  la  Mer  Glaciale,  Arec  lea  cartes  ei  les  figares  necessaries  et 
de  plus  THistoire  Naturelle  et  Morale,  et  les  avantages  qu'  on 
en  puet  tirer  par  retablissement  des  colonies. 

''Le  tout  dedie  a  la  Majestie  Guillaume  III.  pur  le  R.  P. 
Lonis  Hennepin,  Miasionaire  Recollect  et  Notaire  Apostol- 
iqne.  A  Utrecht;  Chez  Quillaume  Broedelet,  Marchand 
Libraire.    MDCXCVII." 

During  the  interral  between  the  publication  of  the  first  and 
second  book,  he  had  passed  three  years  as  Superintendent  of 
the  Recollects  at  Reny,  in  the  province  of  Artois,  when  Father 
Hyacinth  Lefevre,  a  friend  of  La  Salle,  and  Commissary  Pro- 
vincial of  Recollects  at  Paris,  wished  him  to  return  to  Canada. 
He  refused,  and  was  ordered  to  go  to  Rome,  and  upon  his 
coming  back,  was  sent  to  a  convent  at  St.  Omer,  and  there 
received  a  dispatch  from  the  Minister  of  State  in  France,  to 
return  to  the  countries  of  the  king  of  Spain,  of  which  he  was 
a  subject.  This  order  he  asserts  he  afterwards  learned  was 
forged. 

In  the  prefaee  to  the  English  edition  of  the  New  Discovery, 
published  in  1698,  in  London,  he  writes: 

"  The  pretended  reasons  of  that  violent  order,  was  because 
I  refused  to  return  into  America,  where  1  had  been  already 
eleven  years,  thougu  the  particular  laws  of  our  Order  oblige 
none  of  us  to  go  beyond  sea  against  his  will.  I  would  have, 
however,  returned  very  willingly,  had  I  not  sufficiently  known 
the  malice  of  M.  La  Salle,  who  would  have  exposed  me  to  make 
me  perish,  as  he  did  one  of  the  men  who  accompanied  me  in 
my  discovery.  God  knows  that  I  am  sorry  for  his  unfortunate 
death ;  but  the  judgments  of  the  Almighty  are  always  just, 
for  the  gentleman  was  killed  by  one  of  his  own  men,  who 
were  at  last  sensible  that  he  exposed  them  to  visible  dangers 
without  any  necessity  and  for  his  private  designs." 

After  this  he  was  for  about  five  years  at  Gosselies,  in  Bra- 
bant, as  Confessor  in  a  convent,  and  from  thence  removed  to 
his  nativ )  place,  Ath,  in  Belgium,  where,  according  to  his 
narrative  in  the  preface  to  the  "  Nouveau  Decouverte,"  he  was 
again  persecuted.  Then  Father  Payez,  Grand  Commissary  of 
RecolUets  at  Louvain,  being  informed  that  the  King  of  Spain 


FRINOH  WRITBB8. 


8ftT 


and  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  recommended  the  ttep,  consented 
that  he  should  enter  tlie  service  of  William  the  Third  of  Great 
Britain,  wLu  had  been  very  kind  to  the  Roman  Catholics  of 
Netherlands. 

By  order  of  Payez  he  was  sent  to  Antwerp  to  take  the  lay 
habit  in  the  convent  there,  and  subsequently  went  to  Utrecht^ 
where  he  finished  his  second  book  known  as  the  "  New  Dis- 
covery." 

His  first  volame,  printed  in  1683,  contains  312  pages,  with 
an  appendix  of  107  pages,  on  the  Customs  of  the  Savages,  while 
the  Utrecht  book,  of  1697,  contains  509  pages,  without  an 
appendix. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  this  work,  Hjnnepin  writes,  that  on 
his  way  to  Canada,  near  Rochelle,  he  acted  as  curate,  "  being 
invited  so  to  do  by  the  pastor  of  the  place,  who  had  occasion 
to  be  absent  from  his  charge." 

Some  have  thought  that  no  one  who  was  a  priest  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  would  have  used  the  word  "pasteur,"  but 
these  forget  that  in  the  days  of  Archbishop  Feuelon,  who  lived 
at  this  period,  a  priest  of  the  Church  of  Rome  was  sometimes 
called  a  "pasteur."  In  this  chapter  there  is  a  sentence  which, 
however,  needs  correction.  It  alleges  that  while  Hennepin 
was  in  Canada,  "  Abbe  Fenelon,  present  Archbishop  of  Cam- 
bray,  resided  there."  It  is  true  that  Francis  de  Salignac  de  la 
Motte  Fenelon  was  a  priest  in  Canada  when  Hennepin  was 
there,  but,  with  the  same  name,  he  was  only  the  half-brother 
of  Francis  de  Salignac  de  la  Motte  Fenelon,  the  celebrated 
Archbishop  of  Cambray.  Living  beyond  France,  in  a  time  of 
war,  Hennepin  could  easily  have  made  the  mistake,  as  the 
priest  he  had  known  in  Canada  had  returned  to  France. 

On  page  249  of  the  "  New  Discovery,"  he  begins  an  account 
of  a  voyage  alleged  to  have  been  made  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  occupies  over  sixty  pages  in  the  narrative. 
The  opening  sentences  give  as  a  reason  for  concealing  to  that 
time  his  discovery,  that  La  Salle  would  have  reported  him  to 
his  superiors  for  presuminz  to  go  down  instead  of  ascending 
the  stream  toward  the  north,  as  had  been  agreed,  and  that  the 
two  with  him  threatened  that  if  he  did  not  consent  to  descend 


"m 


898 


aiSIOBY  OF  HINMB80TA. 


the  riTer,  they  would  leave  hira  on  shore,  during  the  night, 
and  pursue  their  own  course. 

He  asserts  that  he  left  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to  return,  on  the 
Ist  of  April,  and  on  the  24th  left  the  Arkansas;  but  a  week 
after  this  he  declares  that  he  landed  with  the  Sioux  at  the 
marsh  a  few  miles  below  the  city  of  Saint  Paul. 

The  account  has  been  and  is  still  a  puzzle  to  the  historical 
student.  In  our  review  of  his  first  book  we  have  noticed  Lb  at 
as  early  as  1683,  he  claimed  to  have  descended  the  Mississippi. 
In  the  Utrecht  publication  he  declares  that  while  at  Quebec, 
upon  his  return  to  France,  he  gave  to  Father  Valentine  Roux, 
Commissary  of  Recollects,  his  journal,  upon  the  promise  that 
it  would  be  kept  secret,  and  that  this  Father  made  a  copy  of 
his  whole  voyage,  including  the  visit  to  the  Qulf  of  Mexico; 
but  in  his  Description  of  Louisiana,  Hennepin  wrote,  "We  had 
■ome  design  of  going  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  Colbert,  which 
more  probably  empties  into  the  Oulf  of  Mexico  than  into  the 
Red  Sea,  but  the  tribes  that  siezed  us  gave  us  no  time  to  sail 
up  and  down  the  river." 

Dtr  LUTE  AKD  HBITKBPIK. 


The  additions  in  the  Utrecht  book  to  magnify  his  impor- 
tance and  detract  from  others,  are  many.  As  Sparks  and 
Parkman  have  pointed  out  the  plagiarisms  of  this  edicion,  a 
reference  here  is  unnecessary. 

Du  Luth,  who  left  Quebec  in  1678,  and  had  been  in  northern 
Minnesota  with  an  interpreter  for  a  year,  after  he  met  Ako  and 
Hennepin,  becomes  of  secondary  importance  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Franciscan. 

In  the  Description  of  Louisiana,  on  page  289,  Hennepin 
speaks  of  passing  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  upon  his  return  to 
Canada,  in  these  few  words:  "  Two  of  our  men  seized  two 
beaver  robes  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  which  the 
Indians  had  in  sacrifice  fastened  to  trees."  But  in  the  Utrecht 
edition,  commencing  on  page  416,  there  is  much  added  con- 
cerning Da  Luth.  After  using  the  language  of  the  editio  i  of 
1683,  already  quoted,  it  adds:  "  Hereupon  there  arose  a  dispute 


FBENOH  WBITBHS. 


m 


between  thfl  Sieur  du  Luth  and  myself.  I  commended  what 
they  had  done,  saying,  '  The  savages  might  judge  by  it  that 
they  disliked  the  superstition  of  these  people.' " 

The  Sieur  du  Luth,  on  the  contrary,  said  that  they  ought 
to  have  left  the  robes  where  the  savages  placed  them,  for  they 
would  not  fail  to  aveuge  th?  insult  we  had  put  upon  them  by 
this  action,  and  that  it  was  to  be  ff  ared  they  would  attack  ui 
on  the  journey. 

"I  confessed  he  had  some  foundation  for  what  he  said,  and 
that  he  spoke  according  to  the  rules  of  prudence.  But  one  of 
the  two  men  flatly  replied  that  the  two  robes  suited  them,  and 
they  cared  nothing  for  the  savages  and  their  superstitions. 

"The  Sieur  du  Luth,  at  these  words,  was  so  greatly  enraged 
that  he  nearly  struck  the  one  who  uttered  them,  but  I  iuter« 
rened  and  settled  the  dispute.  The  Pioard  and  Miclel  Ako 
ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  those  who  had  taken  the 
robes  in  question,  which  might  have  resulted  badly. 

"  I  argued  with  the  Sieur  du  Luth  that  the  savages  would 
not  attack  us,  because  I  wan  persuaded  that  their  great  chief, 
Ouasicoude,  would  have  our  interests  at  heart,  and  he  liad 
great  credit  with  his  nation.  The  matter  terminated  pleas- 
antly. 

"  When  we  arrived  near  the  river  Ouisconain,  we  halted  to 
smoke  the  meat  of  the  buffalo  we  had  killed  on  our  journey. 
During  our  stay  three  savages  of  the  nation  we  had  left  came 
by  the  side  of  our  canoe  to  tell  us  that  their  great  chief,  Ouasi- 
coude, havi:  ^  learned  that  another  chief  of  these  people  wished 
to  pursue  and  kill  us,  entered  the  cabin  where  he  was  con- 
sulting, and  had  struck  him  on  the  head  with  such  violence  as 
to  scatter  his  brains  upon  his  associates,  thus  preventing  the 
execution  of  this  injurious  project. 

"  We  regaled  the  three  savages,  having  a  great  abundance 
of  fo^d  at  that  time.  The  Sieur  du  Luth,  after  the  savages 
had  left,  was  as  enraged  as  before,  and  feared  that  they  would 
pursue  us  and  attaek  us  on  our  voyage.  He  would  have  pushed 
the  matter  further,  but  seeing  that  one  man  would  resist,  and 
was  not  in  the  humor  to  be  imposed  upon,  he  moderated,  and 
I  appeased  them  in  the  end  with  the  assurance  that  Qod  would 


830 


HISTOEY  OS  MIKNESOTA. 


not  abandon  us  in  distress,  and.  provided  we  confided  in  Him, 
he  would  deliver  us  from  our  foes,  because  he  is  the  protector 
of  men  and  angels." 

After  describing  a  conference  with  the  Sioux,  he  adds:  "Thus 
the  savages  were  very  kind,  without  mentioning  the  beaver 
robes.  The  chief  Ouasicoude  told  me  to  ofiFer  a  fathom  of  Mar- 
tinico  tobacco  to  the  chief  Aquipaguetin,  who  had  adopted  me 
as  his  son.  This  had  an  admirable  effect  upon  the  barbarians, 
who  went  off  shouting  several  times  the  word  Louis,*  which, 
as  he  saiu,  means  the  sun.  Without  vanity,  I  must  say  that 
my  r  vaae  will  be  for  a  long  time  among  these  people. 

'  The  ravages  having  loft  us  to  go  to  war  against  the  Mes- 
sorites,  the  Maroha,  the  Illinois,  and  other  nations  which  live 
toward  the  lower  part  of  tht  ,!issis8ippi,  and  are  irreconcilable 
foes  of  the  people  of  the  North,  the  Sieur  du  Luth,  who  upon 
many  occasionr  gave  me  marks  of  his  friendship,  could  not 
forbear  to  tell  o'lr  men  that  I  had  all  the  reason  in  the  world 
to  believe  thi  *iie  Vice  Ro;'  of  Canada  would  give  me  a  favor- 
able reception,  should  we  arrive  before  winter,  and  that  he 
wished  with  all  his  heart  that  he  had  been  among  as  many 
natives  as  myself." 

The  style  of  Louis  Hennepin  is  unmistakable  in  this  extract, 
and  it  is  amusing  to  read  his  patronage  of  one  of  the  fearless 
explorers  of  the  Northwest,  a  cousin  of  Tonty,  favored  by 
Frontenac,  and  who  was  in  Minnesota  a  year  before  his  arrival. 

Hennepin's  "  continuation." 


In  the  second  volume  of  his  last  book,  which  is  called  "  A 
Continuance  of  the  New  Discovery  of  a  Vast  Country  in 
America,"  etc.,  he  noticed  some  criticisms. 

To  the  objection  that  his  work  was  dedicated  to  William 

•The  Sloux.'or  Dakotahs,  oaU  the  sun  by  a  word  which  a  Frenchman  would 
write,  "oul,"  pronounced,  "wj." 

The  Dakotah  Lexicon,  publlabed  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  writes  the 
word  for  sun  "w!,"  pronounced,  "we."  The  moon  tbe  Blouz  call  the  night-sun, 
-"Hanyetu  Wl," 


HBNinSPIN  8  DISOEEPANCIES. 


881 


the  Third  of  Great  Britain,  he  replies:  "  My  King,  his  most 
Catholic  Majesty,  his  Electoral  Highness  of  Bavaria,  the  con- 
sent in  writing  of  the  superiors  of  my  Order,  the  integrity  of 
my  faith,  and  the  regular  observance  of  my  vows,  which  his 
Britannic  Majesty  allows  me,  are  the  best  warrants  of  the 
uprightness  of  my  intentions." 

To  the  query,  how  he  could  travel  so  far  upon  the  Mississ- 
ippi in  so  little  time,  he  answers  with  a  bold  face,  "  That  we 
may  with  a  canoe  and  a  pair  of  oars  go  twenty,  twenty-five,  or 
thirty  leagues  every  day,  and  more  too,  if  there  be  occasion. 
And  though  we  had  gone  but  ten  leagues  a  day,  yet  in  thirty 
duys  we  might  easily  have  gone  three  hundred  leagues.  If 
during  the  time  we  spent  from  the  River  of  the  Illinois  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Meschasipi,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  we  had  used 
a  little  more  haste,  we  might  have  gone  the  same  twice  over." 

To  the  objection  that  he  said  that  he  had  passed  eleven  years 
in  America  when  he  had  been  there  but  about  four,  he  evasively 
replies,  that  "reckoning  from  the  year  1674,  when  I  (irst  set 
out,  to  the  year  1688,  when  I  printed  the  second  edition  of  my 
Louisiana,  it  appears  that  I  have  spent  fifteen  years  either  in 
travels  or  printing  my  Discoveries." 

To  those  who  objected  to  the  statement  in  his  first  book,  in 
the  df'dication  to  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  that  the  Sioux  always 
call  the  aun  "Louis,''  he  writes:  "I  repeat  what  I  have  said 
befoie,  that  being  among  the  Issati  and  Nadouessans,  by 
whom  I  fras  made  a  slave  in  America,  I  never  heard  them  call 
the  sun  any  other  than  'Louis.'  It  is  true  these  savages  call 
also  the  moon  '  Louis,'  but  with  this  distinction,  that  they  give 
the  moon  the  name  of  'Louis  Basatche,'  which  in  their  lan- 
guage signifies,  "  the  sun  that  shines  in  the  night.' " 


^^'•riy.i.  n^r^ 


If 


882 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


APPENDIX  E.    PAGE  139. 

HIOOLAS  PBBBOT,  FOUNDEE  OF  FIRST  FORT  ON  UPPER  MISSISSIPPI, 

With  the  aid  of  the  tracing  from  Franquelin's  map,  of  1688, 
the  first  engraving  of  which  is  found  in  this  history,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  give  a  more  accurate  description  of  Perrot's  visits  to 
the  Upper  Mississippi.  The  winter  of  1685-86  was  not  spent, 
as  has  been  supposed,  at  the  lower  end  of  Lake  Pepin,  but  the 
map  shows  that  their  encampment  was  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  above  the  Black  River.  La  Potherie  says  they 
found  a  spot  which  was  wooded,  which  was  suitable  for  the 
establishment  of  a  fort.  It  was  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain,  in 
the  rear  of  which  there  was  a  large  prairie.  The  bluff  was, 
probably,  the  "  Montague  Trempe  I'eau,"  which  Major  Long, 
in  1817,  estimated  at  eight  miles  above  the  upper  mouth  of 
Black  River.  He  speaks  of  "  high  bluff  lands  at  this  point, 
tower  into  precipices  and  peaks,  completely  insulated  from 
the  main  bluffs  by  a  broad,  flat  prairie." 

Subsequently  he  established  another  post  just  above  the 
mouth  of  Lake  Pepin,  on  the  Wltconsin  side,  which  Franquelin 
in  his  map  calls  Port  St.  Antoine,  and  here,  in  May,  1689,  the 
Proces  Verbal  was  duly  signed.  The  same  map  shows  Perrot's 
post  on  the  site  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  called  for  his  baptismal 
saint.  Port  St.  Nicolas, 

The  following  memoir  of  Perrot  is  based  upon  La  Potherie, 
Margry,  and  his  own  work,  edited  by  Taithan,  and  in  1874, 
published  at  Paris  and  Leipsic. 

Nicolas  Perrot,  sometimes  written  Pere,  was  one  of  the  most 
energetic  of  the  class  in  Canada  known  as  "coureurs  des  bois," 
or  forest  rangers.  Born  in  1644,  at  an  early  age  he  was  identi- 
fied with  the  fur  trade  of  the  great  inland  lakes.  As  early  as 
1665,  he  was  among  the  Outagamies  [Foxes],  and  in  1667  was 
at  Green  Bay.  In  1669  he  was  appointed  by  Talon  to  go  to 
the  lake  region  in  search  of  copper  mines.  In  October,  1670, 
he  left  Montreal  and  wintered  near  Green  Bay.  On  the  5th 
of  May,  1671,  ht-  went  with  Indians  to  the  great  council  at 
Sault  St.  Marie,  and  there,  at  the  formal  taking  possession  of 
that  country  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France,  on  the  14th 


FERROT  S  TRAVELS. 


888 


of  May,  1671,  he  acted  as  interpreter.  In  1677,  he  seems  to 
have  been  employed  at  Fort  Frontenac.  La  Salle  was  made 
very  sick  the  next  year,  from  eating  a  salad,  and  one  Nicolas 
Perrot,  called  Joly  Coeur  (Jolly  Soul)  was  suspected  of  having 
mingled  poison  with  the  food.  When  Du  Luth,  on  his  way 
to  Mackinaw,  in  the  summer  of  J  684,  stopped  at  Green  Bay, 
Perrot  was  there.  In  the  spring  of  1685,  he  was  appointed 
by  De  la  Barre  the  Governor  of  Canada,  Commandant  for  the 
West,  and  left  Montreal  with  twenty  men.  Arriving  at  Gree^ 
Bay  in  Wisconsin,  some  Indians  told  him  that  they  had  vis- 
ited countries  toward  the  setting  sun  where  they  obtained  the 
blue  and  green  stones  suspended  from  their  ears  and  noses, 
and  that  they  saw  horses  and  men  like  Frenchmen  ;  probably 
the  Spaniards  of  New  Mexico.  And  others  said  that  they 
had  obtained  hatchets  from  persons  who  lived  in  a  house  that 
walked  on  the  water,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  the  Assi- 
niboines;  alluding  to  the  English  established  at  Hudson's 
Bay.  Proceeding  to  the  portage  between  the  Fox  and  Wis- 
consin, thirteen  Hurous  were  met,  who  were  bitterly  opposed 
to  the  establishment  of  a  post  near  the  Sioux.  After  the' 
Mississippi  was  reached,  a  party  of  Winnebagoes  was  em- 
ployed to  notify  the  tribes  of  Northern  Iowa  that  the  French 
had  ascended  the  river,  and  wished  to  meet  them.  It  was 
further  agreed  that  prairie  fires  would  be  kindled  from  time 
to  time,  so  that  the  Indians  could  follow  the  French. 

Above  the  Black  River,  as  has  been  mentioned,  he  wintered, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1686,  he  probably  erected  Fort  St.  Antoine, 
on  Lake  Pepin.  Penicaut,  who,  in  1700,  in  company  with 
LeSueur,  visited  the  Upper  Mississippi,  in  writing  of  Lake 
Pepin,  uses  these  words:  "To  the  right  and  left  of  its  shores 
there  are  also  prairies.  In  that  on  the  right,  on  the  bank  of 
the  lake,  there  is  a  fort,  which  was  built  by  Nicholas  Perrot, 
whose  name  it  yet  [1700]  bears." 

Soon  after  he  established  his  first  encampment,  it  was  an- 
nounced that  a  band  of  Aiouez  [loways]  was  encamped  about 
twenty-five  miles  above,  and  on  the  way  to  visit  the  post. 
The  French  ascended  in  canoes  to  meet  them,  but  as  they  drew 
nigh,  the  Indian  women  ran  up  the  bluffs,  and  hid  in  the 
68 


634 


HISTOET  OF  MINNESOTA. 


woods;  but  twenty  of  the  braves  mustered  courage  to  advance 
and  greet  Perrot,  and  bore  liim  to  the  chief's  lodge.  The 
chief,  bending  over  Perrot,  began  to  weep,  and  allowed  the 
moisture  to  fall  upon  his  visitor.  After  he  had  exhausted 
himself,  the  principal  men  of  the  party  repeated  the  slabbering 
process.  Then  buflfalo  tongues  were  boiled  in  an  earthen 
pot,  and  after  being  cut  into  small  pieces,  the  chief  took  a 
piece,  iind,  as  a  mark  of  respect,  placed  it  in  Perrot's  mouth. 

During  the  winter  of  1685-86,  the  French  traded  in  Min- 
nesota, 

At  the  end  of  the  beaver  hunt  the  Ayoes  [loways]  came  to 
the  post,  but  Perrot  was  absent  visiting  the  Nadouassioux, 
and  they  sent  a  chief  to  notify  him  of  their  arrival.  Pour 
Illinois  met  him  on  the  way,  and  were  anxious  for  the  return 
of  four  children  held  by  the  French.  When  the  Sioux,  who 
were  at  war  with  the  Illinois,  perceived  them,  they  wished  to 
seize  their  canoes,  but  the  French  voyageurs  who  were  guard- 
ing them,  pushed  into  the  middle  of  the  river,  and  the  French 
at  the  post  coming  to  their  assistance,  a  reconciliation  was 
effected,  and  four  of  the  Sioux  took  the  Illinois  upon  their 
i«houlders  and  bore  them  to  the  shore. 

An  order  having  been  received  from  Denonville,  Governor  of 
Canada,  to  bring  the  Miamis,  and  other  tribes,  to  the  rendez- 
vous  at  Niagara,  to  go  on  an  expedition  against  the  Senecas, 
Perrot,  entrusting  the  post  at  Lake  Pepin  to  a  few  Frenchmen, 
visited  the  Miamis,  who  were  dwelling  below  on  the  Mississ- 
ippi, and  with  no  guide  but  Indian  camp  fires,  went  sixty 
miles  into  the  country  beyond  the  river. 

Upon  his  return,  he  perceived  a  great  smoke,  and  at  first 
thought  that  it  was  a  war  par'  proceeding  to  the  Sioux 
country.  Fortunately  he  met  a  Maskouten  chief,  who  had 
been  at  the  post  to  see  him,  and  he  gave  the  intelligence,  that 
the  Outagamies  [  Foxes],  Kikapous  |  Kickapoos],  Mascoutechs 
[Mascoutens],  and  others,  from  the  region  of  Green  Bay,  had 
determined  to  pillage  the  post,  kill  the  French,  and  then  go 
to  war  against  the  Sioux.  Hurrying  on,  he  reached  the  fort, 
and  learned  that  on  that  very  day  three  spies  had  been  there 
and  seen  that  there  were  only  six  Frenchmen  in  charge. 


aston 
nigh 
ing 
and 
men, 
heads 
then 
"Do] 
warne 
the 
guns, 
agains 
to  ma 
Ret 
colleci 
York, 
pere, 
fifteen 
inches 


PERROT  8  RU8B. 


836 


The  next  day  two  more  spies  appeared,  but  Perrot  had  taken 
ihe  precaution  to  put  loaded  guns  at  the  door  of  each  hut,  and 
caused  his  men  frequently  to  change  their  clothes.    To  the 
•query,  "  How  many  French  were  there?"  the  reply  was  given, 
**  Forty,  and  that  more  were  daily  expected,  who  ha«i  been  on 
a  buffalo  hunt,  and  that  the  guns  were  well  loaded  and  knives 
well  sharpened."    They  were  then  told  to  go  back  to  their 
camp,  and  bring  a  chief  of  each  nation  represented,  and  that 
if  Indians  in  large  numbers  came  near,  they  would  be  fired  at. 
In  accordance  with  this  message  six  chiefs  presented  them- 
selves.    After  their  bows  and  arrows  were  taken  away  they 
were  invited  to  Perrot's  cabin,  who  gave  something  to  eat  and 
tobacco  to  smoke.    Looking  at  Perrot's  loaded  guns,  they 
asked  if  he  was  afraid  of  his  children.    He  replied,  he  was  not. 
They  continued,  "  You  are  displeased."   He  answered, "  I  have 
good  reason  to  be.    The  Spirit  has  warned  me  of  your  designs. . 
You  will  take  my  things  away,  and  put  me  in  the  kettle,  and 
proceed  against  the  Nadouaissioux.    The  Spirit  told  me  to  be 
•on  my  guard,  and  he  would  help  me."    At  this  they  were 
astonished,  and  confessed  that  an  attack  was  meditated.     That 
night  the  chiefs  slept  in  the  stockade,  and  early  the  next  morn- 
ing a  part  of  the  hostile  force  was  encamped  in  the  vicinity, 
and  wished  to  trade.    Perrot  had  now  only  a  force  of  fifteen 
men,  and  seizing  the  chiefs,  he  told  them  he  would  break  their 
heads  if  they  did  not  disperse  the  Indians.    One  of  the  chiefs 
then  stood  up  on  the  gate  of  the  fort,  and  said  to  the  warriors, 
"  Do  not  advance,  young  men,  or  you  are  dead.     The  Spirit  has 
warned  Metamineus  [Prrrot]  of  your  designs."    They  followed 
the  advice,  and  afterwards  Perrot  presented  them  with  two 
guns,  two  kettles,  and  some  tobacco,  to  close  the  door  of  war 
against  the  Nadouaissioux,  and  the  chiefs  were  all  permitted 
to  make  a  brief  visit  to  the  post. 

Returning  to  Green  Bay  iu  1686,  he  passed  much  time  in 
collectiug  allies  for  the  expedition  against  the  Iroquois  in  New 
York.  During  this  year  he  gave  to  the  Jesuit  chapel  at  De- 
pere,  five  miles  above  Green  Bay  a  church  utensil  of  silver, 
fifteen  inches  high,  still  in  existence.  The  standard,  nine 
inches  iu  height,  supports  a  radiated  circlet  closed  with  glass 


836 


HT8T0BT  OF  MIKNESOTA. 


on  both  sides,  and  surmounted  with  a  cross.  This  vessel, 
weighing  about  twenty  ounces,  was  intended  to  show  the  con- 
secrated wafer  of  the  mass,  and  is  called  a  soleil,  monstrance^ 
or  ostensorium.  Around  the  oval  base  of  the  rim  is  the  fol* 
lowing  inscription: 


*t^ 


■po 


^^^^pxkM.  Nicole  p^^^^^ 


'a- 


®// 


^ 
»> 


f^ 


•v^ 


Prof.  J,  D.  Butler,  in  the  eighth  volume  of  the  Wisconsin 
Historical  Society  Collections  has  given  a  full  account  of  this 
soleil. 

In  1802,  some  workman  in  digging  at  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin, 
on  the  old  Langlade  estate,  discovered  this  relic,  which  is  now 
kept  in  the  vault  of  the  Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  that  diocese. 

During  the  spring  of  1687,  Perrot,  with  DuLuth  and  Tonty. 
was  with  the  Indian  allies  and  the  French  in  the  expedition 
against  the  Senecas  of  the  Qenessee  Valley  in  New  York. 

Afterwards  Denonville,  Governor  of  Canada,  again  sent 
Perrot,  with  forty  Frenchmen,  to  the  Sioux,  who,  says  Poth- 
erie,  "were  very  distant,  and  who  would  not  trade  with  us  as 
easily  as  the  other  tribes,  the  Outagamis  |  Foxes]  having  boasted 
of  having  cut  off  the  passage  thereto.'" 

Arriving  at  the  portage  beween  the  E'ox  and  Wisconsin 
rivers,  they  were  impeded  by  ice,  but  with  the  aid  of  some 
Pottawattomies  they  transported  their  goods  to  the  Wisconsin 
which  they  found  no  longer  frozen.  The  Chippeways  were 
informed  that  their  daughters  had  been  taken  from  the  Foxes, 
aud  a  deputation  came  to  take  them  back,  but  being  attacked 
by  the  Foxes,  who  did  not  know  their  errand,  they  fled  with- 


PSBBOT  AS0BKD8  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


837 


out  securing  the  three  girls.  Perrot  then  ascended  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

As  soon  as  the  rivers  were  navigable,  the  Nadouaissioux 
came  down  and  escorted  Perrot  to  one  of  their  villages,  where 
he  was  welcomed  with  much  enthusiasm.  He  was  carried 
upon  a  beaver  robe,  followed  by  a  long  line  of  warriors,  each 
bearing  a  pipe,  and  singing.  After  taking  him  around  the 
village,  he  was  borne  to  the  chief's  lodge;  when  several  came 
in  to  weep  over  his  head,  with  the  same  tenderness  that  the 
Ayoes  [  loways]  did  when  Perrot  several  years  before  arrived 
at  Lake  Pepin.  "  These  weepings,"  says  an  old  chroniclen 
*'do  not  weaken  their  souls.  They  are  very  good  warriors, 
and  reported  the  bravest  in  that  region.  They  are  at  war  with 
all  the  tribes  at  present  except  the  Saulteurs  [Chippeways] 
and  Ayoes  |  loways],  and  even  with  these  they  have  quarrels. 
At  the  break  of  day  the  Nadouaissioux  bathe,  even  to  the 
youngest.  They  have  very  fine  forms,  but  the  women  are  not 
comely,  and  they  look  upon  them  as  slaves.  They  are  jealous 
and  suspicious  about  them,  and  they  are  the  cause  of  quarrels 
and  blood-shedding. 

"  The  Sioux  are  very  dextrous  with  their  canoes,  and  they 
fight  unto  death  if  surrounded.  Their  country  is  full  of 
flwamps,  which  shelter  them  in  summer  from  being  molested 
One  must  be  a  Nadouassioux  to  find  the  way  to  their  villages." 

While  Perrot  was  absent  in  Now  York,  fighting  the  Sene- 
cas,  a  Sioux  chief  knowing  that  few  Frenchmen  were  left  at 
Lake  Pepin,  came  with  one  hundred  warriors,  and  endeavored 
to  pillage  it.  Of  this  complaint  was  made,  and  the  guilty 
leader  was  near  being  put  to  death  by  his  associates.  Amicable 
relations  having  been  fotmed,  preparations  were  made  by  Per- 
rot to  return  to  his  post.  As  they  were  going  away,  one  of 
the  Frenchmen  complained  that  a  box  of  his  goods  had  been 
stolen.  Perrot  ordered  a  voyageur  to  bring  a  cup  of  water, 
and  into  it  he  poured  some  brandy.  ■  He  then  addressed  the 
Indians  and  told  them  he  would  dry  up  their  marshes  if  the 
goods  were  not  restored,  and  then  he  set  on  fire  the  brandy  in 
the  cup.  The  savages  were  astonished  and  terrified,  and  sup- 
posed that  he  possessed  supernatural  powers;  and  in  a  little 


ssb 


HlfilOBT  Of  UIKKE80TA. 


while  the  goods  were  found,  and  restored  to  the  owner,  and 
the  French  descended  to  their  stockade. 

The  Foxes,  while  Perrot  was  in  the  Sioux  country,  changed 
their  village  and  settled  on  the  Mississippi.  Coming  up  to 
Tisit  Perrut,  they  asked  him  to  establish  friendly  relations 
between  them  and  the  Sioux.  At  the  time  some  Sioux  were 
at  the  post  trading  furs,  and  at  first  they  supposed  the  French 
were  plotting  with  the  Foxes.  Perrot,  however,  eased  them 
by  presenting  the  calumet,  and  saying  that  the  French  con- 
sidered the  Outagamis  [FoxesJ  as  brothers,  and  then  adding, 
*' Smoke  in  my  pipe;  this  is  the  manner  with  which  Onontiu 
[Governor  of  Canada]  feeds  his  children."  The  Sioux  replied 
that  they  wished  the  Foxes  to  smoke  first.  This  was  reluc- 
tantly done,  and  the  Sioux  smoked,  but  would  not  conclude  a 
definite  peace  until  they  consulted  their  chiefs.  This  was  not 
concluded,  because  Perrot,  before  the  chiefs  came  down,  re- 
ceived orders  to  return  to  Canada. 

About  this  time,  at  the  post  St.  Antoine,  in  the  presence  of 
Father  Joseph  James  Marest,  a  Jesuit  missionary;  Boisguillot, 
a  trader  on  the  Wisconsin  and  Mississippi;  Le  Sueur,  who 
afterward  built  a  post  below  the  St.  Croix  River,  about  nine 
miles  from  Hastings,  the  document  was  prepared  taking  formal 
possession  of  the  country,  which  is  printed  upon  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-third  page. 

On  the  22d  of  May,  1690,  with  one  hundred  and  forty-three 
voyageurs  and  six  Indians,  Perrot  left  Montreal  as  an  escort 
of  Sieur  de  Louvigny  La  Porte,  a  half-pay  captain  appointed 
to  succeed  Durantaye  at  Mackinaw,  by  Frontenac,  the  new 
Governor  of  Canada,  who,  in  October  of  the  previous  year,  had 
arrived  to  take  the  place  of  Denonville. 

Perrot,  as  he  approached  Mackinaw,  went  in  advance  to 
notify  the  French  of  the  coming  of  the  commander  of  the 
post.  As  he  came  in  sight  of  the  settlement  he  hoisted  the 
white  fiiag,  with  the  fleur  de  lis,  and  the  voyageurs  shouted, 
"Long  lire  the  king!"  Louvigny  soon  appeared  and  was  re- 
ceived by  one  hundred  "coureurs  des  hois"  under  arms. 

From  Mackinaw,  Perrot  proceeded  to  Green  Bay,  and  a 
party  of  Miamis  there,  begged  him  to  make  a  trading  estab- 


FBKICanT  DE8CBIBE8  LBAD  HIKES. 


lishment  on  the  Mississippi,  towards  the  OaiBkonstng  [Wis- 
consin]. The  chief  made  him  a  present  of  a  piece  of  lead  from 
a  mine  which  he  had  found  in  a  small  stream  which  Hows  into 
the  Mississippi.  Perrot  promised  to  visit  him  within  twenty 
days,  and  the  chief  then  returned  to  his  village  below  the 
d'Ouiskonche  [Wisconsin]  River.  In  accordance  with  his 
promise,  he  visited  the  lead  mines,  and  found  the  ore  abundant 
"but  the  lead  hard  to  work,  because  it  lay  between  rocks 
which  required  blowing  up.  It  had  very  little  dross  and  was 
easily  melted." 

Penicaut,  who  ascended  the  Mississippi  in  1700,  wrote  that 
twenty  leagues  below  the  Wisconsin,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Mississippi,  were  mines  of  lead  called  "Nicolas  PerrotV" 
Early  French  maps  indicate  as  the  locality  of  lead  mines,  the 
site  of  modem  towns.  Galena,  in  Illinois,  and  Dubuque,  in 
Iowa. 

In  August,  1693,  about  two  hundred  Frenchmen,  from 
Mackinaw,  with  delegates  from  the  tribes  of  the  West,  arrived 
at  Montreal,  to  attend  a  grand  council  called  by  Governor 
Frontenac,  and  among  these  was  Perrot. 

On  the  first  Sunday  in  September  the  Governor  gave  the 
Indians  a  great  feast,  after  which  they  and  the  traders  began 
to  return  to  the  wilderness.  Perrot  was  ordered  by  Frontenac 
to  establish  a  new  post  for  the  Miamis  in  Michigan,  .in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Kalamazoo  River. 

Two  years  later  he  is  present  again,  in  August,  at  a  council 
in  Montreal;  then  returned  to  the  West,  and  in  1699  is  recalled 
from  Green  Bay.  In  1701  he  was  at  Montreal,  acting  as  in- 
terpreter, and  appears  to  have  died  before  1718.  His  wife  was 
Madeline  Raclos,  and  his  residence  was  in  the  Seigneury  of 
Becaucourt,  not  far  from  Three  Rivers,  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 


BiO 


HISTORY  OF  UIKinMOTA. 


APPENDIX  P,     PAGE  U2. 

LA  hontak's  fabulous  voyaqb.  ' 

La  Hoatan,  a  Gascon  by  birth  and  in  style  of  writing,  when 
about  seventeen  yeari  o*^  age  arrived  in  Canada,  in  1683,  as  ii 
private  soldier,  and  was  with  Governor  De  la  Biirre  in  his  ex- 
pedition of  1684  toward  Niagara,  and  was  also  in  the  battle 
near  Rochester,  New  York,  in  July,  1687,  at  which  Du  Luth 
and  Perrot,  explorers  of  Minnesota,  were  present. 

He  was  one  of  the  soldiers  who,  on  the  14th  of  September, 
came  to  Fort  St.  Joseph  at  the  narrows  below  Lake  Huron,  as 
an  escort  of  DuLuth  and  his  cousm,  Henry  Tonty,  During 
the  winter  he  appears  to  have  remained  as  one  ot  a  small  gar- 
rison at  this  post,  but  on  the  1st  of  April,  1688,  provisions 
being  scarce,  he  left,  and  on  the  18th  arrived  at  Mackinaw 
and  was  there  in  May,  when  the  brother  of  LaSalle  and  Father 
Anastase,  the  Recollect,  arrived  from  Texas,  by  way  of  Fort 
St  Louis,  in  the  Illinois  region.  On  the  Ist  of  July  he  re- 
turned to  Port  St.  Joseph,  and  made  a  trip  to  Niagara,  and  on 
the  24th  of  August  came  back  once  more  to  the  fort,  which, 
three  days  after,  was  destroyed  by  order  of  the  Governor  of 
Canada.  On  the  15th  of  September  he  had  again  reached 
Mackinaw,  and  on  the  24th,  he  alleges,  he  started  on  a  voyage 
to  the  Mississippi,  which  he  reached  on  the  23d  of  October, 
1688.  It  is  possible  he  may  have  been  one  of  Perrot's  men, 
who  came  into  the  country  about  that  time,  on  a  second  visit 
to  Lake  Pepin.  In  1703,  his  "  Travels"  appeared  both  at  Lon- 
don and  at  The  Hague,  and  his  wonderful  story  as  to  the 
discovery  of  the  Long  River,  which  is  appended  to  this  article, 
was  for  a  time  believed,  and  geographers  hastened  to  place  it 
upon  their  maps.  But  in  time  the  voyage  up  the  Long  River 
was  discovered  to  be  a  fabrication.  There  is  extant  a  letter  of 
Bobe,  a  priest  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission,  dated  Ver- 
sailles, March  15,  1716,  and  addressed  to  De  L'lsle,  the  Geo- 
grapher of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris,  which  exposes 
the  deception.     He  writes: 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  you  might  give  the  name  Bourbonia 
to  these  vast  countries  which  are  between  the  Missouri,  Miss- 


LA.  HONTAN's    PABRIOATIOlfr. 


841 


issippi  and  the  Western  Ocean.  Would  it  not  be  well  to 
efface  that  great  river  which  La  Hontan  says  he  discoTered? 
All  the  Canadians,  and  even  the  Governor  General,  have  told 
me  that  this  river  is  unknown.  If  it  existed,  the  French  who 
are  on  the  Illinois  and  at  Ouabache,  would  know  of  it.  The 
last  volume  of  the  '  Lettrea  Edifiantes'  of  the  Jesuits,  in  which 
there  is  a  very  fine  relation  of  the  Illinois  Country,  does  not 
speak  of  it,  any  more  than  the  letters  which  I  received  this 
year,  which  tell  wonders  of  the  beauty  and  goodness  of  the 
country.  They  send  me  some  quite  pretty  work  made  by  the 
wife  of  one  of  the  principal  chiefs. 

"They  tell  me  that  among  the  Scioux  of  the  Mississippi, 
here  are  always  Frenchmen  trading;  that  the  course  of  the 
Mississippi  is  from  north  to  west,  and  from  wesfr  to  south 
that  it  is  known  that  toward  the  source  of  the  Mississippi 
there  is  a  river  in  the  highlands  that  leads  to  the  Western 
Ocean ;  that  the  Indians  say  that  they  have  seen  bearded  men 
witn  caps,  who  gather  gold  dust  on  the  seashore,  but  that  it 
is  very  far  from  this  country,  and  that  they  pass  through 
many  nations  unknown  to  the  French. 

"  I  have  a  memoir  of  La  Motte  Cadillac,  formerly  Governor 
of  Missilimackinack,  who  says  that  if  St.  Peters  [Minnesota] 
River  is  ascended  to  its  source,  they  will,  according  to  all  ap- 
pearance, find  in  the  highlands  another  river  leading  to  the 
Western  Ocean. 

"  For  the  last  two  years  I  have  tormented  exceedingly  the 
Governor- General,  M.  Raudot,  and  M.  Duche,  to  move  them 
to  discover  this  ocean.  If  I  succeed,  as  I  hope,  we  shall  hear 
tidings  before  three  years,  and  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  and 
the  consolation  of  having  rendered  a  good  service  to  geography, 
to  religion  and  to  the  state." 

Charlevoix,  in  his  History  of  New  France,  alluding  to  La 
Hontan's  voyage,  writes:  "The  voyage  up  the  Long  River  is 
as  fabulous  as  the  island  of  Barrataria,  of  which  Sancho  Panza 
was  governor.  Nevertheless,  in  France,  and  elsewhere,  most 
people  have  received  these  memoirs  as  the  fruits  of  the  travels 
of  a  gentleman,  who  wrote  badly  although  quite  lightly,  and 
who  had  no  religion,  but  who  described  sincerely  what  he  had 


849 


RIBTOBT  OF  KIVKISOTA. 


■een.  The  consequence  is,  thafc  the  compilers  of  historical 
and  geographical  dictionaries  have  almost  always  followed  and 
cited  them  in  preference  to  more  faithful  records." 

Even  in  modern  times,  Nicollet,  employed  by  the  United 
States  to  explore  the  Upper  Mississippi,  has  the  following  in 
his  report: 

'^  Having  procured  a  copy  of  La  Uontan's  book,  in  which 
there  is  a  roughly  made  map  of  his  Long  River,  I  was  struck 
with  the  resemblance  of  its  course,  as  laid  down,  with  that  of 
Cannon  River,  which  I  had  previously  sketched  in  my  own 
field-book.  I  soon  convinced  myself  that  the  principal  state- 
ments of  the  Baron  in  reference  to  the  country,  and  the  few 
details  he  gives  of  the  physical  character  of  the  river,  coincide 
remarkabif  with  what  I  had  laid  down  as  belonging  to  Can. 
non  River.  Then  the  lakes  and  swamps  corresponded.  Traces 
of  Indian  villages  mentioned  by  him,  might  be  found  by  a 
growth  of  wild  grass  that  propagates  itself  around  all  old 
Indian  settlements." 

LOXO  RIVER  DESCRIBED. 


The  alisfract  of  La  Hontan's  description  of  Long  Riyer  will 
show  th<'  i-t^ader  that  i^  is  a  work  of  the  imagination. 

On  the  28d  of  October,  1688,  he  writes  that  he  camped  upon 
an  islac.l  in  the  Mississippi  opposite  the  Wisconsin  River. 
Ascending  the  Mississippi,  he  alleges  that  on  the  3d  of  No- 
vember, he  ^'entered  the  mouth  of  the  Long  River,  which  looks 
like  a  lake  full  of  bulrushes." 

La  Hontan  writes:  "About  ten  oVlock  next  morning,  the 
river  became  pretty  narrow,  and  the  shore  was  covered  with 
lofty  trees."  On  the  8th,  about  two  in  the  afternoon,  they 
descried  some  huts  of  the  Eokoros  Indians,  a  quarter  of  a 
league  from  the  river.  The  next  day  he  ascended  the  stream 
to  the  chief  village  of  this  tribe.  On  the  12th  he  departed  and 
ascended  the  stream.  At  length  he  came  to  the  last  village  of 
thd  Eokoros,  where  he  was  informed  that  the  Essanapes  were 
sixty  leagues  above,  which  they  reached  on  the  27th  of  the 
month,  and  were  received  with  acclamation,  and  on  the  3d  of 


LX  HUNTXN  8  YOYXaK. 


8i& 


December  he  had  pushed  on  to  the  chief  village  of  the  Essa- 
napes.  The  chief  here  agreed  to  give  him  an  escort  to  the 
Guacsitarea,  and  on  the  10th  of  December  his  canoes  arrived 
in  sight  of  the  Quacaitares,  and  he  and  hia  men  were  supposed 
to  be  Spaniards  from  New  Mexico. 

On  the  9th  of  January  La  Hontan  writes:  "The  cacique 
came  to  see  me,  and  brought  with  him  four  hundred  of  his 
own  subjectb  and  four  Mozemleek  savages,  whom  I  took  for 
Spaniards.  My  mistake  was  occasioned  by  the  great  differ- 
ence between  these  two  American  nations.  The  Mozemleek 
savages  were  clothed,  they  had  a  thick  bushy  beard,  and  their 
hair  hung  down  under  their  ears,  their  complexion  was 
swarthy.  *  *  *  The  Mozemleek  nation  is  numerous  and 
powerful.  The  four  slaves  of  that  country  informed  me,  that 
at  the  distance  of  150 1'^agues  fr  om  the  placu  w  ^ere  I  then  was, 
their  principal  river  emptieH  i>.;dlf  into  a  great  salt  lake  of 
three  hundred  leagues  in  circumference,  the  mouth  of  which 
is  about  two  leagues  broad;  that  the  lower  part  of  the  river  is 
adorned  with  six  noble  cities  surrounded  with  stone  cemented 
with  fat  earth;  •  •  •  that  the  people  made  stuffs,  copper 
axes,  and  several  other  manufactures.  *  *  *  One  of  the 
four  Mozemleek  slaves  had  a  reddish  sort  of  a  copper  medal 
hanging  about  his  neck.  I  had  it  melted  by  M.  De  Ponti's 
gunsmith,  who  understood  something  of  metals,  but  it  became 
thereupon  heavier,  deeper  colored,  and  withal  somewhat  tract- 
able. I  desired  the  slaves  to  give  me  a  circumstantial  account 
of  these  medals,  and  they  gave  me  to  understand  that  they 
are  made  by  the  Tahuglak,  who  are  excellent  artisans. 

On  the  26th  of  January  he  began  his  return  voyage,  and 
"had  much  pleasure  in  sailing  down  that  river."  If  La  Hontan 
were  not  a  liar,  the  climate  of  Minnesota  in  January  has  greatly 
changed.   Oa  the  2d  of  March,  1689,  he  reached  the  Mississippi . 


ma 


614 


HIS'tORY  OF  MINNK80TA.. 


APPENDIX  G.    PAGE  154. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTJ0E8  OF  LE8UEUB  AKD   PEKICAUT. 

Pierre  Le  SuvUr,  l^oin  in  1657,  was  the  eon  of  a  Frenchman 
from  Artois,  who  emigrated  to  Canada.  LaHarpe  asserts  that 
Le  Sueur  saw  tlie  Mississipp-  for  the  first  time  by  way  of  the 
Wiseonsin,  in  ]  683,  probably  a  misprint  for  1685,  when  he 
may  have  been  with  Perrot.  on  his  first  visit.  His  name  ap- 
pears as  a  companion  of  Perrot,  on  his  second  visit,  in  1689, 
at  Fort  St,  Antoine,  Lake  Pepin.  In  the  Proces  Verbal  made 
at  the  fort,  this  time,  Le  Sueur'^  name  appears,  and  the 
Minnesota  River  is  called  Saint  Pierre.  In  the  Map  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  prepared  in  1703  by  De  I'lsle,  largely  from 
information  given  by  Le  Sueur,  the  river  is  marked,  for  the 
first  time,  .*s  Saint  Pierre.  The  statement  that  this  river  may 
have  been  named  after  Legardeur  St.  Pierre,  which  appears  on 
the  195th  page,  is  erroneou-..  As  the  Assineboine,  on  the  e^rly 
French  maps,  is  called  St.  Charles,  in  compliment  to  Charles 
Beauharnois,  Governor  of  Canada,  so  the  Minnesota  may  hare 
been  called  St.  Pierre,  after  Pierre  Le  Sueur,  in  compliment  to 
its  first  explorer. 

Returning  from  Lake  Pepin,  on  the  29th  of  March,  1690,  he 
married  Marguerite  Messier,  the  maiden  name  of  whose  mother 
was  Anne  Lemoyne,  the  aunt  of  Pierre  Lemoyne,  the  Sieur 
D'Iber/ille,  first  Governor  of  Louisiana;  thus  the  Governor 
was  the  first  cousin  of  Le  Sueu/'s  wife.  He  was  sent  in  1693 
to  La  Pointc,  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  Sioux  and  Chippewayi 
and  in  1695  establishet'  the  fort  below  Hastings. 

Le  Sueur's  children  were  Marie  Anne,  born  February  15th, 
1693;  Louise  Marguerite,  borxi  June  4th,  1694;  Marie,  born 
April  21st,  1696;  Jean  Paul,  born  June,  1697,  and  Marguerite, 
born  July  4th,  1699. 

Teeoskahtay,  the  Sioax  chief  referred  to  on  rige  151,  was 
buried  on  the  3d  of  February,  1696.  An  ecclesiastical  register 
has  the  following  entry:  "Siou,  age  40  years,  deputy  of  that 
nation,  who  had  the  happiness  to  he  baptized,  and  died  at  M. 
LeScieur's,  the  interpreter  of  tL:3  Indian.  Buried  3  Feb.,  1696» 
at  Montreal." 


the 
0 
had 
in 

orde 
Le 


LB  SUEUB  ACCOMPANIES  D  IBERVILLE. 


846 


In  the  4th  rolatne  of  Margry's  "French  Discoveries,"  pub 
liahed  in  1880,  at  Paris,  there  are  some  notices  of  Le  Sueur 
which  are  worthy  of  preservation.  The  Min'ster  of  Marine 
writes  to  D'Iberville  from  Versailles,  on  the  26th  of  August, 
1699,  as  follows: 

"The  Sieur  Le  Sueur,  of  Canada,  having  induced  certain 
persons  in  Paris  to  take  an  interest  with  him  in  the  seeking 
for  certain  mines,  which  he  claims  to  have  discovered  in  the 
Sioux  country,  his  Majesty,  two  years  ago,  gave  him  permis- 
sion to  go  thither  with  some  Canadians,  but  afterwards,  hav- 
ing thought  fit  to  revoke  the  permit,  the  Sieur  Le  Sueur 
requested  to  go  to  the  north  of  t  ue  Mississippi,  and  to  ascend 
it  as  far  is  the  Sioux  country.  His  Majesty  very  willingly 
acceded  to  his  request,  and  it  is  his  wish  f  hat  you  receive  him 
on  the  ship  which  you  comman'^,  with  the  men  required  for 
the  equipment  of  two  canoes,  some  laborers,  and  necessary 
munitions;  and  in  case  he  should'  not  have  enough  men  with 
him  for  the  two  canoes,  he  desires  that  you  allow  him  some  of 
the  Canadians  which  you  take  ^vith  you." 

Bernard  de  la  Haipe  says  that  Le  Sueur  arrived  in  Louisi- 
iana,  with  his  wife's  kinsman  D'Iberville.  ou  the  7th  of  De- 
cember, 1699,  but  it  was  the  8th  of  January,  1700,  when  the 
vessel  reac'ied  the  Bay  of  Biloxi. 

By  the  L.9th  of  February,  1700,  Le  Suear  by  a  short  portage 
from  Lake  Ponchartrain,  had  re.\ched  the  Mississippi,  and,  ai. 
the  village  of  Bayogoules,  began  to  prepare  canoes  for  his 
voyage.  D'Iberville  gave  for  his  use  a  "felouque,"  a  long  boat 
with  sails,  when  on  his  way  to  visit  the  i^etches,  end  return- 
ing, on  the  2tlth  of  March,  he  met  Le  Sueur  six  leagues  abova 
the  Houmas  village,  with  the  felucca  he  had  given  him,  and 
there  he  also  presented  him  with  a  large  birch  bark  canoe,  and 
allowed  him  five  men,  besides  the  one  who  had  been  master  of 
the  felucca. 

One  of  those  who  became  a  member  of  LeSueur's  expedition, 
had  come  to  Louisiana  with  D'II>erville,  on  his  first  visit,  and 
in  his  journal  lat-ly  printed  (see  page  175),  he  writes:  "I  was 
ordered  by  M.  de  Sau voile  to  go  on  this  expedition  which  M. 
Le  Sueur  was  going  to  make,  and  repair  shallops.    After  he 


«46 


HISTOBY  OF  MOTNESOTA. 


had  got  together  all  the  necessary  supplies  and  tools,  he  set 
out.  in  the  month  of  April  of  this  year  [1700]  with  a  single 
shallop,  in  which  were  but  twenty-five  persons." 

Penicaut's  account,  in  some  particulars,  varies  from  the 
account  taken  from  LaHarpe,  which  is  found  in  the  eighth 
chapter  of  this  History.  Speaking  of  the  B'  •  poi  "  -opper 
mine  on  the  Blue  Earth,  he  writes: 

"  When  spring  arrived,  we  went  to  work  iu  th'j  copper 
mine.  This  was  the  beginning  of  April  of  this  year  [1701]. 
We  took  with  us  twelve  laborers  and  four  hunters.  This 
mine  was  situated  about  three-quarters  of  a  league  from  our 
post.  We  took  from  the  mine,  in  twenty  days,  more  than 
twenty  thousand  pounds'  weight  of  ore,  of  which  we  only 
selected  four  thousand  pounds  of  the  finest,  which  M.  LeSueur, 
who  was  a  very  good  judge  of  it,  had  carried  to  the  fort,  and 
which  has  since  been  sent  to  France;  though  I  have  not 
learned  the  result. 

*^  This  mine  is  situated  at  the  beginning  of  a  very  long 
mountain,  which  is  upon  the  bank  of  the  river,  so  that  boats  can 
go  right  to  the  mouth  of  the  mine  itself.  At  this  place  is  the 
green  earth,  which  is  a  foot  and  a  half  in  thickness,  and  abov 
it  is  a  layer  of  earth  as  firm  and  hard  as  stone,  and  black  a^  ; 
burnt  like  coal  by  the  exhalation  from  the  mine.  The  coi^  '>tt 
is  scratched  out  with  a  knife.  There  are  no  trees  upon  this 
mountain.  *  ♦  ♦  After  twenty-two  days'  work,  we  returned 
to  our  fort.  When  the  Sioux,  who  belong  to  the  nation  of 
savages  who  pillaged  the  Canadians,  came,  they  brought  us 
merchandise  of  furs. 

"  They  had  more  than  four  hundred  beaver  robes,  each  robe 
made  of  nine  skins  sewed  together.  M.  Le  Sueur  purchased 
these  and  many  other  skins  which  he  bargained  far,  in  the 
week  he  traded  with  the  savages.  *  *  •  We  sell  in  rr^^  irn 
wares  which  come  very  dear  to  the  buyers,  especially  it  -  •■  jo 
from  Brazil,  in  the  proportion  of  a  hundred  crowns  ^-^  '  2 
pound;  two  little  horn-handled  knives  and  four  leaden  buil-i* 
are  equal  to  ten  crowns,  in  exchange  for  skins;  and  so  with 
the  rgst. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  May,  we  launched  our  shallop  in  the 


FxinoAirr  s  tbavbls. 


84T 


Veater,  and  loaded  it  with  green  earth  that  had  been  taken  out 
of  the  river,  and  with  the  fu  we  had  traded  for,  of  which  we 
had  three  canoes  full.  M.  Le  Sueur,  before  going,  held  coun- 
cil with  M.  D'Evaque,  the  Canadian  gentleman,  and  the  three 
great  chiefs  of  the  Sioux,  three  brothers,  aud  told  them  that  as 
he  had  to  return  to  the  sea,  he  desired  them  to  live  in  peace  with 
M.  D'Evaque,  whom  he  left  in  command  at  Fort  L'Huillier, 
with  twelve  Frenchmen.  M.  Le  Sueur  made  a  considerable 
present  to  the  three  Iv.others,  chiefs  of  the  savages,  desiring 
them  to  naver  abandon  the  French.  Afterward  we,  the  twelve 
men  whom  he  had  chosen  to  go  down  to  the  sea  with  him,  em- 
barked. In  setting  out,  M.  LeSueur  promised  to  M.  D'Evaque 
and  the  twelve  Frenchmen  who  remained  with  him  to  guard 
the  fort,  to  send  up  munitions  of  war  from  the  Illinois  country, 
as  soon  as  he  should  arrive  there;  which  he  did,  for  on  getting 
there,  he  sent  off  to  him  a  canoe  loaded  with  two  thousand 
pounds  of  lead  and  powder,  with  three  of  our  people  in  charge." 

The  canoe,  when  it  was  opposite  the  lead  mine  of  Nicolas 
Perrot,  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  broke  in  two,  and  the  cargo 
was  lost. 

Le  Sueur  and  Penicaut  reached  Fort  Biloxi,  near  Mobile,  in 
a  long  boat,  and  found  that  D'Iberville  had  just  returned  from 
France.  In  a  few  weeks  D'Iberville  again  sailed  for  France,  and 
Penicaut  writes:  "  The  ore  we  brought  with  us  from  the  mines 
we  placed  on  board  the  ships,  for  the  purpose  cf  being  assayed 
in  France,  but  we  never  after  discovered  what  became  of  it." 

During  the  latter  part  of  March,  1702,  D'Evaque  reached 
Fort  Biloxi,  and  reported  to  D'Iberville,  who  on  the  18th  of 
the  month  had  come  back  from  France,  that  he  had  been  at- 
tacked by  the  Foxes  and  Maskoutens,  who  killed  three  French- 
men who  were  working  near  Fort  L'Huillier,  and  that,  being 
out  of  powder  and  l«ad,  he  had  been  obliged  to  conceal  the 
goods  which  were  left,  and  abandon  the  post.  At  the  Wis- 
consin River  he  found  Juchereau  St.  Denis,  formerly  criminal 
judge  in  Montreal,  with  thirty-five  men,  on  his  way  to  estab- 
lish a  tannery  for  buffalo  skins  at  the  Wabash,  and  at  the 
Illinois  he  met  the  canoe  of  supplies  sent  by  Bienville,  D'lber- 
ville's  brother. 


fUk 


HI8I0RT  OF  MXSSESOTA. 


B.  de  la  Harpe  makes  Le  Sueur  arrive  on  the  10th  of  Feb- 
mary,  1701,  at  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  with  the  blue  or  green 
earth  from  the  Sioux  country,  and  on  the  28th  of  May  D'lber- 
TlUe  went  to  France.  He  has  also  fallen  into  an  error  in  say- 
ing that  the  men  left  by  Le  Sueur  came  back  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  on  the  30th  of  March,  1703. 

D'lberville  had  returned  to  the  colony  on  the  18th  of  March, 
1702,  and  on  the  30th  of  April  departed  again  for  France,  ac- 
companied by  Le  Sueur. 

During  the  summer  of  this  year.  Count  Pontchartrain  wrote 
to  the  Intendent  of  Canada,  "  One  need  not  be  surprised  if 
M.  D'lberville  proposes  the  appointment  of  Le  Sueur  to  go 
among  the  tribes,  he  having  married  his  first  cousin,  and  also 
one  of  the  most  active  from  Canada  in  the  trade  of  the  woods, 
having  been  engaged  therein  fourteen  years." 

D'lberville  having  been  appointed  commander  in  chief  for 
Louisiana,  wrote  to  the  Minister  of  Marine  in  behalf  of  Le 
Sueur  as  lieutenant  general  of  justice  for  that  region,  and 
thought  he  should  have  a  yearly  salary  of  five  hundred  crowns. 
The  minister,  under  date  of  24th  of  January,  1703,  replied  that 
he  did  not  think  the  king  would  approve  of  this  salary,  but 
would  give  him  proper  compensation  for  any  service  rendered 
among  the  Sioux  and  Illinois. 

On  the  15th  of  February  D'lberville  writes  from  Rochelle 
to  the  French  government,  that  if  they  contemplate  an  expe- 
dition to  New  Mexico,  Le  Sueur  should  in  the  month  of 
August,  be  aent  with  eight  or  ten  men  among  the  Sioux,  to 
bring  them  down  to  a  common  rendezvous.  The  Minister  of 
Marine  informs  him,  on  the  17th  of  June,  that  if  he  thinks 
that  the  Sieur  Le  Sueur  is  the  proper  person  for  lieutenant 
general  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Mobile,  he  will  be  appointed  by 
his  Majesty. 

On  the  lith  of  November,  as  D'lberville  was  about  to  sail 
for  Louisiana,  he  was  detained  by  sickness,  and  in  1705,  on  his 
way  to  the  colony,  he  died  of  yellow  fever.  Le  Sueur  is  also 
said  to  have  died  while  returning  from  France. 


BIBCR  DE  Lk  PEBRIRB. 


84fi 


APPENDIX  H.    PAGE  183. 

FORT  BEAUHARNOIS,  OK  LAKE  PEPIIT. 

Charlevoix,  ia  1721,  was  sent  by  the  French  government  to 
examine  the  c?vdition  of  Canada  and  Louisiana,  and  upon  his 
return  to  France  he  suggested  an  expedition  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  either  by  the  valley  of  the  Missouri  River  or  through 
the  Sioux  country.  It  was  thought  better  to  attempt  to  find 
a  route  through  the  Sioux  country,  and  to  establish  an  initial 
post  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Pepin,  and  in  1722  an  allowance 
was  made  by  the  French  government  of  twelve  hundred  livre> 
for  two  Jesuit  missionaries  to  accompany  those  who  should 
establish  the  new  post.  D'Avagour,  Superintendent  of  Mis- 
sions, in  May,  1723,  requested  the  authorities  to  grant  a  sepa- 
rate canoe  for  the  conveyance  of  the  goods  of  the  proposed 
mission,  and  as  it  was  necessary  to  send  a  commandant  to 
persuade  the  Indians  to  receive  the  missionaries,  he  recom- 
mended Sieur  Pachot,  an  ofHcer  of  expedience,  who  knew  the 
Sioux. 

A  dispatch  from  Canada  to  the  French  government,  dated 
October  14,  1723,  announced  that  Father  de  la  Chasse,  Supe- 
rior of  the  Jesuits,  expected  that  the  next  spring  Father  Guy- 
moneau,  and  another  missionary,  from  Paris,  would  go  to  the 
SioHX,  but  that  they  had  been  hindered  by  the  Sioux  a  few 
months  before,  killing  seven  Frenchmen  on  the  way  to  Louis- 
iana. The  aged  Jesuit,  Joseph  J.  Maiest,  who  had  been  on 
Lake  Pepin  in  1681),  with  Perrot,  and  who  was  now  in  Mont- 
real, said  that  it  was  the  wandering  Sioux  who  had  killed  the 
French,  but  he  thought  the  stationary  Sioux  would  receive 
Christian  instruction.  The  hostility  of  the  Foxes  had  also 
prevented  the  establishment  of  a  fort  a>id  mission  among  the 
Sioux. 

It  was  not  until  June,  1727,  as  has  been  related  upon  the 
one  hundred  and  sixty-third  page,  that  the  expedition  left 
Montreal  to  build  a  fort  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Pepin.  Thfl 
Jesuit  priests  who  accompanied  the  party,  were  Guignas,  "an 
able  mathematician",  and  De  Gonor.  The  fort  was  first  built 
on  the  north  side  of  Lake  Pepin.  A  letter  from  the  Brevoort 
6i 


850 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


manuscripts,  published  in  Shea's  "Early  Voyages,"  written  by 
Guignas  in  May,  1728,  has  these  words: 

"On  the  17th  of  September,  1727,  at  noon,  we  reached  this 
lake,  which  had  been  chosen  as  the  bourne  of  our  voyage.  We 
planted  ourselves  on  the  shore,  about  the  middle  of  the  north 
side,  on  a  low  point  where  the  soil  is  excellent.  The  wood  is 
very  dense  there,  but  is  already  thinned  in  consequence  of  the 
rigor  and  length  of  the  winter,  which  has  been  severe  for  the 
climate,  for  we  are  here  on  the  parallel  of  43  deg.  41  min.  It 
is  true  that  the  difference  of  the  winter  is  great  compared  with 
that  of  Quebec  and  Montreal,  for  all  that  seme  poor  judges 
say. 

"  From  the  day  of  our  landing  we  put  our  axes  to  the  wood: 
on  the  fourth  day  following  the  fort  was  entirely  finished.*** 

"Before  the  end  of  October  [1727]  all  the  houses  were 
finished  and  furnished,  and  each  one  found  himself  tranquilly 
lodged  at  home.  They  then  thought  only  of  going  out  to 
explore  the  hills  and  rivers,  and  to  see  those  herds  of  all  kinds 
of  deer  of  which  they  tell  such  stories  in  Canada.  They  must 
have  retired  or  diminislied  greatly  pince  the  time  the  old  voy- 
ageurs  left  the  country;  they  are  no  longer  in  such  great  num- 
bers, and  are  killed  with  diflBculty. 

"AH  would  go  well  there  if  the  spot  were  not  inundated, 
but  this  year  [1728],  on  the  15th  of  the  month  of  April,  we 
were  obliged  to  camp  out,  and  the  water  ascended  to  the  height 
of  two  feet  and  eight  inches  in  the  houses,  and  it  is  idle  to  say 
that  it  was  the  quantity  of  snow  that  fell  this  year.  The  snow 
in  the  vicinity  had  melted  long  before,  and  there  was  only  a 
foot  and  a  half  from  the  8th  of  February  to  the  15th  of  March; 
you  could  not  use  snow-shoes. 

"  I  have  great  reason  to  think  that  this  spot  is  inundated 
more  or  less  every  year.  I  have  always  thought  so,  but  they 
were  not  obliged  to  believe  me,  as  old  people  who  said  that 
they  had  lived  in  this  region  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  declared 
that  it  was  never  overflowed.  We  could  not  enter  our  much- 
devastated  houses  until  the  30th  of  April,  and  the  disorder  is 
even  now  scarcely  repaired." 

The  fort,  if  at  first  on  the  Wisconsin  side,  was  removed  to 
the  other  side  of  Lake  Pepin.     Bellin,  in  1755,  speaks  of  Per- 


man, 

bdsui 


KICKAPOOS  OAPTURB  FREITOHVEK. 


851 


Tot's  first  fort  above  the  mouth  of  the  Chippeway,  and  of  an 
other  fort  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake.  See  Appendix  I  for 
additional  information. 


'■ii;r  tp')'-'^ 


APPENDIX  I.    PAGE  184. 

8IBUR  DK  BOUOHEEVILLB  AND  FATHER  QU1QNA8  CAPTURE  ft. 

Capt.  Rene  Boucher,  Sieur  de  la  Perriere,  the  builder  of  Fort 
Beauharnois,  was  the  eighth  son  of  Pierre  de  Boucherville,  and 
at  the  time  of  the  expedition  to  Lake  Pepin,  was  fifty-five  yaars 
of  age.  His  brother,  the  Sieur  Montbrun,  and  La  Jemeraye, 
a  nephew  of  himself  and  Verandrie,  are  mentioned  as  being  at 
the  Fort  Beauharnois,  or  Pepin.  After  this  period,  the  lake 
took  the  name  of  Pepin.  May  it  not  have  been  named  after 
Pepin,  the  Sieur  de  la  Fond,  who  married  La  Perriere's  aunt? 

About  the  time  that  Father  Guignas  wrote  his  narrative. 
'Father  de  Gonor  left  Lake  Pepin,  and,  by  way  of  Mackinaw, 
■returned  to  Canada.  Early  in  October,  1728,  the  fort  being 
left  in  charge  of  Sieur  de  la  Jemeraye,  the  Sieur  de  Boucher- 
ville, Montbrun,  the  Jesuit  Guigniis,  and  other  Frenchmen, 
eleven  in  all,  left  lake  Pepin  to  go  to  Montreal  by  way  of  the 
Illinois  river,  and  at  the  river  "  Au  Boeuf,"  twenty-two  leagues 
above  that  stream,  on  the  12th  of  October,  they  were  captured 
by  the  Mascoutens  and  Kickapoos. 

The  following  correspondence  upon  the  subject  from  the 
Paris  Documents  in  the  Parliament  Library,  Ottawa,  alludes 
to  this  capture. 

De  Tilly,  under  date  of  29th  of  April,  1729,  writes  "that 
eleven  Frenchmen  and  Father  Quignase,  having  left  the  Fort 
Pepin  to  descend  the  Riviere  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  Illinois^ 
and  to  go  from  thence  to  Canada,  were  captured  by  the  Mas- 
coutens and  Quicapous,  and  brought  to  the  Rivere  au  Boeuf, 
with  the  intention  to  deliver  them  to  the  Renards,  and  that 
the  Sieur  de  Montbrun  and  his  brother,  with  another  French- 
man, escaped  from  their  hands  the  night  before  they  were  to 
•be  surrendered  to  these  Indiana.    The  Sieur  de  Montbrun  lefl 


■mi 


852 


BISTORT  OF  IflNXESOTA. 


his  brother  sick  among  the  Tamaroides  [Tamarawas  of  Illi- 
nois] and  brought  the  intelligence  to  M.  le  General,  avoiding 
certain  posts  on  the  road,  to  escape  the  Mascoutens  and  Quic- 
apous." 

Governor  Beauharnois,  on  the  29th  of  October,  wrote  to  the 
French  Colonial  Minister,  "  I  have  the  honor  to  report  upon 
what  has  passed  upon  the  part  of  the  Quickapous  and  Mas* 
coutens  who  arrested  the  French  coming  from  the  post  of  the 
Sioux,  and  the  enterprise  of  Sieur  de  Montbrun,  after  his  es- 
cape from  the  village  of  the  savages,  to  bring  us  the  news  of 
the  affair. 

"  He  is  a  person  zealous  in  the  service  of  his  Majesty,  and  I 
cannot  refuse  the  request  he  has  made  to  write  to  you  to  pro- 
cure his  promotion.  He  is  Cadet  of  the  Troop  and  a  most 
excellent  oflBcer. 

"  The  Sieur  de  la  Jemeraye,  who  remained  among  *he  Sioux 
with  some  Frenchmen,  and  brought  the  Renard's  chief  to  the 
River  St.  Joseph,  also  deserves  the  uoiior  of  your  protection." 
Sieur  de  Boucherville  and  Guignas  remained  prisoners  for 
several  months,  and  the  former  did  not  reach  Detroit  until 
June,  1729.  The  account  of  expenditures  made  during  his 
captivity  is  interesting  as  showing  the  value  of  merchandise 
at  that  time.     It  reads  as  follows: 

"  Memorandum  of  the  goods  that  Monsieur  de  Boucherville 
was  obliged  to  furnish  in  the  service  of  the  king,  from  the 
time  of  his  detention  among  the  Kikapou,  on  the  12th  of 
October,  1728,  until  his  return  to  Detroit  in  the  year  1729, 
in  the  month  of  June.  Ou  arriving  at  the  Kikapou  village, 
he  made  a  present  to  the  young  men,  to  secure  their  oppusi- 
tiou  to  some  evil  minded  old  warriors: 
Two  barrels  of  powder,  each  fifty  pounds,  at  Montreal 

price,  valued  at  the  sum  of ISOliv. 

One  hundred  pounds  of  lead  and  balls  making  the  sum  of    501iv. 
Four  pounds  of  Vermillion  at  12  francs  the  pound,     .    48fr. 

Four  coats,  braid,  at  twenty  francs, 80fr. 

Six  dozen  knives  at  four  francs  the  dozen,     ....    24fr. 
Four  hundred  flints,  one  hundred  gun-worms,  two  hun- 
dred ramrods  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  flies,  the  total 
at  the  maker's  prices, 901iv. 


PRK8ENTS  TO  IKDtANS. 


853 


After  the  Kikapou  refused  to  deliver  them  to  the  Renards 
f  Foxes]  they  wished  some  favors,  and  I  was  obliged  to  give 
them  the  following,  which  would  allow  them  to  weep  over 
and  cover  their  dead. 

Two  braid  coats  @  20  francs  each, 40fr. 

Two  woolen  blankets  @  15  francs  each,    .    .    ,    .    .    30fr. 
One  hundred  pounds  of  powder  @  30  sous,    ....    75fr. 

One  hundred  pounds  of  leud  @  10  sous, 25fr. 

Two  pounds  of  vermillion  @  12  francs, 24fr. 

Moreover,  given  to  the  Renards,  to  cover  their  dead  and 

prepare  them  for  peace,  50  pounds  of  powder  making,    75fr. 

One  hundred  pounds  of  lead  @  10  sous, 50fr. 

Two  poundo  of  verraillion  @  12  francs, 24fr. 

During  the  winter  a  considerable  party  was  sent  to  strike 
hands  with  the  Illinois.    Given  at  that  time. 

Two  blue  blankets  @  15  francs, 30tr. 

Four  men's  shirts  @  6  francs, 24fr. 

Four  pairs  of  long-necked  bottles  @  6  francs,    ,    .    .    24fr. 

Four  dozen  of  knives  @  4  francs, 16fr. 

Gun-worms,  files,  ramrods  and  flints,  estimated,     .    .    40fr. 

Given  to  engage  the  Kickapou  to  establish  themselves  upon 
a  neighboring  isle,  to  protect  from  the  treachery  of  the 
Renards. 

Four  blankets  @  15  francs, 60fr. 

Two  pairs  of  bottles,  6  francs 24fr. 

Two  pounds  of  vermillion,  12  francs, 24fr. 

Four  dozen  butcher  knives,  6  francs 24fr. 

Two  woolen  blankets  @  15  francs,    .......    30fr. 

Four  pairs  of  bottles  @  6  francs, 24fr. 

Four  shirts  @  6  francd, 24fr. 

Four  dozen  of  knives  @  4  francs, 16fr. 

The  Renards  having  betrayed  and  killed  their  brothers  the 
Kickapou,  I  seized  the  favorable  opportunity,  and  to  encour- 
age the  latter  to  avenge  themselves,  I  gave — 
Twenty-five  pounds  of  powder®  30 sous,    .    .    .    .  37f.  lOs, 
Twenty-five  pounds  of  lead  @  10  sous,    .    .    .    .    .  12f.  lOs. 

Two  guns  at  30  francs  each, 60f. 

One  half  pound  of  vermillion, 6f. 

Flints,  gun  -  worms  and  knives, 20f. 


864 


BISTOB'X  OF  HIKNE80TA. 


The  Illinoia  coming  to  the  Eickapou's  village,  I  sup- 
ported them  at  my  expense,  and  gave  them  powder, 

balls  and  shirts,  valued  at, fiOf. 

In  departing  from  the  Eikapou  village,  I  gave  them 
the  rest  of  the  goods  for  their  good  treatment,  esti- 
mated at 80f. 

In  a  letter  written  by  a  priest  at  New  Orleans,  on  July  12,, 
1730,  is  the  following  exaggerated  account  of  the  capture  of 
Father  Guignas:  "We  always  felt  a  distrust  of  the  Fox 
Indians,  although  they  did  not  longer  dare  to  undertake  any 
thing,  since  Father  Guignas  has  detached  from  thinr  alliance 
the  tribes  of  the  Kikapous  and  Maskoutins.  Yoa  know,  u.\y 
Reverend  Father,  that  being  in  Canada,  he  had  the  courage  to 
penetrate  even  to  the  Sioux  near  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi, 
at  the  distance  of  eight  hundred  leagues  from  New  Orleans 
and  five  hundred  from  Quebec.  Obliged  to  abandon  this 
important  mission  by  the  unfortunate  result  of  the  enterprise 
against  the  Foxes,  he  descended  the  river  to  repair  to  the  Illi- 
nois. On  the  15th  of  October  in  the  year  1728,  he  was  arrested 
when  half  way,  by  the  Kikapous  and  Mascoutins.  For  four 
months  he  was  a  captive  among  the  Indians,  where  he  had 
much  to  suffer  and  every  thing  to  fea**.  The  time  at  last  came 
when  he  was  to  be  burned  alive,  when  he  was  adopted  by  an 
old  man,  whose  family  saved  his  life  and  procured  his  liberty. 
"Our  missionaries  who  are  auiiong  the  Illinois  were  no 
sooner  acquainted  with  the  situation  than  they  procured  him 
all  the  alleviation  they  were  able.  Every  thing  which  he  re- 
ceived he  employed  to  conciliate  the  Indians,  and  succeeded  to 
the  extent  of  engaging  them  to  conduct  him  to  the  lUinois,^ 
to  make  peace  with  the  French  and  Indians  of  this  legion. 
Seven  or  eight  months  after  this  peace  was  concluded,  the  Mas- 
koutins and  Kikapous  returned  again  to  the  Illinois  country, 
and  took  back  Father  Guignas,  to  spend  the  winter,  from 
whence,  in  all  probability,  he  will  return  to  Canada." 

After  peace  was  established  with  the  Foxes,  Legardeur  Saint 
Pierre  was  in  command  at  Fort  Beauharnois,  and  Father 
Guignas  again  attempted  to  establish  a  Sioux  mission.  In  a 
cooiimunication  dated  12th  of  October,  1736,  by  the  Cnuadian 
authorities,  is  the  following:  "In  regard  to  the  Scioux,  Saint 


bl.  FIERRG  AT  LAKE  PEPIK. 


805 


Pierre,  who  commanded  at  that  post,  and  Father  0ui.G;na8,  the 
missionary,  have  written  to  Sieur  de  Beauharnois,  ou  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  of  last  April,  that  these  Indians  appeared  well 
intentioned  toward  the  French,  and  had  no  other  fear  than 
that  of  being  abandoned  by  them.  Sieur  de  Beauharnois 
annexes  an  extract  of  these  letters,  and,  although  the  Scioux 
seem  very  friendly,  the  result  only  can  tell  whether  this  fidelity 
is  to  be  absolutely  depended  upon;  for  the  unrestrained  and 
inconsistent  spirit  which  composes  the  Indian  character  muy 
easily  change  it.  They  have  not  come  over  this  summer  as 
yet,  but  M.  de  la  St.  Pierre  is  to  get  them  to  do  so  next  year, 
and  to  have  an  eye  on  their  proceedings." 

The  reply  to  this  communication  from  Louis  XV.,  dated 
Versailles,  May  10th,  1737,  was  in  these  words:  "As  respects 
the  Scioux,  according  to  what  the  commandant  and  missionary 
at  that  post  have  written  to  Sieur  de  Beauharnois  relative  to 
the  disposition  of  these  Indians,  i^othing  appears  to  be  want- 
ing on  that  point. 

'*  But  their  delay  in  coming  down  to  Montreal  since  the  time 
thoy  have  promised  to  do  so,  must  render  their  sentiments 
somewhat  suspected,  and  nothing  but  facts  can  determine 
whether  their  fidelity  can  be  absolutely  relied  on.  But  what 
must  still  further  increa.se  the  uneasiness  to  be  entertained  in 
their  regard  is  the  attack  on  the  convoy  of  M.  de  Verandrie, 
especially  if  this  ofiicer  has  adopted  the  course  he  had  informed 
the  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  he  should  take  to  have  revenge 
therefor." 


APPENDIX  J.     PAGh  186. 

YERAXDRIE  AND  OTHER  OFFICERS  EMPLOYED  TO  FIND  A  ROUTB 
TO  THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN. 

Groselliers,  in  1660,  had  intercourse  with  the  Assineboines 
at  the  Grand  Portage,  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  then  by  Lake  Nepigon,  found  his  way  to  Hudson's  Bay, 
but  not  to  Lake  Winnipeg,  as  has  sometimes  been  asserted. 


856 


HISTOBY  OF  MIITMBSOTA. 


Tn  the  year  1716,  the  Canadian  authorities  determined  to 
attempt  to  reach  the  Pacific  Ocean  by  way  of  the  lakeu  west 
of  Lake  Superior.  The  trench  government  aUudes  to  the 
project  in  the  tollowing  communication,  dated  December  7th, 
1717: 

"  Messrs.  de  Vaudreuil  and  ^«gon  having  written  last  year 
that  the  discovery  of  the  VVestern  Ocean  would  be  advan- 
tageous to  the  colony,  it  was  approved,  that,  an  a  meann  of 
succeeding  in  that  enterprise,  M.  de  Vaudreuil  should  establish 
three  posts  which  he  had  proposed,  and  it  was  r  d  in  the 
meantime,  that  to  found  these  establisbmentB  wou  ^  noth- 

ing to  the  king,  while  the  commerce  should  ind.  ..j  those 
by  whom  they  were  founded,  and  to  send  a  detailed  estimate 
of  what  it  wuuld  cost  to  continue  the  discovery. 

They  stated  in  reply,  that  in  the  month  of  July  last,  M. 
Vandreuil  had  caused  Sieur  Noue,  lieutenant,  with  eight 
canoes,  to  set  out  on  this  discovery.  He  was  ordered  to  estab- 
lish the  first  post  on  the  river  Kamanistiguoya,  on  the  north 
of  Lak(.  Superior;  after  which  he  was  to  go  to  Takamanigen 
[Rainy  Lake],  toward  the  Christeneaux,  to  establish  the  sec- 
ond, and  obtain  from  the  savages  the  information  necessary 
for  establishing  a  third  at  the  Lake  of  the  Assinipoelles." 

Lt.  Robertel  la  Noue  arrived  very  late  in  1617  at  Kamanis- 
tiguoya,  found  few  Indians,  and  was  unable  to  send  his  canoes 
to  Rainy  Lake.  During  the  winter  he  wrote  through  a  French- 
man at  LaPointe,  to  the  chief  of  the  Sioux  nation,  urging  that 
they  should  make  peace  with  the  Christeneaux;  as  then  there 
would  be  less  risk  in  searching  for  a  route  to  the  Western 
Ocean. 

The  Governor  of  Canada,  on  the  14th  of  November,  1719, 
wrote,  "The  Sieur  de  Vandreuil  has  not  received  any  letter 
from  Sieur  de  la  Noue;  he  has  only  learnt  by  way  of  Chagoa- 
mion  [La  Point],  which  is  on  the  south  extremity  of  Lake 
Superior,  where  Sieur  St.  Pierre  has  been  in  command  since 
last  year,  that  Sieur  Pachot  had  passed  there  on  his  way  to 
the  Scioux,  where  he  was  sent  by  the  Sieurdela  Noue,  on  the 
subject  of  the  peace  which  he  was  trying  to  bring  about 
between  this  nation  and  that  of  the  Christeneaux,  but 
that  Pachot  not  having  returned  to  Chogoamion  when  the 


BOITTK  TO  THB  PACIFIC  OOKAW. 


807 


ImI  canoea  left,  there  was  no  intelligence  of  the  succesfi  of  his 
voyage. 

"  The  silence  of  Sieur  la  None  gives  reason  for  believing 
that  he  has  determined  to  wait  the  return  ot  Sieur  Pachot, 
before  giving  an  account  to  Sieur  Vaudreuil  of  what  he  has 
done  for  the  execution  of  the  orders  he  was  charged  with,  and 
that  he  had  not  been  able  to  do  it  when  Pachot  had  arrived 
at  Kamanistiguoya,  on  account  of  the  Reason  being  too  far 
advanced. 

"  The  Sieur  Vaudreuil  supposes  that,  the  absence  of  Sieur 
Pachot  has  prevented  Sieur  de  la  Noue  from  sending  this  year 
to  Takamaniouen,  but  that  his  officer  will  have  found  the 
means  of  attracting  to  his  post  the  Indians  who  are  accustomed 
to  trade  at  Hudson's  Bay." 

La  Noue  failed  to  accomplish  any  thing  in  the  way  of  open- 
ing a  route  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  but  the  subject  was  revived 
with  enthusiasm  by  Pierre  Gualtier  Varennes,  the  Sieur  Ve- 
randrie  (also  written  Verendrye),  who,  in  1727  was  stationed 
«t  Lake  Nepigon.  In  the  spring  of  1728  he  was  fortunate  in 
meeting  Father  De  Gonor,  a  Jesuit  returning  from  the  fort 
established  by  his  relative,  La  Perriere  Boucher,  the  year  be- 
fore, on  the  shores  of  Lake  Pepin,  who  informed  him  that 
Father  Guignas,  his  colleague  at  the  lake,  was  firm  in  the 
belief  that  a  route  could  be  opened  to  the  Western  ()cean. 

Verandrie  transmitted  by  De  Gonor,  a  communication  to 
Beauharnois,  Governor  of  Canada,  in  which  he  related  that 
Pacco,  of  Lake  Nepigon,  an  Indian  chief,  while  at  the  river 
Camanistigoya,  on  a  war  party,  had  found  a  great  lake  with 
three  distinct  outlets;  one  flowing  to  the  English,  at  Hudson's 
Bay;  the  second  south,  to  the  Mississippi,  and  the  third  toward 
the  setting  sun.  In  another  letter  he  informs  the  authorities 
that  he  has  chosen  a  savage  named  '^  Ochaka,"  living  at  his 
post,  to  guide  an  expedition  to  the  west,  and  that  there  were 
two  routes;  one  by  Mantveiangan  or  Knmanistigoya,  and  the 
other  by  the  Eiver  Fond  du  Lac,  now  St.  Louis. 

Ochagachs  or  Ochakah  drew  a  rude  map  of  the  country, 
which  is  still  preserved  at  Paris,  a  reduced  copy  of  which  faces 
page  800,  for  the  first  time  published. 

Verandrie  was  the  son  of  Rene  Gaultier  Varennes,  who,  for 


868 


EIBTORY  OF  MINNSSOTA. 


twenty-two  years  yrea  the  chief  magistrate  at  Three  Rivers, 
whose  wife  w&s  Marie  Boucher,  the  daughter  of  his  predeces- 
sor, whom  he  had  mamed  wheu  she  was  twelve  years  of  age. 
He  becam^^  a  cadet  in  1S97,  and  in  i704  accompanied  an  expe- 
dition to  New  England.  The  next  jear  he  whs  in  Newfound- 
land, and  the  year  following  he  went  H  Fran(.o  joined  a  regi- 
ment of  Brittany,  and  was  in  the  confi:  .t  at  Malplaquet,  when 
the  French  troops  were  defeated  by  the  Duke  ol"  Marlborough. 
When  he  returned  to  Canada  he  was  obliged  to  accept  the 
position  ot  ensign,  notwithstanding  t-he  gallant  manner  in 
which  he  had  behaved. 

Charles  de  Beauharnois,  the  Governor  of  Canada,  gave  Vi 
randrie  a  respectful  hearing,  and  carefully  examined  the  ma^ 
of  the  region  west  of  the  great  lakes,  which  had  been  drawn 
by  Ochagachs  (Otchaga),  the  Indian  guide.  Orders  were  soon 
given  to  nt  out  an  expedition  of  fifty  men.  It  left  Montreal 
in  1731,  under  the  conduct  of  his  three  sons  and  nephew  De 
la  Jemeraye,  who  hid  been  in  1728,  at  the  fort,  on  Lake 
Pepin,  he  not  joining  the  party  till  173i-{,  in  consequence  of 
the  detentions  of  business. 

In  the  autumn  of  1731,  the  party  reached  Rainy  Lake,  by 
the  Nantouagan,  or  Groselliers  river,  now  called  Pigeon.  Fa- 
ther Messager,  who  had  been  stationed  at  Mackinaw,  was 
taken  as  a  spiritual  guide.  At  ^he  foot  of  Rainy  Lake  a  post 
was  erected  and  called  Fort  St.  Pierre,  and  the  next  year, 
having  crossed  Minittie,  or  Lake  of  the  Woods,  they  estab- 
lished Fort  St.  Charles  on  itc  southwestern  bank.  An  un- 
publisiied  ma^)  of  these  discoveries  by  De  la  Jemeraye  still 
exists  at  Paris.  Thfi  river  Winnipeg,  called  Maurepas,  in 
honor  of  the  minister  of  France  in  1734,  was  protected  by  a 
fort  of  the  same  name. 

De  la  Jemeraye  visited  the  Governor  of  Canada  in  1733,  and 
repreiiented  that  the  expedition  was  at  Lake  Winnipeg,  but 
that  they  eould  not  proceed  further  at  their  own  charges,  as 
43,000  francs  had  been  expended  by  their  associates,  and  that 
the  voyageurs  would  not  work  any  longer  unless  they  were 
paid.  The  French  government  infused  to  allow  any  money, 
and  wrote  that  Verandrie  and  partners  must  be  satisfied  with 
the  furs  they  would  secure.     Cast  down  but  not  in  despair, 


WR 


VSRANDBIB  8  SOX    HASSAOBEU. 


85& 


ke.  by 

Fa- 

wa* 

poat 

year, 

estab- 

a  un- 

still 


Verandrie  in  1735,  resolved  to  push  on,  and  directed  his  fourth 
son,  eighteen  years  of  age,  to  study  drawing  and  surveying, 
so  that  he  might  the  next  year  join  his  father  and  three 
brothers.  The  Governor  of  Canada  allowed  him  to  farm  out 
to  traders  for  three  years  the  posts  he  had  established. 

In  June,  1736,  as  twenty-one  of  the  expedition  were  camped 
upon  an  isle  in  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  they  were  surprised  by 
a  band  of  Sioux  hostile  to  the  French  allies,  the  Christeneaux 
and  all  killed.  The  island,  upou  this  account,  is  called  Mas- 
sacre Island.  A  few  days  after  a  party  of  five  Canadian  voya- 
geurs  discovered  their  dead  bodies  and  scalped  heads.  Father 
Ouiieau  the  missionary,  was  found  upon  one  knee,  im  arrow 
in  his  head,  his  breast  bare,  his  left  hand  touching  the  ground 
and  the  right  hand  raised. 

The  priest's  name  may  have  been  Guymonneau.  There 
was  among  the  Ottawas,  in  1721,  a  Jesuit,  J.  C.  Guymonneau. 
Among  the  slaughtered  was  also  a  son  of  Verandrie,  who 
had  a  tomahawk  in  his  back,  and  his  body  adorned  with  gar- 
ters and  bracelets  of  porcupine  quills,  The  father  was  at  th© 
foot  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  when  he  received  the  news  of  his 
son's  murder,  and  about  the  same  time  heard  of  the  death  of  his 
enterprising  nephew,  Dufrost  de  la  Jemeraye,  the  sou  of  his 
sister  Marie  Reine  de  Varennes  and  brother  of  Madame  You- 
ville,  the  foundrass  of  the  Hospitaliers  at  Montreal. 

Wher  the  many  difficulties  of  the  three  and  a  quarter 
leagues  of  Nantouagan  (Pigeon)  portage  disheartened  the  voy- 
ageur?,  Jemeraye  kept  up  his  courage,  and  in  1731,  was  the 
first  i,o  pass  beyond,  and  commence  the  fort  at  Rainy  Lake. 

On  the  8d  of  October,  1738,  they  built  an  advanced  post, 
Fort  La  Reine,  on  the  river  Assiniboels,  which  they  called  St. 
Charles,  and  beyond  was  a  branch  called  St.  Pierre.  These 
two  rivers  received  the  baptismal  name  of  Verandrie,  which 
was  Pierre,  and  Governor  Beauharnois,  w  hich  was  Charles, 
The  post  became  the  centre  of  trade  and  point  of  departure 
for  explorations  either  north  or  south. 

It  was  by  ascending  the  Assiniboine,  and  by  the  present 
trail  from  its  tributary,  Mouse  river,  they  reached  the  country 
of  the  Mantanes,  and  in  1742,  came  to  the  Upper  Missouri, 
passed  tlie  Yellowstone,  and  at  length  arrived  at  the  Rocky 


860 


HISTOKY  OF  MimfESOTA. 


Mountains.  The  party  was  led  by  the  eldest  son  and  his 
brother,  the  chevalier.  They  left  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  on 
the  29th  of  April.  1742,  came  in  sight  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
on  the  1st  of  January,  1743,  and  on  the  12th  the  chevalier 
ascended  them,  his  brother  being  left  some  distance  behind* 
On  the  route  they  fell  in  with  the  Beaux  Homnies,  Pioya, 
Petits  Renards,  and  Arc  tribes,  and  stopped  among  the  Snake 
tribe,  but  could  go  no  farther  in  a  southerly  direction,  owing 
to  a  war  between  the  Arcs  and  Snakes. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  lliH,  they  returned  to  the  upper 
Missouri,  and  in  the  country  of  the  Petite  Cerise  tribe,  they 
planted  on  an  eminence  a  leaden  plate  of  the  arms  ot  France, 
and  raised  a  monument  of  stones,  which  they  called  Beauhar* 
nois.  They  returned  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  on  the  2d  of 
July. 

North  of  the  Assiniboine  they  proceeded  to  Lake  Dauphin, 
Swan's  Lake,  explored  the  river  "  Des  Biches,"  and  ascended 
«ven  to  the  fork  of  the  Saskatchewan,  which  they  called  Pos- 
koiac.  Two  forts  were  subsequently  established;  one  near 
Lake  Dauphin  and  the  other  on  the  river  "Des  Biches,"  called 
Fort  Bourbon.  The  northern  route,  by  the  Saskatchewan* 
was  thought  to  have  some  advantage  over  the  Missouri,  be- 
cause there  was  no  danger  of  meeting  with  the  Spaniards. 

In  1743,  Verendrye  the  father  returned  to  Quebec,  and  to 
the  charge  that  he  had  enriched  himself,  he  answered,  "  If  the 
40,000  livres  of  debt  that  I  have  over  my  head  were  an  advan- 
tage, I  ct»n  compliment  myself  on  being  very  rich." 

Governor  Beauharnois  having  been  prejudiced  against  Ve- 
randrie  by  envious  persons,  De  Noyelles  was  appointed  to 
take  command  of  the  post.  During  these  difiQculties  we  find 
Sieur  de  la  Verandrie,  J  r.  engaged  in  other  duties.  In  August, 
1747,  he  arrives  from  Mackinaw  at  Montreal,  and  in  the  au- 
tumn of  that  year  he  accompanies  St.  Pierre  to  Mackinaw, 
and  brings  back  the  convoy  to  Montreal.  In  February,  1748, 
with  five  Canadians,  five  Chriftenaux,  two  Ottawas,  and  one 
Sauteur,  he  attacked  the  Mohawks  near  Schenectady,  and 
returned  to  Montreal  with  two  scalps,  one  that  of  a  chief. 
On  .June  20th,  1748  it  is  recorded  that  Chevalier  de  la  Veran- 
<Jrie  departed  from  Montreal  for  the  head  of  Lake  Superior. 


DEATH  07  8IBUB  VERANDRIE. 


861 


Ma'  gry  states  that  he  perished  at  sea  in  November,  1764,  by 
the  wreck  of  the  "Auguste." 

Fortunately,  Qalissioniere  the  successor  of  Beauharnois, 
although  defortned  and  insignificant  in  appearance,  was  fait 
minded,  ii  lover  of  science,  especially  botany,  and  anxious  to 
push  discoveries  towaru  the  Pacific.  Verandrie  the  father  was 
restored  to  favor,  and  made  Captain  of  the  Order  of  St.  Louis, 
and  ordered  to  resume  explorations.  He  expected  to  leave 
Montreal  in  May,  1750,  and  reach  by  December,  Fort  Bourbon, 
where  he  would  await  the  navigation  of  the  Saskatchewan, 
the  next  spring,  and  proceed  to  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 
the  great  lake  [perhaps  Puget's  Sound]  of  which  the  Indians 
had  spoken.  A  little  while  after  he  formed  this  plan,  on 
the  6th  of  December,  1749,  he  died. 

The  Swedish  Professor  Kalni  met  him  in  Canada,  not  long 
before  his  decease,  and  had  interesting  conversations  witb  him 
about  the  furrows  on  the  plains  'be  Missouri,  which  he 
conjectured  indicated  the  former  ao  u-  of  an  Hjoricultural 
people.  These  ruts  are  familiar  to  modern  travel'-rs,  and  may 
be  only  bufifalo  trails. 

Father  Coqnard,  who  had  been  aasociated  with  A    randrie, 
aays  that  they  first  met  the  Mantanes,  and  next  the  BrochetS' 
After  these  were  the  Gros  Ventres,  the  Crows,  the  Flat  Heads' 
the  Black  Feet  and  Do^  Feet,  who  were  established  on  tl 
Missouri,  even  up  to  the  falls;  and  that  about  thirty  leagu 
beyond  they  found  a  narrow  pass  in  the  mountains. 

Bougainville  gives  '^  more  full  account.  He  says,  "'  He  who 
moat  advanced  this  discovery  was  the  Sieur  Veranderie.  He 
went  from  Fort  la  Reine  to  the  Missouri. .  He  met  on  thu 
banks  of  this  river  the  Mandans  or  White  Beards,  who  had 
seven  villages,  with  pine  stockades  strengthened  by  a  ditch- 
Next  to  these  were  the  Kinongewiniris  or  the  Brochets,  in 
three  villages,  and  toward  the  upper  part  of  the  river  were 
three  villages  of  the  Mahantaa.  All  along  the  mouth  of  tre 
Wabeik  or  Shell  River,  were  situated  twenty-three  villages  of 
the  Panis  To  the  southwest  of  this  river,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Onanaradeba  or  La  Graisse,  are  the  Hectanes  or  Snake 
tribe.    They  extend  to  the  base  of  a  chain  of  mountains  which 


«63 


HISTOBT  OF  MINKESOTA. 


Tuns  north-northeast.  South  of  this  is  the  river  Karoskioa 
or  Cerise  Peiee,  which  is  supposed  to  flow  to  California. 

"He  found  in  the  immense  region  watered  by  the  Missouri 
imd  in  the  vicinity  of  forty  leagues,  the  Mahantas,  the  Owili- 
niock  or  Beaux  Hommes,  four  villages;  opposite  the  Brochets 
the  Black  Feet,  three  villages  of  a  hundred  lodges  each;  oppo- 
site the  Mar.dans  are  the  Ospekakaerenousques  or  Fiat  Heads, 
four  villages;  opposite  the  Panis  are  the  Arcs  or  Christinaux, 
and  Utasibaoutcbatas  or  Assiniboels,  three  villages;  following 
these  the  Makesch  or  Little  Foxes,  two  villages;  the  Piwassa 
or  Great  Talkers,  three  villages;  the  Eakokoschena  or  Gensde 
la  Pie,  live  villages;  the  Eiskipiaounouini  or  the  Garter  tribe, 
seven  villages." 

Galassoniere  was  succeeded  by  Jonquiere  in  the  governor- 
ship of  Canada,  who  proved  to  be  a  graspin?,  peevish  and  very 
miserly  person.  For  the  sons  of  Verandrie  he  had  no  sym- 
pathy, and  forming  a  clique  to  profit  by  their  father's  toils,  he 
determined  to  send  two  expeditions  toward  the  Pacific  Ocean ; 
one  by  the  Missouri  and  the  other  by  the  Saskatchewan. 

Father  Coquard,  one  of  the  companions  of  Verandrie,  waa 
consulted  as  to  the  probability  of  finding  a  pass  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  through  which  they  might  in  canoes  reach  the 
great  lake  "f'salt  water;  perhaps  Puget's  Sound. 

The  enterprise  was  at  length  confided  to  two  experienced 
oflBcers,  Lamarque  de  Marin  and  Jacques  Legardeur  de  Saint 
Pierre.  The  former  was  assigned  the  way  by  the  Missouri, 
and  to  the  latter  was  given  the  more  northern  route.  But 
Saint  Pierre  in  some  way  excited  the  hostility  of  the  Christi- 
naux,  who  attempted  tc  kill  him,  and  burned  Fort  la  Heine. 
His  lieutenant,  Boucher  de  Niverville,  who  had  been  sent  to 
establish  a  post  toward  the  source  of  the  Saskatchewan,  failed 
on  account  of  sickness.  Some  of  his  men,  however,  pushed  on 
to  the  Rocky  Mountaii  and  in  1752  established  Fort  Jon- 
qnire.    Henry  says  Saint  Pierre  established  Fort  Bourbon. 

Bellin,  in  "  Remark  -  upon  the  Map  of  North  America," 
published  in  1755  at  Paris,  upon  the  authority  of  the  journal  of 
M.  le  Gardeur  St.  Pierre,  written  in  1750,  mentions  that  Fort 
La  Reine  was  built  upon  the  north  side  of  the  Assineboine, 
«nd  that  by  a  portage  of  three  leagues  Swan  Lake  would  be 


LEOABDBCB  8AINT  PIERBB  KILLED. 


868 


reached;  and  he  states,  farther,  that  the  fort  on  Red  Riveir 
had  been  abandoned  because  of  its  nearness  to  La  Reine. 
.  In  1753  Saint  Pierre  was  succeeded  in  the  command  of  the 
West  by  De  la  Come,  and  sent  to  French  Creek,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  had  been  but  a  few  days  there  when  he  received  a 
Tisit  from  Washington,  just  entering  upon  manhood,  bearing 
a  letter  from  Governor  Dinwiddie  of  Virginia,  complaining  of 
the  encroachments  of  the  French. 

Soon  the  clash  of  arms  between  France  and  England  began, 
and  Saint  Pierre,  at  the  head  of  the  Indian  allies,  fell  near 
Lake  George,  in  September,  1755,  in  a  battle  with  the  English. 
After  the  seven  years'  war  was  concluded,  by  the  treaty  of 
Paris  the  French  relinquished  aii  their  posts  in  the  Northwest 
and  the  work  begun  by  Verandrie  was,  in  1805,  completed  by 
Lewis  and  Clarke,  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  is  fast 
approaching  the  passes  of  the  Rocky  Mountain*^,  through  the 
valley  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  from  thence  to  the  great  land- 
locked bay  of  the  ocean,  Puget^s  Sound. 

NOTICE  OP  FRENCH  0FFICER8. 


Jacques  Legardeur  St.  Pierre,  bom  on  the  24:th  of  October, 
1701,  was  the  son  of  Paul  Legardeur,  the  Sieur  St.  Pierre  whp 
was  born  in  1661,  whose  father,  J.  Baptis?fcp  Legardeur,  on  the 
11th  of  July,  1656,  had  married  Marguerite,  the  daughter  of 
the  brave  explorer,  Jean  Nicolet,  the  first  white  man,  who, 
about  A.  D.  1635,  reached' the  valley  of  the  Wisconsin  River. 

His  father,  Capt.  St.  Pierre,  in  1719  was  sent  to  La  Pointe. 
The  son,  in  1746,  was  engaged  in  fighting  the  Mohawks  near 
Montreal,  and  in  the  fall  of  1746  he  arrived  at  Mackinaw  with 
one  hundred  canoes  of  supplies.  The  next  year  he  was  in 
command  at  that  post,  with  his  brother,  Louis  Legardeur,  the 
Chevalier  de  Repentigny,  as  second  officer. 

From  Mackinaw  he  appears  to  have  been  ordered  to  the 
Winnipeg  region,  and  from  there,  in  1753,  to  a  rude  post  in 
Erie  county.  Pa.,  where  he  had  an  interview  with  young 
George  Washington. 

His  last  conflict  was  in  September,  1755,  at  Lake  George, 
under  Baron  Dieskau.    He  was  in  command  of  the  Indian 


864 


HISTOBT  OP  MIKNBSOTA. 


allies,  and  on  the  24th  of  August  he  received  the  following 
from  his  superior  ofBcer: 

"  Mr.  de  St.  Pierre  will  have  the  goodness  to  make  th( 
Indians  understand  reason  on  that  point  [pillaging],  ebpeciall; 
not  to  amuse  themselves  scalping  until  the  enemy  be  entirely 
defeated;  inasmuch  as  ten  men  can  be  killed  while  one  is  being 
scalped." 

At  10  o'clock  of  the  8th  of  September,  in  the  battle  of  Lake 
George,  Legardeur  St.  Pierre  was  killed,  and  the  Indians  on 
that  account,  became  furious,  and  seized  the  Englishman  by 
whom  he  had  been  killed,  and  dispatched  him  with  their  tom- 
ahawks. That  his  name  was  given  to  the  St,  Peter's  River  is 
an  error.  It  is  more  probable  that  it  was  so  named  after  the 
baptismal  name  of  Le  Sueur,  its  first  explorer. 

L0UI8  LUC  LA.  COENB. 

M.  de  la  Come,  who  succeeded  St.  Pierre  in  the  Winnipeg 
region,  was  the  son  of  Louis  La  Gome.  He  was  born  on  the 
6th  of  June,  1713,  and  on  December  10th,  1742,  married  Marie 
Anne  Hervieux.  In  the  summer  of  1745  Lt.  Luc  de  la  Come 
reinforced  St.  Pierre,  who  was  approaching  Lake  George,  and 
about  this  time  his  father  was  at  Mackinaw,  and  known  as 
Gapt.  de  la  Gorne,  who  died  April  2d,  1762,  aged  96  years,  at 
Terrebonne. 

Louis  Luc  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Ticonderoga, 
and  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  the  Plains  of  Abraham. 
After  Canada  was  ceded  to  England- he  was  still  active,  and  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution  he  was  in  charge  of  Burgoyne's 
Indian  troops  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga. 

Burgoyne  spoke  slightingly  of  him  in  1778,  in  a  speech  in 
the  House  of  Commons;  to  which  LaCorne  replied  in  a  spirited 
letter.  In  it  he  writes,  "  Notwithstanding  my  advanced  age 
sixty-seven  years,  I  am  ready  to  cross  the  ocean  to  justify  my- 
self before  the  king,  my  master,  and  before  my  country,  from 
the  ill-founded  accusation  that  you  have  brought  against  me* 
although  I  do  not  at  all  care  what  you  personally  think  of  me." 

BOUCHER  DB  NIVERVILLB, 

Boucher  de  Niveiville,  Chevalier,  was  the  son  of  Ntverville 


NOTICE  OF  VBEMCB  OFFIOBRS. 


865 


and  the  nephew  of  La  Perriere  Boucher,  and  Montbrun  Bou- 
cher, and  the  Sieur  Verandrie.  In  1746  he  left  MontrMal  to 
annoy  the  New  England  frontier.  In  August,  1748,  he  was 
alarming  the  settlers  at  Fort  Massachusetts,  now  Williams- 
town.  In  1757  he  made  a  raid  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac. 
He  was  with  Montcalm,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  Ensign 
Boucherville  who  was  wounded  at  Quebec. 

L£  MABQUE  D£  HARIK. 

A  satisfactory  notice  of  Le  Marque  de  Marin  can  not  be 
given.  His  name  and  age  in  A.  D.  1732,  prrbably  appears  in 
the  following  list  of  Ensigns  given  by  Daniel. 

Gaultier  Varennes,  age  54 
De  Ligneris,  .  .  "31 
Niverville,  .  .  "48 
Mariu "41 

In  1753  there  is  a  Marin  associated  with  St.  Pierre  in  north- 
western Pennsylvania.  Sieur  Marin  established  in  1753.  the 
French  post  at  Presque  Isle,  Erie  county,  and  he  died  on  the 
banks  of  Riviere  de  Boeuf,  seven  leagues  from  Lake  Erie. 

Tanguay,  in  his  Genealogical  Dictionary,  mentions  a  Paul 
Marin,  born  in  1692,  married  March  24th,  1718,  who  died  at 
Fort  Duquesne,  Pa.,  October  24th,  1753. 


LeGardeur,   .    .    . 

age 

37 

Le  Gardeur  St.  Pierre 

1 

31 

De  Boucherville,    . 

it 

41 

Hertel  Rouville,     . 

tt 

27 

Joncaire,       .    .    . 

4k 

24 

mei 


APPENDIX  K.    PAGE  30i. 

H0TE8  ON  BED  RIVBB  OF  THE  NORTH— MASSACRE   ISLAND. 

In  June.  1736,  while  twenty-oue  of  Verandrie's  expedition 
were  camped  upon  an  island  in  Lake  of  the  Woods,  they  were 
surprised  and  killed  by  a  band  of  Sioux.  A  party  of  five  voy- 
ageurs  a  few  days  after  discovered  their  bodies.  Among  the 
slaughtered  was  a  son  of  Verandrie,  who  was  found  with  a 
tomahawk  iu  his  back,  and  his  body  adorned  with  garters  and 
and  bracelets  of  porcupine.  Father  Ouneuu,  a  missionary,  had 
6fi 


866 


HISTORY  OF  MIKMESOTA. 


an  arrow  sticking  in  bis  head,  his  breast  bare,  his  left  hand 
touching  the  ground,  and  his  right  hand  raised. 

At  this  time  the  Sioux  were  still  dwelling  at  Sandy  Lake, 
but  the  attack  led  the  French  to  favor  the  Ojibways,  who 
Boou  occupied  the  shores  of  Red,  Leech,  and  Sandy  Lakes. 

CSSIKIBOIA.      PAGE  802. 

Lt.  Edw,  Cbappell  of  the  British  navy,  asserts  fhat  Ossini- 
boia  is  a  Gaelic  compound  word,  Osna  Boia,  Ossian's  Town,  and 
selected  to  please  the  Gaelic  immigrants,  and  because  of  its 
resemblance  to  the  name  of  the  Assineboiue  tribe,  often  pro- 
nounced Asnaboyne. 


DAVID  IHOHPSOX,  ASTBOKOHER  AND  OEOORAPHEB   OS  THB 
NORTHWEST  COMPANY.      PAGE  239. 

David  Thompson  was  for  seven  years  in  the  school  of  Christ's 
Hospital,  London,  known  as  the  Blue  Coat  School.  In  May, 
1784,  he  was  appointed  a  clerk  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
and  was  sent  to  Fort  Churchill,  then  in  charge  of  Samuel 
Hearne,  a  native  of  London,  who  had  published  the  account  of 
a  Voyage  to  the  Arctic  Regions  under  the  auspices  of  the 
North  West  Company. 

In  the  summer  of  1795,  with  an  Irishman  and  two  Indians 
for  companions,  he  went  from  the  shores  of  Hudson's  Bay  to 
Lake  Athabasca.  After  his  term  expired  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  he  entered  the  service  of  the  North  West  Com- 
pany, and  was  appointed  to  visit  the  Missouri  and  the  sources 
oi  the  Mississippi,  and  make  geographical  and  astronomical 
observations.  In  pursuance  of  this  object  he  reached  the 
south  side  of  Sault  St.  Marie  of  the  1st  of  June,  1797,  and  on 
the  17t]i  reached  the  post  of  J.  Baptiste  Cadotte,  at  Fond  du 
Lac.  From  thence  he  went  to  the  Grand  Portage,  and  there 
met  Harmon,  a  trader,  whose  travels  have  been  published,  and 
found  the  North  West's  Company's  vessel,  the  Otter,  Captain 
Bennett,  on  the  24th,  ready  to  sail  with  furs,  .'o  Sault  St.  Marie. 

On  the  25th  of  June  he  ascertained  the  height  northeast  of 
■Grand  Portage  to  be  seven  hundred  and  Mfty-one  feet.    This 


DAVID  THOMPaOKf  QEOQBAPHBB. 


807^ 


<lay  a  man  came  over  with  a  letter  from  Daniel  McGillivray, 
one  of  the  partners  of  the  N.  W.  Co.,  who  had  received  a  bad 
wound  in  one  of  his  logs.  The  next  day  at  9^  a.  m.  the  wounded 
man  arrived  in  a  litter  borne  by  four  persons.  On  the  29th 
the  traders,  McDonnel,  Hughes,  Chabouiller,  Mcintosh,  Rich- 
ards and  Yelco  arrived,  and  their  canoes,  loaded  with  the 
winter's  furs,  were  expected  the  next  day. 

On  Sunday,  July  Ist,  Roderick  McKenzie  arrived  from  be- 
low, in  a  light  canoe,  with  letters.  The  next  day  there  came 
to  the  annual  convocation  William  McKay  from  the  Winni- 
peg region,  and  Guthbert  Grant,  McLeod,  McTavish  and  James 
McKenzie,  from  the  Athabasca  district. 

The  sloop.  Otter,  on  the  4th  of  July  returned  from  Sault 
St.  Marie,  and  in  four  days  again  sailed  with  furs,  and  Todd 
and  Chabouiller  passengers.  On.  the  7th,  the  trader  Sayers, 
with  two  canoes,  went  to  Fond  du  Lac. 

Thompson  left  the  Grand  Portage  with  a  brigade  of  four 
canoes  in  charge  of  Hugh  McGilli. ,  and  took  with  him  an 
achromatic  telescope,  a  sextant  of  ten  inches  radius,  and  other 
instruments  made  by  the  celebrated  DoUand,  and  on  the  18th 
of  August  reached  Cumberland  House,  on  the  Saskatchewan 
River.  He  spent  the  autumn  in  visiting  the  posts  in  that 
vicinity,  and  on  the  28th  of  November,  1797,  left  McDonnells 
post  in  lat.  49  deg.  40  min.  5C  sec,  on  the  Assiniboine,  for 
a  journey  to  the  Missouri  River.  His  companion's  were 
A.  Brossman,  servant;  Rene  Jussome,  aa  interpreter;  Hugh 
McCracken,  an  Irishman,  and  seven  French  Canadians.  After 
thirty-three  days  he  reached  the  Missouri  River,  and  visited 
the  Mandan  villages,  where  they  lived  in  houses  sunk  below 
the  surface,  with  mud  roofs,  which  looked  like  muskrat  hills, 
and  made  their  own  earthenware.  In  returning  he  went  to 
Dog  Tent  Hill,  north  28  degrees,  east  fifty  miles;  thence  to 
Turtle  Hill,  fourteen  miles;  thence  to  the  Ash  House  on 
Mouse  River,  twenty-four  miles;  thence  to  house  of  John 
McDonnell,  north  69  deg.  east  forty-five  mile&. 

On  the  26th  of  February,  1798,  he  left  McDonnell's  with 
three  Canadians,  an  Indian  guide,  and  three  sleds  drawn  by 
six  dogs.  The  junction  of  the  Mouse  River  was  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  trading  post.     The  snow  was  found  to  be  very 


868 


HISTOBT  OF  MLNNBBOTA. 


deep,  and  the  guide  became  so  fatigaed  that  he  had  every  two 
or  three  hours  to  be  relieved. 

On  the  7th  of  March  the  party  reached  the  junction  of  the 
Assineboiue  with  the  Red  River,  and  began  its  survey.  On 
that  day  the  sleds  fell  into  the  river,  so  that  at  3  o'clock  in 
the  afternoun  they  were  obliged  to  stop.  At  4  o'clock  the 
next  morning  he  arose  to  make  siderial  observations.  The 
next  day  was  very  snowy  and  difficult  to  travel.  The  Indian 
guide  was  soon  exhausted,  and  he  was  obliged  to  take  the  lead. 
When  night  came  he  was  obliged  to  sleep  in  the  open  air,  the 
trains  being  behind. 

On  Saturday  the  10th  of  March  it  was  clear  but  cold,  and  at 
8^  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  men  arrived  with  the  trains, 
and  the  whole  day  was  passed  in  drying  clothes  and  goods. 
The  next  day  at  7:30  a.  m.  set  off  and  walked  by  the  compass 
to  the  tent  poles  of  three  lodges  of  Chippeways,  who  had 
passed,  a  week  before.  This  trail  was  followed  to  the  river, 
where  it  was  lost  in  the  snow  drift.  At  noon  the  party  break' 
fasted,  and  at  1^  p.  m.  again  found  the  Ghippeway  tracks. 

On  Monday,  March  12th,  started  at  6;40  a.  m.  and  found 
the  Chippeways,  and  two  agreed  to  go  with  Thompson  to  the 
house  at  the  Summer  Berry  (Pembina)  River.  The  Pembina 
River  called  by  Thompson  "  Summer  Berry",  was  named  after 
a  red  berry  which  the  Chippeways  call,  Nepin  (summer)  Mi- 
nan  (berry),  and  this  by  the  voyageurs  has  been  abbreviated 
to  Pembina,  which  is  more  euphonious. 

On  the  14th  he  reached  the  North-West  Company's  post, 
in  charge  of  Charles  Ghabouillier;  and  here  he  remained  six 
days,  to  recruit  after  his  exhausting  journey  through  deep 
snow  and  slush. 

While  there  he  ascertained  that  the  post  was  in  48  deg.  54 
min.  24  sec.  of  north  latitude,  in  longitude  97  deg.  16  min. 
40  seconds,  and  within  the  boundary  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  On  the  2l8t  of  March  began  to  ascend  the  Red 
River,  and  to  proceed  southwest  and  after  four  days  reached 
the  post  of  Baptiste  Cadotte,  in  lat.  47  deg.  54  min.  21  sec, 
long.  96  deg.  19  min.,  where  he  remained  until  the  breaking 
^p  of  the  ice. 


THOMPSON  VISITS  RED  LAKB. 


869 


On  the  9th  of  April  he  began  hia  journey  to  survey  the 
northermost  source  of  the  Mississippi.  For  fear  of  meeting 
ice  he  did  not  ascend  Red  Lake  River,  but  proceeded  up  Clear 
Water  River.  In  two  days  he  reached  the  junction  of  the 
Wild  Rice  River,  and  the  next  day  he  came  to  the  four  mile 
portage  which  leads  to  Red  Lake  River.  Reaching  this  river 
be  ascended  thirty-two  miles  to  Red  Lake.  Here  he  found  an 
old  Chippewa  chief,  She-she-she-pas-kut,  with  six  lodges  of 
Indians.  By  nine  o'clock  at  night  on  the  23d  of  April,  1798, 
he  reached  by  a  six  mile  portage  Turtle  Lake,  the  northern 
source  of  the  Mississippi,  and  about  four  miles  square  with 
arms  which  gave  it  the  shape  of  a  turtle.  At  the  time  of  the 
treaty  of  1783,  it  was  supposed  to  be  north  of  Lake  of  the 
Woods. 

Twenty-five  years  before  the  Italian,  Beltrami,  Thompson 
reached  this  lake,  and  by  an  observation  on  its  bank  found  its 
latitude  47  deg,  38  min.  28s.  On  the  27th  of  April  he  met  two 
canoes  of  Ojibways,  and  as  his  was  leaky,  he  took  a  seat  in  one  of 
them.  By  several  portaees,  on  the  29th  he  reached  tlie  North- 
west Company's  trading  post,  in  charge  of  John  Sayer,  and 
ascertained  its  latitude. 

He  began  the  descent  of  the  Mississippi  on  the  3d  of  May,  and 
in  three  days  reached  Sandy  Lake  post,  in  charge  of  Mr.  Bru»- 
key.  Here  he  learned  that  on  the  19th  of  February,  one  and 
a  half  days'  journey  from  Sandy  Lake,  a  party  of  Sioux, 
Sauks.  and  Menomonees  killed  about  forty  Chippeways.  From 
this  point  on  the  7th,  h.e  proceeded  by  that  route  eastward  to 
Lake  Superior. 

Near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Louis  River,  on  the  11th  of  May, 
he  reached  the  N.  W.  Co.  post  in  charge  ot  Lemoine,  At  the 
lake  he  repaired  a  northern  canoe  twenty-eight  feet  in  length, 
and  with  two  oars  and  three  men,  navigated  the  lake,  and 
on  the  28th  of  May,  reached  Sault  St.  Marie,  where  he  found 
Stuart,  McCleod  and  Alexander  Mackenzie. 

In  1808  Thompson  made  a  journey  to  the  Athabasca  region* 
and  after  this  explored  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Franchere,  in  his  narrative  of  the  Astoria  expedition,  men- 
tions the  descent  of  a  canoe  on  July  15th,  1811,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and  writes:   "  The  flag  she  bore  was 


870 


HISTORY  OF  MIKNII80TA. 


the  British,  and  her  crew  waa  composed  of  eight  boa(;inen  or 
▼oyageurs.  A  well  dressed  man,  who  appeared  to  be  the  cotr- 
mander,  was  the  first  to  leap  ashore,  and  address  ue  vithout 
ceremony,  and  said  that  his  name  was  David  Thompson,  and 
that  he  was  one  of  the  partners  of  the  North- West  Company. 
Mr.  Thompson  kept  a  regular  journal,  and  travelled,  I  thought, 
more  like  a  geographer  than  a  fur  trader.  He  was  pruvided 
with  a  sextant,  thermometer  and  barometer." 
Irving  in  his  ''Astoria,"  gives  the  following  description: 
"  On  coming  to  the  land,  one  of  the  crew  stepped  on  shore 
and  announced  himself  as  Mr.  David  Thompson,  astronomer 
and  partner  of  the  North-West  Company.  According  tc  hi* 
account,  he  had  set  out  in  the  preceding  year  with  a  tolerably 
strong  party  and  a  supply  of  Indian  goods,  to  cross  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  A  part  of  his  people  had,  however,  deserted  him 
on  the  eastern  side,  and  return^td  with  the  goods  to  the  near- 
est North-West  post.  He  had  persisted  in  crossing  the  moun- 
tains with  eight  men  who  remained  true  to  him.  They  had 
traversed  the  higher  regions,  and  ventured  near  the  source  of 
the  Columbia,  where  in  the  spring,  they  had  constructed  a 
cedar  canoe,  the  same  in  which  they  had  reached  Astoria.*** 
Mr.  Thompson  was,  no  doubt,  the  first  white  man  who  de- 
scended the  northern  branch  of  the  Columbia  from  so  near  its 
source." 

Until  1821  he  remained  in  the  service  of  the  North-West 
Company,  and  then  was  employed  in  the  boundary  survey, 
under  the  treaty  of  Ghent.  In  1837  he  made  a  survey  of 
Georgian  Bay.  About  89  years  of  age,  in  1857,  he  is  said  to 
have  died. 

BABLY  FUR  TBADB  OF  THB  BBD  RIVER  VALLBT  AND  EXTRACTS 
PROM  MSS.  OF  ALBXANDER  HENRY,  PAQB  301. 

The  fur  trade  of  the  Red  River  Valley  was  chiefly  controlled 
by  the  North  West  Company.  This  company  was  not  char- 
tered as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  but  an  association  formed 
in  1782,  consisting  of  private  traders,  which  in  1787  was  en- 
larged by  the  absorption  of  minor  companies.  In  1798  the 
number  of  shares  was  increased  to  forty-sit;  which  caused  dis- 
satisfaction and  led  to  the  formation  of  the  X.  Y.  Company, 


ANDRUm  DE8CRIBB8  FUR-TRADKKB. 


H71 


but  in  1803  the  two  were  united  and  the  erection  of  Fort 
William  (named  after  William  McGillivray)  begun. 

Count  Andriani,  of  Milan,  who  in  1791  was  at  the  Grand 
Portage  of  Lake  Superior  in  his  journal  quoted  by  the  Duke 
De  la  Rocheioucault  Liancourt  remarks:  "The  North  West 
Company  beins:  more  opulent  than  the  rest,  made  use  of  its 
wealth  to  ruin  its  competitors.  •  •  *  •  'f  his  petty  wur- 
faiie  which  cost  several  lives  and  large  sums  of  mr^'iey  at  length 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  rival  companies.  They  became  sensi- 
ble ojf  the  necessity  of  uniting  in  one  body,  and  the  North 
West  Company  made  several  sacrifices  to  attain  this  end  • 
*  •  *  The  method  observed  by  the  agents  in  tlieir  traffic 
with  the  ludians  is  this,  that  they  begin  with  intoxicating 
them  with  rum,  to  over-reach  them  with  more  facility  in  the 
intended  business  *  *  *  •  AH  the  men  employed  in  this 
trade  are  paid  in  merchandise  which  the  Company  sells  with 
an  enormous  profit,  it  is  obvious  at  how  cheap  a  rate  these 
people  are  paid.  They  purchase  of  the  Company  e^ery  arti- 
cle they  want.  It  keeps  with  them  an  open  account,  and  as 
they  winter  in  the  interior,  and  beyond  Lake  Winnipeg,  they 
pay  of  consequence  excessively  dear  for  the  blankets  and  the 
clothes  which  they  bring  with  them  for  their  wives. 

"These  menial  servants  of  the  Company  are  generally  extrav- 
agant, piven  to  drinking  to  excess,  and  these  are  exactly  the 
people  the  Company  wants.  The  speculation  in  the  excesses 
of  these  people  is  carried  so  far,  that  if  one  of  them  happens 
to  lead  a  regular,  sober  life,  he  is  burthened  with  the  most 
laborious  work,  until  by  continued  ill-treatment  he  is  driven 
to  drunkenness  and  debauchery,  which  vices  causes  the  rum, 
blankets,  and  trinkets  to  be  sold  to  greater  advantage.  In 
1791,  nine  hundred  of  these  servants  owed  the  Company  more 
than  the  amount  of  ten  or  fifteen  years  pay." 

BXTRA0T8  FROM  UNPUBLISHED  JOURNALS  OF  HENKY. 

Alexander  Henry  was  the  nephew  of  the  Alexander  Henry, 
one  of  the  first  British  subjects  who  traded  at  Lb  Pointe  be- 
fore the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  whose  book  ot  travels  is 
well  known  in  the  literary  world.  The  nephew  was  one  of 
the  partners  of  the  North- West  Company,  and  although  his 


872 


HI8T0R1   OF  MINNESOTA. 


education  was  limited,  his  perceptions  were  quick,  descriptive 
power  great,  and  his  pen  that  of  a  ready  writer.  Few  jour- 
nals contain  so  many  important  statements,  and  his  notes 
on  a  residence  among  the  Mandans  ought  to  be  printed.  One 
of  the  prominent  citizens  of  St.  Paul,  onco  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  from  Pembina,  Hon.  Norman  W.  Kittson,  is  a 
relative  of  the  writer  of  this  j«urnal. 

In  1799  he  left  Montreal  in  the  service  of  the  North-West 
Company  to  compete  with  the  X.  Y.  Company  and  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company  west  of  Lake  Superior.  In  the  summer  of  ,1800 
he  was  al;  Lake  Winnipeg  at  the  time  of  a  grasshopper  inva- 
sion.   In  his  journal  he  writes: 

OHAS8H0PPER8  AT  WINNIPEG,  A.  D.  1800. 

"  The  beach  here  was  covered  with  grasshoppers  which  had 
been  thrown  up  by  the  waves,  forming  one  continued  line  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  see.  In  some  places  they  lay  from  six  to 
nine  inches  in  depth,  and  were  in  a  state  of  petritication,  which 
caused  a  horrid  stench." 

"August  18,  1800. — Arrived  at  the  Forks,  where  the  Assine- 
boine  River  formed  a  junction  with  the  Red  River.     *     * 

[Near  the  site  of  the  City  of  Winnipeg],  "I  found  about 
forty  Saulteurs  waiting  my  arrival.  They  were  well  provided 
with  a  plentiful  stock  of  dried  buffalo  mi^  !;  for  us,  and  anx- 
iously expecting  to  get  a  dram.  I  accordingly  made  them  a 
present  of  liquor.  In  return,  they  fell  to  and  kept  drinking 
all  night,  during  which  we  were  plagued  with  mosquitoes, 
and  prevented  from  sleeping,  by  the  howling  of  the  Indians 
and  their  dogs  all  night. 

"Tuesday,  19th. — We  began  e  \rly  this  morning  to  inspect 
the  goods,  and  to  divide  them  ;  one-half  being  intended  for 
Portage  la  Pwiirie,  and  the  remainder  for  the  Red  River. 
*  *  •  *  At  12  o'clock,  five  Hudson  Bay  Company  b(;at8 
for  Albany  Factory,  or  rather  Martin's  Falls,  arrived  here. 
Mr.  Robert  Goodman,  master,  assisted  by  Mr.  Brown.  They 
pull  ashore  and  remained  with  us  until  4  o'clock,  when  they 
proceeded  up  the  Assineboine. 

HUUF'lW  P,AT  COMPANY   BOATS, 

"Their  boats  carry  about  45  packages,  averaging  about  80 


RBD   BITSR   BKIOADB. 


878 


;]>ouncl8  eacb,  conducted  by  4  oare,  and  a  steei'sman  ;  they  aito 
E.atly  built,  and  pointed  sharp  ah  both  ends.  •  »  •  •  • 
Upon  thia  spot,  in  time  of  the  Fri?nch,  there  was  a  trading 
establishment,  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen  where  their  chim- 
neys and  cellars  stood. 

"Wednesday,  20th. — Early  this  morning  Mr.  J.  McDonnel 
of  the  North- West  Company,  with  his  hazard,  left  us,  and 
soon  after  I  sent  off  my  canoes,  while  I  remained  myself  to 
get  the  Indians,  who  were  yet  scarcely  sober. 

"At  12  o'clock  the  opposition  X  Y  Company  brigade  of  nine 
canoes  and  a  boat  arrived  and  proceeded  directly  up  the  As- 
sinebonie.    I  then  embarked  and  proceeded  about  six  miles. 

*  *  *  Thursday,  21st. — Early  this  morning  examined 
the  baggage  of  my  people  and  embarked,  my  brigade  now 
reduced  to  four  canoes  and  twenty-six  packages  per  canoei 
On  board  are  the  following  men  and  families,  viz : 

JACQUB  BABKE,    DEUCENT. 

First  Canoe: 

Etienne  Charbonnais,  (garcou)  I". 
Joseph  Dubois  (garcon). 
Angus  McDonnell  (marie). 
Antonie  La  France  (marie). 
Pierre  Bonga  (negro). 

Second  Canoe: 

Andre  La  Grossrrs,  D. 

Jochim  Daisville  (garcon). 

Andre  Beauchmin  (marie). 

J.  Baptiste  Benoit  (marie). 

Michael  Coleret,  wife  and  daughter,  (commis). 

Third  Can  «. 

J.  Baptiste  Rocque  Sr.,  D. 

J.  Bfij)tiske  Rocque  Jr.  (garcon). 

Etieiine  Roy  (marie). 

Francais  Sini  (marie) 

J.  Desmarrais,  guide  and  interpreter,  wife,  two  children. 


874 


HISTOBY  OF  MLKXESOTA. 


Fourth  Canoe: 
Joseph  Maceon,  D. 
Charles  Bellegarde  (garcon) 
Joseph  Uamel  (marie). 
Nicholas  Rubrette  (marie)." 

BONGA,  THE   KEGRO- 

Prom  1782  to  May  10th,  1787,  Capt.  Daniel  Robertson  was 
the  British  officer  in  command  at  Mackinaw,  and  one  of  his 
slaves  brought  from  the  West  Indies,  was  Bonga.  His  de- 
scendants are  numerous.  There  was  a  Bonga,  or  Bungo,  in 
1820,  an  interpreter  for  Gov.  Cass,  on  his  visit  to  the  upper 
Mississippi,  and  another  Bonga,  an  interpreter  at  the  treaty 
with  the  Chippeways  in  1837,  at  Fort  Snelling. 

H0B8E  BOUGHT  WITH  LIQUOB. 

'Friday,  22d  *  *  *  This  afternoon  the  Indians  brought 
me  a  horse,  which  I  purchased  lor  liquor,  and  about  sunset 
the  Indians  all  arrived  and  camped  with  us.  Old  Buffalo,  still 
half  drunk,  brought  me  his  eldest  daughter,  a  girl  about  nine 
years  of  age,  and  would  insist  upon  my  taking  her  for  a  wife, 
in  hopps  I  would  give  him  a  keg  of  liqnor,  but  I  declined  the 
oIFer.    *    *    * 

A  FAITHLESS  WIFE  TORTURED, 

"Friday,  29th,  *  *  *  In  course  of  thf  night  I  was 
troubled  by  the  visits  of  a  young  woman  from  the  other  side 
of  the  (^Red]  river,  which  was  nearly  an  ugly  affair.  About 
10  o'clock  she  came  into  my  tent,  without  any  solicitation  on 
my  part.  She  awoke  me  and  asked  for  liquor.  I  knew  her 
voice,  and  that  her  husband  was  the  greatest  scouuvlrel  among 
all  the  Indians  present,  and  exceedingly  jealous.  I  therefore 
advised  her  to  return  instantly  over  the  river  to  her  husband, 
that  he  might  not  perceive  that  she  had  been  here.  She  re- 
quested a  dram,  although  she  was  sober.  I  offered  her  a  little 
pure  l.quor,  which  she  refused,  telling  me  she  wanted  Augne- 
manebane.  I  was  obliged  to  open  my  case,  and  give  her  a 
glass  of  strong  French  brandy,  which  I  made  her  swallow  at 
one  draught,  but  whether  it  actually  suffocated  her,  or  whethe? 


A  DEOKADKD  INDIAN  WOMAN. 


875- 


it  was  through  affectation,  she  fell  down  and  to  all  appearances 
seemed  and  lay  like  a  corpse. 

**  I  was  anxious  to  get  her  away,  but  all  my  endeavors  were 
in  vain.  It  was  totally  dark  and  I  began  to  believe  her  dead. 
I  thought  to  draw  her  to  the  tent  door  and  wake  up  my  ser- 
vant, whom  I  desired  to  assist.  I  sent  hira  for  a  bottle  of 
water,  which  I  poured  over  her  head,  while  he  held  her  up;  a 
second  bottle  was  applied  in  the  same  manner,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose. I  was  very  uneasy,  and  sent  for  a  third  bottle,  the  con- 
tents of  which,  dashed  in  her  face  with  all  my  strength,  when 
she  groaned  and  then  began  to  speak. 

"  I  lost  no  time,  but  sent  my  man  to  conduct  her  away.  In 
about  a  half  hour  she  returned,  having  changed  her  clothes, 
and  now  was  dressed  very  fine;  her  husband  being  an  excellent 
hunter  and  had  no  children,  she  had  always  a  superabundance 
of  finery.  She  now  told  me,  in  plain  terms,  that  she  had  left 
her  husband  and  came  to  live  with  me.  This  was  a  piece  of 
news  I  neither  expected  nor  wished.  I  represented  to  her  the 
itBiM'opriaty  in  doing  so;  her  husband  was  fond  of  her  and 
jealous  in  the  extreme. 

"  Her  answer  was  that  she  did  not  care  for  her  husband,  nor 
any  other  Indian,  that  she  was  fully  determined  to  remaia 
with  me  at  the  risk  of  her  life.  Just  at  this  moment  I  heard 
a  great  bustle  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  the  Indians 
bawling  out  to  take  care,  that  we  were  going  to  be  fired  on ; 
when,  instantly,  the  flash  of  a  gun  was  seen,  but  it  appeared 
to  have  missed  fire.  I  had  no  doubt  the  woman  was  the  cause, 
and  I  insisted  upon  her  return  to  her  husband,  but  she  would 
not  go.  I  observed  that  the  men  had  now  made  up  a  fire, 
when  I  called  my  servant  man.  I  desired  him  to  conduct  her 
to  the  fire.  This  he  did,  much  against  his  inclination.  He 
had  then  the  good  luck  to  get  her  on  board  oi  a  canoe  that 
was  crossing. 

"  I  was  informed  that  the  noise  we  heard  on  the  other  aide 
was  occasioned  by  the  husband  having  notice  of  his  wife's  in- 
tention, had  determined  to  fire  at  my  tent.  On  his  wife's  re- 
turn he  asked  her  where  she  had  been.  She  made  no  secret 
of  the  matter,  but  said  she  was  determined  to  go  along  with 


h'l 


876 


HI&TOBY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


me.  "Well,  then,"  said  he,  if  you  are  determined  upon  leaving 
me,  I  wiil  at  least  have  the  satisfaction  of  spoiling  your  pretty 
face!"  He  instantly  caught  up  a  large  fire-hrand,  threw  her 
upon  her  back,  and  held  it  to  her  face,  rubbing  with  all  his 
might  until  the  fire  exiingnished,  then  letting  her  go.  "Now," 
says  he,  "go  and  see  your  beloved,  and  ask  him  if  he  likes  you 
as  well  ae  he  did  before."  I  am  told  that  her  face  was  in  a 
most  horrid  condition.  I  am  sorry  for  it.  She  was  really  the 
handsomest  woman  of  the  Eiver,  and  not  more  than  eighteen 
years  of  age." 

On  the  3d  of  September,  leaving  half  of  his  goods  with  M. 
Langlois,  Mr.  Henry  went  up  to  the  Red  River,  accompanied 
by  Desmarraia,  Bellagard,  Roger,  Benoit,  La  Rocque,  Beauch- 
man,  Le  France,  Barbe,  Charbonneau,  McDonnell,  Parais 
f Pierre  Bonga,  negro? J  In.  his  journal  he  writes  under  date 
of 

"September  5th,  Friday:  Early  this  morning  I  sent  off 
the  canoes,  when  Desmarrais  and  mysetf  proceeded  by  land. 
We  came  to  Pambian  [Pembina]  River  and  crossed  over 

ojod  fobt 

to  the  old  fort  which  was  built  in  1797-8  by  M.  Chaboniller, 
opposite  the  entrance  of  the  Red  River,  On  the  east  side 
of  the  Red  River  are  the  ruins  of  the  old  fort,  built  by  Mr. 
Peter  Grant  some  years  ago,  and  was  the  first  established 
upon  Red  River.    •    *    •    * 

BUFFALO  CROSSING  AND  TEAIL. 

"  September  6th.  —At  the  Bois  Perie,  n«ar  where  we  are  en- 
camped, has  been  a  great  crossing  for  many  years.  The 
ground  on  both  sides  is  beaten  as  hard  as  a  pavement  and  the 
numerous  roads  leading  to  the  river,  a  foot  deep,  are  surpris- 
ing, and  when  I  consider  the  hard  sod  through  which  these 
tracks  are  beaten,  I  am  entirely  at  a  loss  and  bewildwed  in 
attempting  to  form  any  idea  of  the  numerous  herds  of  bu&lo 
which  must  have  passed  here.     *    *    *    ♦ 

"  Monday,  8th. — At  8  o'clock  sent  the  canoes  off,  while  Des- 
marrais and  myself  hurried  off  on  horseback.  We  saw  here 
the  bufialo,  all  in  motion,  crossing  from  the  east  to  west  side, 


VOBI  BUILT  AT  PABK  KIVEB. 


877 


directing  their  course  to  the  Hair  Hills.  We  chased  several 
herd,  and  had  fine  sport,  but  killed  only  two  iat  cows,  and 
took  a  small  load  down  to  the  river,  for  the  canoes  to  take  in 
aa  they  passed. 

"  Here  I  lost  one  of  my  spurs.  Having  brought  the  meat 
near  the  river,  we  set  out  and  did  not  stop  until  we  reached 
the  Park  River,  at  2  oVlock. 

POST  AT  PARK  EIVEB. 

"  We  tied  our  horses  at  the  entrance  to  the  little  river,  and 
went  out  to  search  for  a  proper  spot  to  build,  as  the  Indians 
would  not  ascend  the  Bed  River  any  higher.  My  men  also 
began  to  murmur  very  much,  and  even  Desmarrais,  who  is  an 
old  veteran,  one  of  the  fiist  who  ever  came  up  this  river. 

"  We  went  up  the  river  about  a  mile  and  attempted  to  drink, 
but  found  the  water  a  perfect  brine.  *  *  ♦  ♦  I  now  find 
it  impossible  to  build  here,  even  if  the  wood  had  been  proper. 

"  Tuesday,  9th. — Early  this  morning  I  went  out  in  search 
of  a  proper  place  to  build.  I  found  none  so  well  situated  for 
defense,  and  wood  at  hand,  as  a  point  of  woods  on  the  west 
side  [of  the  Red  River],  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  lit- 
tle [Park]  river,  a  beautiful  level  plain  which  divides  us  from 
that  river. 

A  NOSE  BITTEN  OFF. 

"  December  .I9th,  *  •  *  Some  of  the  Red  Lake  Indians 
having  been  here  and  traded  for  some  liquor,  which  they  took 
to  their  camp,  a  quarrel  arose  among  them,  when  Cantoquince 
jumped  upon  Terre  Grasse,  and  bit  his  no^e  oflF  close  to  his 
face.  It  was  some  time  before  the  piece  could  be  found.  At 
last,  by  tumbling  the  straw  about,  it  was  found  and  applied  to 
the  face  in  the  best  manner  that  drunken  people  could  do,  and 
a  bandage  tied  over  it,  in  the  hopeB  it  would  grow  again.  The 
quarrel  proceeded  from  jealousy.     *     *     * 

"  December  21st,  Sunday.  Sent  off  two  men  vnth  an  Indian 
to  take  a  stallion  and  a  mare  to  the  Red  Lake,  and  from  thence 
M.  Cadotte  will  forward  them  to  Rainy  Lake,  to  Mr.  Grant. 
They  are  both  in  high  order,  and  no  sore  back. 

*' December  26th.  Very  cold.  The  Crow  [a  Chippeway]  in 
vnth  his  brother  Charlo,  lying  in  a  iraville  at  the  point  of 
death. 


-878 


HISTOBY  OF  MIKNBSOTA. 


HORRID  AFFAU  AT  RRO  LAEB. 

"December  28th.  I  sent  two  men  to  make  salt  near  the  en- 
trance of  the  little  river.  I  was  informed  of  a  most  cruel 
affair  which  happened  two  years  ago  at  Red  Lake.  The  woman 
is  now  here  to  whom  the  affair  happened.  It  seems  she  had  a 
young  Indian  for  her  husband,  by  whom  she  had  one  child; 
but  he  thought  proper  to  have  two  wives,  and  the  mother  ol 
the  child  not  liking  this,  she  left  him,  and  joined  anothei 
camp,  where  she  soon  took  another  husband.  Not  many  days 
after  the  two  camps  were  at  the  same  place,  and  a  drinking 
match  occurred.  The  first  husband  went  to  his  rival,  and 
insisted  upon  having  his  child,  and  telling  him  he  might  keep 
the  woman,  as  ho  did  not  care  for  her.  They  were  both  known 
scoundrels.  The  child  was  not  many  months  old.  The  fathei 
caught  hold  of  one  of  its  legs,  saying  he  would  have  him,  and 
the  second  husband  of  the  woman  caught  hold  of  the  other 
leg,  saying  he  should  not  take  him  away.  Suddenly  the  father 
gave  a  jerk,  and,  the  other  resisting,  the  child  was  torn  asunder. 

A2T  EFFEMINATE  MAN. 

"January  2,  1801. — Beardash,  a  son  of  Sucrie,  arrived  here 
from  the  Assinboine  River,  where  he  had  been  in  company 
with  a  young  man  to  carry  tobacco.  This  person  is  a  curious 
compound.  He  is  a  man  in  t  t^ry  respect,  both  as  to  courage 
and  dress  and  manners.  His  walk  and  mode  of  sitting  down, 
his  manners  and  occupations  and  language  are  those  of  a  wo- 
man. All  the  persuasiveness  of  his  father,  who  is  a  great 
chief  among  the  Saulteaux,  cannot  induce  him  to  behave  like 
a  man.  About  a  month  ago,  in  a  drinking  match,  he  got  into 
a  quarrel,  and  had  one  of  his  eyes  knocked  out  with  a  club. 
He  is  very  fleet,  and  a  few  years  ago  was  reckoned  the  best 
runner  among  the  Saulteaux. 

A  EUNNINQ  FIGHT. 

"Both  his  fleetness  and  courage  were  fully  put  to  the  test  a 
few  years  ago  on  the  banks  of  the  Schaiu  (Cheyenne),  when 
Monsieur  Reaume  attempted  to  make  peace.  Ho  accompa- 
nied a  party  of  Saulteux  to  the  Scieux  camp.  They  at  first 
appeared  reconciled  to  each  other,  through  the  intercession 


A  BACE  FOB  LIFE. 


8td 


of  the  white  people,  but  on  the  return  of  the  Saulteux  the 
Scieuz  pursued  them.  Both  parties  were  on  foot,  and  the 
Scieux  had  the  name  of  beiug  very  swift.  The  Saulteux  very 
imprudently  dispersed  themselves  in  the  open  plains  and  sev- 
eral of  them  were  killed,  but  the  party  in  which  Beardash 
was,  all  escaped  without  any  accident,  in  the  following  man- 
ner: 

"  Onn  of  them  had  a  bow  which  he  got  from  the  Scieux,  but 
only  a  few  arrows.  On  their  first  starting  and  finding  they 
were  pursued,  they  ran  a  considerable  distance,  until  they 
perceived  the  Scieux  were  gaining  fast,  when  Beardash  took 
the  bow  and  arrov,"*  from  his  comrades  and  told  them  to  run 
as  fast  as  possible  and  not  to  mind  him,  as  he  apprehended 
no  danger. 

"  He  then  stopped  and  turned  about  and  faced  the  enemy 
and  began  to  let  fly  bis  arrows.  This  checked  their  course 
and  they  returned  the  compliment  with  interest,  but  he  says 
it  was  nothing,  but  only  long  shot,  and  only  a  chance  arrow 
could  have  hurt  him. 

*'  They  had  nearly  lost  their  strength  when  they  drew  near 
him.  His  own  stock  was  soon  expended,  but  he  lost  no  time 
in  gathering  up  those  of  the  enemy  which  fell  near  him. 
Seeing  his  friends  at  some  distance  ahead,  and  the  Sioux  mov- 
ing to  surround  him,  he.  turned  about  and  ran  away  to  join 
his  comrades,  cne  Sioux  hard  after  him.  Beardash  again 
«tui)pea,  faced  them  and  with  his  bow  and  arrow  kept  them 
at  bay  until  his  friends  got  away  a  considerable  distance, 
when  he  again  ran  off  to  join  them.  Thus  did  he  continue 
to  niaueuvre  and  keep  them  at  bay,  until  a  spot  of  strong 
woods  was  reached,  and  the  Sioux  did  no  longer  follow." 

A  portrait  of  the  Chief  Sucrie  appears  in  McKenney  & 
Hall's  North  American  Indians,  and  it  is  there  stated  that  his 
singular  son  was  killed  while  on  a  war  expedition. 

'■'  Iittiuary  T.  My  two  men  returned  from  Red  Lake,  having 
got  safely  through  with  the  horses  in  eight  days.  They  were 
forwarded  immediately  to  Rainy  Lake.    •    *    * 

"17tli.  We  had  a  terrible  snow  storm.  I  can  now,  daily 
«onnt  from  the  top  of  my  oak  tree,  from  twenty  to  thirty 


EISTOBT  OF  MINNBSOTA. 


BUFFALO    ABDKDANT. 

herds  of  bufiPalo  feeding  out  on  the  plains.  It  is  surprising 
how  the  cow  buffalo  resist  the  cold,  piercing  north  winds 
which  at  times  blow  with  such  violence  over  these  bleak  plains, 
which  causes  such  a  drift  that  it  is  impossibla  to  face  it  ioi 
any  time.  Still  these  animals  will  stand  grazing  in  the  open 
field. 

"  February  20th,  *  *  *  A  party  of  Red  Lake  Indians  and 
a  considerable  number  of  Saulteux,  are  decamping  for  Red 
Lake,  to  prepare  for  sugar  season,  which  generally  commences 
about  the  latter  end  of  March.    *    •    * 

"April  Ist,  Wednesday.  The  river  clear  of  ice,  but  the 
drowned  buffalo  continue  to  drift  down  by  entire  herds.  Sev- 
eral of  them  were  lodged  upon  the  banks  of  the  river  near  the 
fort.  The  Indian  women  have  cut  up  some  of  the  fattest  for 
their  own  use.  The  flesh  appears  to  be  fresh  and  good.  It 
really  is  astonishing  what  vast  quantities  must  have  perished, 
as  they  form  one  continual  line  in  the  middle  of  the  river  for 
two  days  aud  two  nights." 

On  the  4th  of  May,  1801,  Mr.  Henry  began  his  voyage  down 
to  Grand  Portage  on  Lake  Superior  with  the  winter's  hunt, 
and  that  day  sent  off  thrse  canoes,  with  forty-five  packs  of 
ninety  pounds  each.  On  the  15th  he  planted  a  garden  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Pambian  (Pembina)  River,  where  he  estab- 
lished a  new  post,  at  a  point  between  the  stream  and  the  Red 
River,  and  slept  that  night  in  the  old  fort  on  the  south  side- 
On  the  29th  he  proceeded  on  his  journey,  leaving  M.  Langlois 
as  trader,  Desmarrais  in  charge  of  the  garden  and  horses,  Le 
Diec,  Raimville  and  others  in  constructing  a  new  post  here« 
He  did  not  return  to  Pembina  until  September.  The  extracts 
fcom  his  journal  are  contiuued: 

"On  the  15th  of  September,  I  arrived  at  the  Pambian 
River,  and  found  everything  in  order  at  my  camp,  and  sixty 
Saalteux  camped.  My  canoes  arrived  some  time  before,  and 
the  Indians  anxiously  awaited  my  arrival  to  taste  the  ueW  milk 
which  they  generally  call  rum. 


inRST  BED  RIYER  OABT. 


881 


INVENTION  OF  RED  RIVER  0ART8. 

"  September  20.  We  now  have  a  sort  of  cart  which  facili- 
tates our  transportation  very  much.  They  are  about  four  feet 
high  and  perfectly  straight,  the  spokes  being  placed  perpen- 
dicular without  the  least  leaning  outwards,  and  only  four  iu 
each  wheel;  these  carts  will  convey  about  five  pieces  and  each 
drawa  by  one  horse.     *    *    * 

"October  27.  Sucrie  and  ten  other  Indians  from  Leech 
Lake,  Connoyer  of  X.  Y.,  started  oflF  to  build  near  M,  Langlois. 

CHEAP  liABOB. 

'*  November  26.  One  of  my  men  who  was  much  in  debt  to 
the  Company  «/fiered  me  his  services  as  long  as  he  could  per- 
form any  duty,  on  condition  that  I  would  clothe,  and  allow 
him  to  take  a  woman  he  had  fallen  in  love  with.  As  for  him- 
self he  wished  nothing  but  dressed  leather  to  make  shirts, 
capote  and  trousers  all  the  year  round,  and  a  small  quantity 
of  tobacco.  He  is  a  stout,  able  young  man.  This  proposal 
did  not  much  surprise  me,  having  seen  others  of  these  people 
as  foolish  as  he,  who  would  not  hesitate  in  signing  an  agree- 
ment of  perpetual  bondage  on  condition  of  our  permitting 
them  to  have  an  Indian  woman  who  struck  their  fancy. 

"Neither  of  my  neighbors  have  a  horse.  AU  their  trans- 
portation is  on  the  men's  backs.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company 
people  started  to  build  at  the  Grand  Passage  on  the  Pambian 
River.  I  sent  off  to  the  Hair  Hills  for  white  earth  to  white- 
wash my  houses,  there  being  none  nearer  to  the  Red  River. 


"  May  5,  1S02. — I  sent  M.  Cadotte  with  a  man  for  Riviere 
aux  isle  de  bois,  with  one  of  our  new  carts.  This  indention 
is  worth  four  horses  to  us,  as  it  would  require  five  horses  to 
briug  as  much  on  their  backs  as  one  horse  will  bring  in  one 
of  these  carts.    *    *    ♦    • 

INVITATION  DECLINED. 

"  May  12. — Beau  Pere  [an  Indian]  was  anxious  T  should 
take  his  second  daughter,  saying  one  woman  was  not  suffi- 
cient tor  a  chief ;  that  all  great  men  should  have  a  plurality 


-■4  i^ 


882 


HISTORY  OF  MINNK80TA. 


of  wives,  the  more  the  better ;  provided,  they  were  all  of  thn 
same  family.  In  thia  he  had  given  me  a  strikin;;  example, 
as  he  had  three  sisters  at  that  time.     *    ♦    *    * 

May  21. — Mr.  Cameron  arrived  from   Red  Lake  with  a 
cargo  of  sugar. 

June  7.— Til 
Lake  with  furs  . 


Red 


arrived  twenty  Indian  canoes  from 
sugar. 

'"During  this  month  he  made  his  usual  visit  to  Lake  Supe- 
rior, and  on  the  3d  of  July  arrived  at  Kamanistiquia,  and 
found  two  sail  vessels,  the  Otter  and  the  Invincible,  unload- 
ing supplies  which  they  had  brought  for  Sault  St.  Marie,  and 
brick  kilns  burning,  in  charge  of  11.  McKenzie,  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  new  post.  Fort  William  in  compliment  to  William 
McGillivray.  On  the  29th  day  of  July,  1802,  he  began  the 
return  voyage  with  eight  canoes,  each  containing  twenty- 
six  pieces,  by  way  of  the  Grand  Portage,  and  arrived,  <jn.  the 
27th  of  August,  at  Pembina.     In  his  journal  he  writes: 

"August  27. — Early  in  the  morning  we  arrived  at  Pambian 
River,  myself  very  unwell,  scarcely  able  to  keep  my  saddle; 
found  my  house  nearly  linislied.  Sixty  Indians  camped  at 
the  fort  waiting  my  arrival.     Buffalo  in  abundance. 

October  1. — Mr,  Cameron  off  with  a  boat  in  pursuit  of  X 
Y  Duchaene.     »    •    * 

October  3. — M.  Langlois  started  foi-  Hair  Hills. 

THE  FIRST  RED  RIVER  CART  TRAIN,  A.  D.  1803. 

"  This  caravan  demands  notice  to  exhibit  the  vasi,  difference 
it  makes  in  a  place  where  horses  are  introduced.  It  is  truo 
they  are  useful  animals,  but  if  we  had  but  one  in  the  North- 
west we  should  have  less  laziness,  for  men  would  not  be 
burdened  with  families,  and  so  much  given  to  indolence  and 
insolence.  ♦  *  *  *  But  let  us  now  take  a  view  of  the 
bustle  and  noise  which  attends  the  present  transportation  of 
five  pieces  of  goods.  The  men  were  up  at  the  break  of  day, 
and  their  horses  tackled  long  before  sunrise,  but  they  were 
not  in  readiness  to  move  before  10  o'clopk,  when  I  had  the 
curiosity  to  climb  up  to  the  top  of  ray  house  to  examine  tho 
movements  and  observe  the  order  of  march. 

Anthony  Payet,  guide,  and  .second  in  command,  leads  off, 


N 


Mj 

iug 
pain 


Z_ 


EBD   RIVER  TRAIK. 


888 


with  a  cart  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  loaded  with  his  own 
privato  baggage,  casse-tetes,  bags  and  kettles. 

Madame  Payet  follows  the  cart  with  a  child  one  year  old 
on  her  back,  any  very  merry. 

C.  Bottineau,  with  two  horses  and  a  cart  loaded  with  one 
and  a  half  packs,  his  own  baggage,  two  young  children,  with 
kettles  and  other  trash  h;     ring  to  his  cart. 

Madame  Bottineau  with  a  young  squalling  child  on  her 
back,  with  she  scolding  it  and  tossing  it  about. 

Joseph  Dubord  goes  on  foot,  with  his  long  pipestem  and 
-calumet  in  his  hand. 

Madame  Dubord  follows  her  husband,  carrying  his  tobacco 
pouch. 

Anthony  Thelliere,  with  a  cart  and  two  horses  loaded  with 
•one  and  a  half  packs  of  goods  and  Dubord's  baggage. 

Anthony  La  Point,  with  another  cart  and  two  horses  loaded 
with  two  pieces  of  goods  and  baggage  belonging  to  Brisbois, 
Jessemin  and  Poulliote,  and  a  kettle  suspended  on  each  side. 

Mr.  Jessemin  goes  next  to  Brisbois  with  gun,  and  pipe  in 
his  mouth,  puffing  out  clouds  of  smoke. 

Mr.  Poulliote,  the  greatest  smoker  in  the  Northwe  I,  has 
nothing  but  pipes  and  pouch.  These  three  fellows,  aaving 
taken  the  farewell  dram  and  lighting  fresh  pipes,  go  on, 
brisk  and  merry,  playing  numerous  pranks. 

Dom.  Livermore,  with  a  young  mare,  the  property  of  M. 
Langlois,  loaded  with  weeds  for  smoking,  and  an  old  Indian 
bag,  Madame's  property,  and  tome  squashes  and  potatoes,  and 
A  small  keg  of  fresh  water  and  two  young  whelps. 

Next  comes  the  young  horse  of  Livermore,  drawing  a  tra- 
ville  with  his  baggage,  and  a  large  worsted  mashqueucate 
belonging  to  Madame  Langlois. 

Next  appears  Madame  Cameron's  young  mare,  kicking  and 

roaring  and ,  hauling  a  traville  which  was  loaded  with 

a  bag  of  flour  and  some  cabbage,  turnips,  onions,  a  small  keg 
of  water  and  a  large  bottle  of  broth. 

M.  Langlois,  who  is  master  of  the  band,  now  comes,  lead- 
ing a  horse  that  draws  a  traville  nicely  covered  with  a  new 
painted  tent,  under  which  is  lying  his  daughter  and  Mrs, 


8M 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Cameron  extended  full  length,  and  very  sick.  This  covering 
or  canopy  haa  a  pretty  effect. 

Madame  Langlois  now  brings  up  the  rear,  fpllowing  the  tra- 
ville  with  a  slow  utep  and  melancholy  air,  attending  to  the 
wants  of  her  daughter,  who,  notwithsfanding  her  sickness, 
can  find  no  other  terms  for  expressing  her  gratitude  to  her 
parents  than  by  calling  them  dogs,  fools  and  beasts. 

The  rear  guard  consisted  of  a  long  train  of  dogs,  twenty  in 
number.  The  whole  forms  a  string  nearly  a  mile  long,  and 
appears  like  a  large  band  of  Assineboines." 

Three  days  after  the  departure  from  Pembina,  two  men 
returned  with  the  dead  body  of  Mrs,  Cameron,  who  died  on 
the  5th  of  October  at  the  Grand  Passage,  and  on  the  9th  she 
was  buried  at  the  post. 

PRODUCTS   OP  POST  QARDBU. 

"October  16.    Hesse  arrived  in  a  small  canoe  from  Red  Lake, 
18th.    •    •    •    Note  of  my  vegetables  gathered  Irom  the 
post  garden,  300  head  cabbages,  8  bushels  carrots,  16  bushels 
of  onions,  10  of  turnips,  and  some  beets  and  parsnips. 

20th.  I  took  in  my  potatoes,  420  bushels  from  7  bushels  of 
seed.  The  circumference  of  one  onion  was  22  inches,  of  a  car- 
rot 18  inches  long,  and  the  upper  end  14  inches  in  circum- 
ference. A  turnip  with  the  leaves  weighs  25  pounds,  and  15 
without. 

A  MARE  FOn  A  WIFE. 

"Livermois  exchanged  his  mare  for  a  young  wife  about  eight 
years  of  age.  This  is  a  common  circumstance  in  the  North- 
West  to  give  a  horse  for  a  woman. 

CaravaK  below  at  Riviere  aux  Marais  near  Park  River. 


A   TRADER  S  DEATH. 

"December  24, 1803. — I  set  out  early  with  horse  and  carriole, 
Lambert  also  in  the  same  manner,  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Cotton  at 
the  River:  ^  aux  Liards  with  the  Riviere  Lac  Rouge  [Red  Lake  |, 
that  estabashment  being  under  my  direction.  I  arrived  at 
Mr.  Cotton's;  hfl  was  unwell.  I  asked  him  to  give  me  a  guide, 
but  he  prefers  to  accomj;    ly  me,  having  already  been  there. 


DBATH  OF  TRADBR  OAMKRON. 


886 


27th.  At  Cotton's  house.  X.  Y.  Stit  opposes  him,  the  most 
filthy  house  and  wife  I  ever  saw  having  gone  out  to  see  him. 
Settled  with  two  men  to  pass  the  summer  at  Red  Lake  and 
build  a  fort. 

29th.  Cameron  too  sick  to  leave.  He  cried  when  I  bid  him 
good-bye. 

81st.    Returned  to  River  aux  Marais. 

January  1,  1804. — Sunday, — We  kept  but  a  gloomy  and  dull 
New  Year.  I  gave  charge  of  the  place  to  Cadotte  until  Mr. 
Cameron  returned. 

2nd.  Before  daybreak  I  set  oflF  with  my  horse  and  carriole. 
Arrived  at  my  fort  at  4  o'clock. 

6th.  Le  Grace  arrived  from  Hiviere  aux  Liards  with  news 
of  Mr.  Cameron's  death.  He  expired  on  the  3d  instant  at  7 
p.  m.  while  sitting  on  a  stool.  He  suddenly  fell  on  his  face 
upon  the  floor  and  died  instantly,  without  uttering  a  word. 

7th.  Long  before  day  I  was  off  on  the  way  to  the  Little 
River  aux  Marais,  and  was  obliged  to  walk  and  run  to  prevent 
being  frozen  to  death.    At  2  o'clock  I  got  there. 

8th.  I  despatched  three  men  with  a  train  and  six  dogs,  for 
the  corpse.    •    *    • 

10th.  We  arrived  at  Park  River  with  the  corpse  stretched 
out  in  a  train  and  wrapped  up  in  a  R.  S.  tent,  and  two  parch- 
ment skins.  They  had  attempted  to  bring  it  in  a  cofBn,  but 
it  was  too  broad  for  a  train. 

"This  was  a  melancholy  day  for  us  all,  and  cast  a  gloom 
throughout  the  fort.  M.  Langlois  had  just  arrived  from  his 
place,  and  was  just  sitting  down  to  his  dinner  when  the  corpse 
was  announced.  What  a  sudden'  change!  Only  a  few  days 
ago  he  was  merry  and  cheerful,  and  as  we  werejiding  along, 
cracking  his  jokes.  Little  did  we  believe  he  was  near  his  end, 
and  now  he  lies  stretched  out,  a  corpse  of  solid  ice.  Poor  fel- 
low! he  was  a  good  natured,  inoffensive  and  sober  young  man. 

16th.  Having  a  coffin  made  we  buried  him  by  the  side  of 
his  deceased  wife.     ♦    *    * 

"February  22d.  1804.  1  sent  off  Mr.  Hesse  and  wife  for  Red 
Lake,  to  bring  down  sugar  and  bark.     •    ♦    * 


886 


HlSXOnX   OF  HIKNESOTA. 


A  DEUNB;Blir  FIGHT. 


"May  8th.  Engaged  my  men ;  settled  their  accounts,  giving 
them  a  treat  of  highwines.  They  were  soon  merry,  then 
qua>'>"eled  and  fought.  I  saw  four  battles  at  the  same  moment, 
and  soon  after  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  bloody  noses,  black 
eyes,  bruised  faces,  and  torn  sacks. 

He  ihea  proceeded  on  his  annual  trip  to  Lake  Superior,  and 
meeting  W.  McF  ;y  the  arrived  on  the  25th  of  June,  1804,  at 
Kam^•li8tiguia.    Upon  his  return  he  wro*-e,  under  date  of 

JOSEPH  EAINVILLE. 

"August  19th.  I  arrived  at  tlie  forks,  and  heard  of  the  death 
of  Veuant  St.  Germain  at  the  Pembina  River,  where  he  was 
shot  by  Joseph  Rainville  in  July  last.  It  was  entirely  an  ac» 
cideut,  and  happened  in  the  following  manner: 


A   TRADER  ACCIDENTALLY  SHOT. 

I  had  left  the  deceased  to  pass  the  summer  at  Portage  les 
Prairie.  He  was  on  a  visit  to  Pembina  River,  and  one  day, 
while  there,  he  was  fixing  his  saddle,  and  for  that  purpose, 
climbed  up  into  a  sort  of  half  garret  that  was  made  over  the 
men's  bed-rooms  in  the  Indians'  nail,  and  was  searching  for 
some  necessary  material,  when,  just  as  he  was  in  the  act  of 
coming  down,  Rainville  came  in.  They  had  been  much  given 
to  play  and  joke  with  each  other,  and  R  \inville  said,  "If  I 
were  to  bring  your  carcass  down,  like  a  Lyi&T,  upon  the  floor." 
The  other  retorted  jocularly.  Rairiville  was  a  miserable 
marksman,  ana  he  took  down  an  old  gun  that  belonged  to 
him,  c-nd  was  then  hanging  in  the  room,  where  it  had  been 
since  last  winter,  and  taking  aim.  pulled  the  trigger,  when,  to 
his  great  astonishment,  the  (jun  went  off,  and  the  ball  entered 
the  left  side  of  St.  Germain,  below  the  ribs,  and  came  out  on 
the  richt  side  under  the  arm.  He  came  down  very  composedly 
saying,  "  You  have  killed  me,"  and  expired  in  about  four  hours. 
This  young  man  was  an  apprentice  clerk  to  the  North  •  West 
Company,  and  the  son  cf  Joseph  St.  Germain  of  Isle  of  Jesus, 
near  Montreal." 


A  SHARP  OONTUCT. 


887 


BATTLB  BETWEEN  8T0UX  AND  CHIPPEWATS. 

Early  in  August,  1805,  upon  his  return  f/om  his  annual 
Toyage  to  Lake  Superior,  he  heard  of  a  conflict  between  th  ■> 
Sioux  and  Chippeways.     He  writes  in  his  journal: 

"  I  received  theunwelcomene\ysof  the  Scieux  having  fallen 
upon  a  small  camp  of  our  Indians  at  Tongue  River,  not  many 
miles  from  the  fort,  on  the  3d  of  July.  Fourteen  persons, 
men,  women  and  children,  were  killed  or  taken  prisoners.  My 
beau  pere  was  the  first  man  that  fell.  He  had  climbed  up  a 
tree  to  look  out  if  the  buffalo  was  near,  about  8  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  He  had  no  sooner  reached  the  top  of  the  tree  when 
the  two  Scieux  who  lay  near,  eacii  discharged  their  guns,  and 
the  balls  passed  through  his  bod)'.  He  had  only  time  to  call 
out  to  his  family  who  were  in  the  tent,  about  one  hundred 
paces  from  him,  'Save  yourselves,  the  Scieux  are  killing  us/ 
and  fell  dead  to  the  ground. 

I  "The  noise  brought  the  Indians  out  of  their  tents,  and 
perceiving  their  danger,  ran  through  the  open  plains  toward 
an  open  island  of  wood,  in  Tongue  Riyer,  about  a  mile  dis- 
tant. They  had  not  go)  more  than  one-fourth  of  a  mile, 
when  they  saw  the  main  party  on  horseback,  crossing  the 
Tongue  River,  and  in  a  few  moment?  they  began  to  fire. 
The  four  men,  by  their  expert  manoeuvres  and  incessant  fire, 
kept  them  in  awe  until  they  were  two  hundred  paces  from 
the  woods,  when  the  enemy,  perceiving  their  prey  ready  to 
escape,  surrounded  and  rushed  upon  them. 

"Three  of  the  Saulteux  fled  in  a  different  direction ;  one 
escaped,  but  the  other  two  were  killed.  He  that  remained  to 
protect  the  women  and  children  was  a  brave  fellow,  Augue- 
mance,  or  Little  Chief.  When  the  enemy  was  rushing  upon 
them,  he  waited  very  deliberately,  \?hen  he  aimed  at  one  com- 
ing full  speed,  and  knocked  him  from  his  horse.  Three 
young  girls  and  one  boy  were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  rest 
were  all  murdered  and  cut  up  in  the  most  horrible  manner. 
Several  women  and  children  had  made  their  escape  to  the 
woods.  The  enemy  chased  them,  but  the  willows  were  so 
thick  they  were  saved.  A  boy  of  about  twelve  years  of  age 
says  that  a  Scieux,  being  in  pursuit  of  him,  he  crossed  into  a 


r 

•■w 

'J 

1 

w 

'  i 

l-*««^' 

1-'  ■ 

V--  -■  ■ 

i. 

888 


HISTORY  OF  MIJJNESOTA. 


low,  hidden  place,  under  a  bunch  of  willows,  and  the  horse- 
man leaped  over  without  perceiving  him. 

A  motheb's  devotion  to  a  child. 

"One  of  the  little  girls  tells  a  pitiful  story  of  her  mother 
who  was  killed.  She  says  that  her  mother  haying  two  chil- 
dren who  could  not  walk  fast  enough,  had  taken  one  upon  her 
back  and  prevailed  upon  her  sister  to  carry  the  other,  but 
when  they  got  near  the  woods,  the  enemy  rushing  upon  them 
and  yelling,  the  young  woman  was  so  frightened  that  she 
threw  down  the  child,  and  soon  overtook  the  mother,  who. 
observing  the  child  was  missing,  and  hearing  it  screamingi 
kissed  the  little  daughter,  who  tells  the  story,  and  said:  "As 
for  me,  I  will  return  for  your  younger  sister  and  rescue  her,  or 
die  in  the  attempt;  take  courage,  run  fast,  my  daughter," 

"Poor  woman!  She  rescued  the  child  and  was  running  off, 
when  she  was  arrested  by  a  blow  with  a  war-club.  She  fell 
to  the  ground,  but  drew  her  knife  and  plunged  it  into  the 
neck  of  her  murderer;  others  coming  up,  she  was  soon  des- 
patched.   Thus  my  belle  mere  ended  her  days. 

a  visit  to  the  battlefield, 

"The  survivors  having  reached  the  fort,  my  people  went  out 
the  next  day  to  the  field,  A  horrid  spectacle!  My  beau  pere 
had  his  head  severed  from  his  body,  even  with  the  shoulders; 
his  right  arm  cut  off,  his  left  foot,  also  his  right  leg  from  the 
knee  stripped  of  the  skin.  The  bodies  of  the  women  and 
children  all  lay  within  a  few  yards  of  each  other.  Angue- 
mance  lay  near  his  wife.  The  enemy  had  raised  his  scalp,  cut 
the  flesh  from  the  bone,  and  broke  away  the  skull  to  make  a 
water  dish.  Only  the  trunk  remained,  with  the  belly  and 
breast  ripped  up  and  thrown  over  the  face.  [Delicacy  pre- 
vents the  printing  of  a  portion  of  the  description.] 

"His  wife  also  was  cut  up  and  butchered  in  a  shocking  man- 
ner, and  her  young  children  had  been  cut  up  and  thrown 
about  in  different  directions.  All  the  bodies  were  covered 
with  arrows  sticking  in  them,  many  old  knives,  two  or  three 
broken  guns,  and  some  war-cluba. 

"On  my  arrival  home  all  was  grief.  *  ♦  *  The  next  day 
i  went  out  with  M.  Langlois  to  view  the  battlefield.     *    * 


A   SAD   DUTY.  889 

T  gathered  up  the  bonea  of  my  belle  mere  in  a  handkerchief. 
We  followed  the  Scieux  road  until  we  came  to  a  place  where 
they  had  stopped.  We  found  their  camp  very  extensive,  and 
by  the  number  of  small  pointed  sticks  we  judge  the  party  to 
have  consisted  of  three  hundred  men  and  a  great  number  of 
horses.  I  remained  at  the  Pambian  River  until  the  lOlh  of 
August. 

NEWS  OF  LIEUTEaTANT    r'IKE,  U.  8.   A. 

"January  13, 1806.  Contoquoince  anived  from  afar,  and  in- 
formed us  that  the  Americans  have  landed  at  Leech  Lake  a 
party  of  soldiers,  but  he  did  not  kn^'w  the  particulars.  Pish- 
anobay  pushed  on  his  way  to  Otter  Tail  Lake. 

"March  13.  Koille  and  Descarros  arrived  from  Leech  Lake 
with  letters  from  Hugh  MoGillis,  informing  us  of  a  party  of 
American  soldiers  having  arrived  at  his  plr.ce  in  February  lasii 
commanded  by  Lieut.  Pike.  Their  headquarters  wu.:  at  Du 
Oorbeau,  and  their  errand  was  to  oblige  us  to  pay  the  usual 
duties  at  Mackinaw. 

April  11.  L.  Hiver  hamstrung  his  young  vrife  to  prevent 
her  gossinping  about.  The  rascal  cut  both  tendons  of  the 
heel  with  a  knife. 

May  23.  William  Henry  [a  brother]  arrived  from  Leech 
Lake  with  a  cargo  of  sugar. 

18th.  Red  Lake  band  arrived.  Le  Grande  Noir  and  his  son- 
in-law,  who  killed  one  of  our  men  at  Red  Lake  last  spring,  is 
an  American  named  Hughs." 

VISIT  TO  THE  MANDAN8. 

In  July,  1806,  Alexander  Henry  and  his  brother  William 
with  two  men  and  a  horse,  left  Pembina  for  the  Missouri.  A 
Mr.  Darwin  was  found  at  Lake  Phitz.  Passing  old  Fort  de 
Tremple,  he  crossed  the  Assinnibone  River  and  at  length 
reached  the  Missouri  and  visited  a  Mandan  village  where 
earthen  pots  were  made  from  black  clay,  and  buffalo  shoulder 
blades  served  as  hoes. 

HOUSES  LIKE  MOLEHILLS. 

Eight  hundred  huts  built  of  mud  looked  like  molehills 
From  the  Mandans  he  went  to  Gros  Ventres.     He  was  fifteen 


■v'ii'l 


^- 


890 


HI8T0BT  OP  MINNESOTA. 


days  in  returning  to  Pembina.  After  this  he  was  sent  to  the 
Athabasca  district  and  for  a  time  traveled  with  the  geographet 
David  Thompson. 

ON  THE  PAOIFIO  COAST. 

Franchere  in  his  "Narrative"  mentions  that  on  the  15th  ol 
November,  1813,  Alexander  Stnart  and  Alexander  Henry, 
both  parties  of  the  North- West  Company,  arrived  at  Astoria 
on  the  Columbia,  with  two  bark  canoes  manned  by  sixteen 
voyageurs,  and  that  he  had  left  the  extremity  of  Lake  Superior 
in  the  middle  of  July.  They  brought  Canadian  papers  with 
the  news  that  war  had  been  declared.  On  the  7th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1814,  Franchere  went  to  the  establishment  in  charge  of 
Alex.  Henry  on  the  Willamette  River.  It  is  said  Mr.  Henry 
was  afterwards  drowned  in  the  waters  of  the  Columbia. 


APPENDIX  L.    PAGE  821. 

EAELT  DAYS    IN   AND  AROUND    FORT    SNELLINO. 

On  Wednesday,  the  last  day  of  June,  1819,  Col.  Leaven- 
worth and  troops  arrived  from  Green  Bay,  at  Prairie  du 
Chien.  Scarcely  had  they  reached  this  point  when  Charlotte 
Seymour,  the  wife  of  Lieut.  Nathan  Clark  ,  a  native  of  Hart- 
ford, Ct.,  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  whoso  first  baptismal 
name  was  Charlotte,  after  her  mother,  and  the  second,  Ouis- 
consir ,  given  by  the  officers  in  view  of  the  fact  that  she  was 
born  at  the  junction  of  that  stream  with  the  Mississippi. 

In  time,  Charlotte  Ouisconsin  married  a  young  Lieutenant, 
a  native  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  and  a  graduate  of  Vv'est 
Point,  and  still  resides  with  her  husband.  General  H.  P.  V.r. 
Cleve,  in  the  City  of  Minneapolis,  living  to  do  good  as  she 
has  opportunity. 

In  June,  under  instructioBs  from  the  War  Department, 
Major  Thomas  Forsyth,  connected  with  the  office  of  Indian 
Affairs,  left  St.  Louis  with  two  thousand  dollars  wjrth  o{ 
goods  to  be  distributed  among  the  Sioux  Indians,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  agreement  of  1806,  refeired  to  on  page  244, 
with  the  late  General  Pike.         '  ■  -  ■  '■ 


I 


TB00P8  ARRIVE  AT  MENDOTA. 


891 


About  nine  o'clocl  of  the  morning  of  the  fifth  of  July,  he 
joined  Leavenworth  and  his  command,  at  Prairie  du 
Chien.  Some  time  was  occupied  awaiting  the  arrival  of  ord- 
nance, provisions  and  recruits,  but  on  Sunday  morning,  the 
eighth  of  August,  about  eight  o'clock,  the  «xpedition  set  out 
for  the  point  now  known  as  Mendota.  The  flotilla  was  qui'^e 
imposing;  there  were  the  Colonel's  barge,  fourteen  batteaux 
with  ninety-eight  soldiers  and  officers,  two  large  keel  or 
Mackinaw  boats,  filled  with  various  stores,  and  Foreyth's  keel 
boat,  containing  goods  and  presents  for  the  Indians.  On  the 
twenty-third  of  August,  Forsyth  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Minnesota  with  his  boat,  and  the  next  morning  Col.  Leaven, 
worth  arrived,  and  selecting  a  place  at  Mendota,  near  the 
present  railroad  bridge,  he  ordered  the  soldiers  to  cut  down 
trees  and  make  a  clearing.  On  the  next  Satur  lay  Col.  Leav- 
enworth, Y  ijor  Vose,  Surgeon  Purcell,  Lieutenant  Clarke, 
and  the  wife  of  Captaia  Gooding,  visited  the  Falls  of  Saint 
Anthony  with  Forsyth,  in  the  keel  boat  of  the  last. 

Early  in  September  two  more  boats  and  a  batteaux,  with 
officers  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  recruits,  arrived. 

FIRSI   S0HO0LMA8TEB. 

The  first  schoolmaster  of  the  post  was  John  Marsh,  He  is 
said  to  have  been  a  college  graduate,  and  accompanied  the 
first  troops  to  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota  River.  In  time 
he  became  a  trader's  clerk,  and  afterward  a  sub  Indian  agenti 
and  justice  of  the  peace  for  Crawford  County,  Minnesota.  In 
1832,  during  the  Black  Hawk  War,  he  ascended  the  Missis- 
sipi  and  secured  the  services  of  abn  it  eighty  Sioux,  and 
accompanied  them,  as  inteipreter,  to  the  army  of  General 
Atkinson,  but  they  soon  returne*!. 

EVENTS  OF  1820. 

The  relations  between  Colonel  Lejivvfnworth  and  th<^  Indian 
Agent  Taliaferro  were  not  entirely  harmonious,  growing  out  of 
a  disagree  jaent  of  views  relative  to  the  treatment  of  the  Indians, 
and  on  the  day  of  the  arrival  of  Governor  Cass,  in  July,  1820, 
Teliaferro  wrote  to  Leavenworth: 

"  As  it  is  now  understood  that  I  am  agent  for  Indian  affairs 
in  this  country,  and  you  are  about  to  leave  the  upper  Mis»i;i- 


1    ^^i 

»i.  Mil 


.  mM'  I 


892 


HI8T0BT  OP  MINNESOTA. 


sippi,  in  all  probability  in  the  course  of  a  month  or  two,  I  beg 
leave  to  suggest,  for  the  sake  of  a  general  understanding  with 
the  Indian  tribes  of  this  country,  that  any  medals,  you  may 
possess,  bj'  being  turned  over  to  me,  ceases  to  be  a  topic 
of  remark  among  the  different  Indian  tribes  under  my  direc 
tion.  I  will  pass  to  you  any  voucher  that  may  be  requiredi 
and  I  beg  leave  to  observe  that  my  progress  in  influence  is 
much  injured  iu  consequence  of  this  frequent  intercourse 
with  the  government." 

In  a  few  daj's,  the  disastrous  effect  of  Indians  mingling 
with  the  soldiers  was  exhibited.  On  the  3d  of  August  the 
agent  wrote  to  Leavenworth: 

"  His  Excellency,  Governor  Cass,  during  a  visit  to  this  post 
remarked  to  me  that  the  Indians  in  this  quarter  were  spoiled, 
and  at  the  same  time  said  they  shcAil  '  not  be  permitted  to  en- 
ter the  camp.  An  unpleasant  affair  has  lately  taken  place;  I 
mean  the  stabbing  of  the  old  cliief  Mahgossan  by  his  com- 
rade. This  was  caused,  doubtless,  by  an  anxiety  to  obtain  the 
chief's  whiskey,  I  beg,  therefore,  ■  uat  no  whiskey  whatever 
be  given  to  any  Indians,  unless  it  be  through  their  proper 
agent.  While  an  overplus  oi  whis.  cey  thwarts  the  beneficent 
and  humane  policy  of  the  government,  it  entoils  misery  uoou 
the  Indians,  and  endangers  their  lives." 

A  few  days  after  this  note  was  written  Josiah  Snelling,  re- 
cently promoted  to  the  Colonelcy  of  the  Fifth  Regiment,  ar- 
rived with  his  family,  relieved  Leavenworth,  anU  infused  new 
life  and  energy.  A  little  while  before  his  arrival,  the  daughter 
ot  Ciiptain  Gooding  was  married  to  Lieutenant  Green,  the 
Adjutant  of  the  regiment,  the  first  marriage  of  white  persona 
in  Minnesota.  Mrs.  Snelling,  a  few  days  after  her  arrival, 
gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  the  first  white  child  born  in  Minne- 
sota, and  after  a  brief  existence  of  thirteen  months,  she  died 
and  was  the  first  interred  in  the  military  grave  yard,  and 
the  stone  which  marks  its  resting  place  is  visible. 

The  earliest  manuscript  in  Minnesota,  written  at  the  Can- 
tonment, is  dated  4,  1820,  and  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Colonel 
Snelling.  It  reads:  "In  justice  to  Lawrence  Taliaferro,  Esq.. 
Indian  Agent  at  this  post,  we,  the  undersigned  officers  of  the 
Fifth  Regiment  here  stationed,  have  presented  him  this  paper 


BUILDING  09  THB  FOBT. 


883 


misery  uooa 


as  a  tolcen,  not  only  of  our  individual  respect  and  esteem,  but 
aa  an  entire  approval  of  his  conduct  and  deportment  as  a  pub- 
lic agent  in  this  quarter.  Given  at  St.  Peter  this  4th  day  of 
October,  1820. 


J,  Snellino,  Col.  6th  Inf. 
S.  BuBBANK,  Br.  Major. 
David  Pebby,  Captain. 
D.  Gooding,  Br.  Captain. 
J.  Plympton,  Lieutenant. 
R.  A.  McCabe,  Lieut. 


N.  Clabk,  Lieutenant. 
Jos.  Habe,  Lieutenant. 
Ed.  Pubcell,  Surgeon. 
P.  R.  Gbeen,  Lt.  and  Adjt. 
W.  G.  Camp,  Lt.  and  Q.  M. 
H.  WiLKiNS.  Lieutenant." 


During  the  summer  of  1820,  a  party  of  the  Sisseton  Sioux 
killed  on  the  Missouri,  Isadore  Poupou,  a  half-breed,  and 
Joseph  Andrews,  a  Canadian  engaged  in  the  fur  trade.  The 
Indian  Agent,  through  Colin  Campbell,  as  interpreter,  notified 
the  Sissetous  that  trade  would  cease  wl'h  them,  until  the 
murderers  were  delivered.  At  a  council  held  at  Big  Stone 
Lake,  one  of  the  murderers,  and  the  aged  father  of  another, 
agreed  to  suireuder  themselves  to  the  commanding  officer. 
On  the  three  hundred  and  twenty-^^nth  page  is  an  account 
of  the  delivery  of  the  hostages  at  the  fort. 

Col.  Snelling  built  the  fort  in  the  shape  of  a  lozenge,  in 
Tie»  of  the  projection  between  the  two  wiugs.  The  first 
row  <rf  baiTacks  was  «f  hewn  logs,  ohtained  from  the  pine 
f(R«8ts  of  Rum  River,  b'  :  the  other  buildings  were  of  stone. 
Mrs.  Van  Cleve.  iA»  daughter  of  Lieutenant,  <»ff^r wards  Cap- 
tain Clark,  writes: 

"In  1821  the  tort,  alt iiough  aot  complete,  wa«  fit  for  occu- 
pancy. My  father  bad  anigacd  to  him  the  qu^rterR  next 
beyond  *he  sfc.  ps  leading  to  the  Commissary'"*  stores,  and 
during  thf"  year  my  little  ««tor  aU»  t  is  born  shere.  At  » 
later  period  ray  +•  -  an<i  ^If^jor  rarland  obtaint  d  permission 
to  build  more  nous  qaariers  outride  tl»e  walls,  and  the 

result  wBk  Mi      T*         in-    hoosM  atWrwiird  occupied    by  the 
Indian  AH«nt  and  innTpretw,  I«t«lT«lwtroyed." 

Early  in  August,  a  young  and  intelligent  mixed  blood, 
Alexis  Bailly,  in  aftei-  years  a  member  of  the  legislature  of 
Minnesota,  left  the  cantonment  with  the  first  drove  of  cattle 
for  the  Selkirk  Settlement,  and  the  next  winter  returned 


,4  > 


i 


t  » 


>  J 


€94 


HI8T0RT  OF  MINNESOTA. 


with  Col.  Robert  Dicksom  and  Messrs.  Laidlow  and  Macken- 
zie. 

The  next  month  a  party  of  Sissetoans  visited  the  Indian 
Agent,  and  told  him  that  they  had  started  with  another  of 
the  murderers,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  but  that  on 
the  way  he  had,  through  faar  of  being  hung,  killed  himself. 

This  fall  a  mill  was  constructed  for  the  use  ot  the  garrison 
on  the  west  side  of  St.  Anthony  Falls,  under  the  supervision 
of  Lieut.  McCabe.  During  the  fall,  George  Gooding,  Captain 
by  brevet,  resigned,  and  became  Sutler  at  Prairie  du  Chien. 
He  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  entered  the  army  as 
ensign  in  1808.  In  1810  he  became  a  Second  Lieutenant,  and 
the  ne«t  year  was  wounded  at  Tippecanoe. 

In  the  middle  of  October,  there  eni'baicked  on  the  keel-boat 
"Saucy  Jack,"  for  Prairie  du  Chien,  Col.  Snelling,  Lieut. 
Baxley,  Mnjor  Taliaferro,  and  Mrs.  Gooding. 

Early  in  January,  1882,  there  came  to  the  Fort  from  the 
Red  River  of  the  North,  Col.  Robert  Dickson,  Laidlow,  a 
Scotch  farmer,  the  superintendent  of  Lord  Selkirk's  experi- 
mental farm,  and  one  Mackenzie,  on  their  way  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  Dickson  returned  with  a  drove  of  cattle,  but  owing 
to  the  hostility  of  the  Sivus  his  cattle  were  scattered,  and 
never  reached  Pembina. 

During  the  winter  of  1823,  Agent  Taliaferro  was  in  Wash- 
ington. While  returning  in  March,  he  was  at  a  hotel  in 
Pittsburg,  when  he  received  a  note  signed  G.  C.  Beltrmni, 
who  was  an  Italian  exile,  asking  pe«mission  to  accompany 
liini  to  the  Indian  Territory.  He  was  tall  and  commanding 
in  appearance,  and  gentlemanly  in  bearing,  and  Taliaferro 
was  so  forcibly  impressed  as  to  accede  to  the  request.  After 
reaching  Saint  Louis  they  embarked  on  the  first  steamboat 
for  the  upper  Mississippi,  an  account  of  whose  arrival  is  on 
the  336th  page. 

FIBST  FtOUIi  MItli. 

The  mill  which  was  constructed  in  1821,  for  sawing  lum- 
ber, at  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony,  stood  upon  the  site  of  the 
Holmes  and  Sidle  Mill,  in  Minneapolis,  and  in  1823  was  fitted 
up  for  grinding  flour.      The  following  extracts  from  corre- 


MILL   AT  S'l\  AHTHONY  FALLS. 


spondence  addressed  to  Lieut.  Clark,  Commissary  at  Fort 
Snelling,  will  be  read  with  interest: 

Under  the  date  of  August  5th,  1823,  General  Gibson  write?: 
*'Frora  a  letter  addressed  by  Col.  Snelling  to  the  Quarter- 
master General,  dated  the  2d  of  April,  I  learned  that  a  large 
quantity  of  wheat  woaM  be  raised  this  summer.  The  Assist- 
ant Commissary  of  Fiubsistence  at  Saint  Louis  has  been  in- 
structed to  forward  sickles  and  a  pair  of  millstones  to  Saint 
Peters.  If  any  flour  is  maiiufactured  from  the  wheat  raised, 
be  pleased  to  let  me  know  as  early  as  practicable,  that  I  may 
■deduct  the  quantity  manufactured  at  the  post  from  the  quan- 
tity advertised  to  be  contracted  for." 

In  another  lettor  General  Gibson  writes:  "  Below  you  will 
find  the  amount  charged  on  the  books  against  the  garrison 
of  Fort  Saint  Anthony,  for  certain  articles,  and  forwarded 
for  the  use  of  the  troops  at  that  post,  which  you  will  deduct 
from  the  payments  to  be  made  for  flour  raised  and  turned 
over  to  you  for  issue: 

One  pair  buhr  millstones $250  11 

387  pounds  plaster  of  pans 20  23 

Two  dozen  sickles 18  00 

Total $288  33 

Upon  the  19th  of  January,  1824,  the  General  writes:  ''The 
mode  suggested  by  Col.  Snelling,  of  fixing  the  price  to  be 
paid  the  troops  for  the  flour  furnished  by  them  is  deemed 
equitable  and  just.  You  will  accordingly  pay  for  the  flour 
13.33  per  barrel." 

Charlotte  Ouisconsin  Van  Cleve,  now  the  oldest  person 
Jiving  in  Minnes6ta  who  was  connected  with  the  cantonment 
in  1819,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Department  of  American 
History  of  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society  in  January, 
1880,  wrote: 

FIRST  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

"In  1823,  Mrs.  Snelling  and  my  mother  established  the 
first  Sunday  School  in  the  Northwest.  It  was  held  in  the 
basement  of  the  commaniiing  officer's  quarters,  and  was  pro- 
ductive of  much  good.    Many  of  the  soldiers,  with  their  fam- 


■«,■«*. 


HI8T0HY  OF  MINNB80TA. 


iliea  attended.  Joe  Brown  since  so  well  known  in  this  coun- 
try, then  a  drummer  boy,  was  one  of  the  pupils.  A  Bible 
class,  for  the  oflScers  and  their  wives,  was  formed,  and  all 
became  so  interested  in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs,  that  it 
furnished  topics  of  conversation  for  the  week.  One  day  after 
Sunday  School  lesson  on  the  death  of  Moses,  a  member  of 
the  class  meeting  my  mother  on  parade,  after  exchanging  the 
usual  greetings,  said,  in  saddened  tones,  'But  don't  you  feel 
sorry  that  Moses  is  dead?" 

Alter  the  Indian  Agency  had  been  established  near  the  fort 
no  person  could  trade  with  the  Indians  without  a  license  from 
the  agent.  The  licensed  traders  among  the  Sioux  in  1823 
were  Philander  Prescott,  Duncan  Campbell,  Ezekirl  Lock- 
wood,  Alexander  Faribault,  Daniel  M.  Wright,  and  Joseph 
Snelling,  known  in  literature  as  William  Joseph  Snelling. 

In  the  year  1823,  Lieut.  Alexander  with  foui  ii  soldiers 
went  by  land  to  Prairie  du  Chien  and  blazed  the  trees  on 
their  route. 

FORT  ST.  ANTnONY  CHANGED  TO  FOKT  SITELLINO. 

In  the  year  1824  the  Fort  was  visited  by  Gen.  Scott  on  a 
tour  of  inspection,  and  at  his  suggestion  the  name  was  changed 
from  Fort  St.  Anthony  to  Fort  Snelling.  The  following  is 
an  extract  of  his  report  to  the  War  Department: 

"  This  work,  of  which  the  War  Department  is  in  possession 
of  a  plan,  reflects  the  highest  credit  on  Col.  Snelling,  his  offi- 
cers and  men.  The  defenses,  and  for  the  most  part,  the  public 
storehouses,  shops  and  quarters  being  constructed  of  stone, 
the  whole  is  likely  to  endure  as  long  as  the  post  shall  remain 
a  frontier  one.  The  cost  of  erection  to  the  government  has 
been  the  amount  paid  for  tools  and  iron,  and  the  per  diem 
paid  to  soldiers  employed  as  mechanics.  I  wish  to  suggest  to 
the  General-in-Chief,  and  through  him  to  the  War  Department, 
the  propriety  of  calling  this  work  Fort  Snelling,  as  a  just 
compliment  to  the  meritorious  officer  under  whom  it  has  been 
erected.  The  present  name,  [Fort  St.  Anthony],  is  foreign  to 
all  our  associations,  and  is,  besides,  geographically  incorrect, 
as  the  work  stands  at  the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  aand  St. 
Peter's  ( Minnesota]  Rivers,  eight  miles  below  the  great  falls 
of  the  Mississippi,  called  after  St.  Anthony."  _„  ,,.,,,,; 


uonx  GO  TO  wAsnmoTON. 


Wl 


In  1824,  Major  Taliaferro  proceeded  to  WiiMhington  with  a 
delegation  of  Chippewiiys  and  Dahkotahs  h("a(l,vl  by  Little 
Crow,  the  grandfather  of  the  chief  of  the  ^anie  name,  who 
was  engaged  in  the  late  horrible  magsacrt  nt  defonseless  wo- 
men and  children.  The  object  of  the  visit  was  to  secure  a 
convocation  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  at 
Prairie  dii  Chien,  to  define  their  boundary  lines  and  establish 
friendly  relations.  When  they  r  iiehed  T'rairie  du  Chien, 
Wahnatah,  a  Yankton  Chief,  antl  also  Wapaihaw,  by  the 
whisperings  of  mean  traders,  became  disaffected,  and  wished 
to  turn  back.  Little  Crow,  perceiving  this,  8top[)ed  nil  hesi- 
itancy  by  the  following  speech:  "My  friends,  you  can  do  as 
you  please.  I  am  no  coward,  nor  can  my  ears  be  pulled  about 
by  evil  councils.  We  are  here  and  should  go  on,  and  do  some 
good  for  our  nation  I  have  taken  our  Fatli>^r  here  (Talia- 
ferro) by  the  coat  1,  and  will  follow  him  uutil  1  take  by  the 
hand  our  great  Am     ^an  Fatln    " 

While  on  board  ot  a  steamer  on  the  Ohio  River,  Marcpee, 
or  the  Cloud,  in  consetjuence  of  a  hud  dream,  jui.ipedfrom 
the  stern  of  the  boat,  and  was  suppfjsed  to  be  drowned,  but 
he  swam  ashore  and  made  his  way  to  Saint  Charles,  Mo., 
there  to  be  mur(i<  ^d  by  some  Sacs,  The  r<^maiuder  safely 
arrived  in  Washington  and  accomplished  tin  object  of  the 
visit.  The  Dahkotafts  returned  by  way  of  New  York,  and 
while  there  were  anxious  to  pay  a  visit  to  certain  parties  with 
Wra.  Dickson,  a  half-breed  son  of  Col.  fiobert  Dickson,  the 
trader,  who  in  the  war  of  1812-15  led  the  Indians  ot  the 
Northwest  against  the  United  States. 

^::>^:  .  'is  visit  Little  Crow  carried  a  new  double-barreled 
gUD,  anti  aaid  that  a  medicine  man  by  the  name  ot  Peters 
gate  it  *■  him  for  signing  a  certain  paper,  and  that  he  also 
prom..;"i  he  would  send  a  keel  boat  full  of  goods  to  them. 
The  medicine  man  referred  to  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  Peters,  an 
Episcopal  clergyman,  who  bad  made  himself  obnoxious  dur- 
ing the  Revolution  by  his  tory  sentiments,  and  was  subse- 
quently nominated  as  Bishop  of  Vermont. 

Peters  asserted  that  in  1806  he  had  purchased  of  the  heirs 
of  Jonathan  Carver  the  right  to  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Upper 
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Photographic 

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Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


«88 


HISTORY  OF  MINKS80TA. 


Mississippi,  embracing  Saint  Paul,  alleged  to  have  been  given 
in  1767  to  Carver  by  the  Dahkotabs. 

The  next  year  there  arrived  in  one  of  the  keel  boats  from 

-  Prairie  du  Ghien,  a  box  marked  Col.  Robert  Dickson.    On 

opening,  it  was  found  to  contain  a  few  presents  from  Peters 

to  Dickson's  Indian  wife,  a  long  letter,  and  a  copy  of  Carver's 

-alleged  grant,  written  on  parchment. 

The  first  U.  S.  ofiBcer  who  died  at  Fort  Snelling  was 
Edward  Purcell  of  Virginia.  He  entered  the  service  in  1813, 
«8  Surgeon's  Mate,  and  in  July,  1818,  became  Surgeon,  and 
on  the  11th  of  January,  1825,  passed  away. 

As  early  as  the  8th  of  April,  1825,  the  steamboat  Rufus 
Putnam  reached  the  Fort.  Four  weeks  later  she  arrived 
again,  with  goods  for  the  Columbia  Fur  Company,  and  pro- 
<!eeded  up  the  Minnesota  a  short  distance,  to  the  trading  post 
known  as  Land's  end. 

This  year  was  also  noted  for  the  convocation  of  the  Indian 
tribes  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  After  the  council  was  ended, 
Agent  Taliaferro  and  delegation  left  in  the  Mackinaw  boats, 
guided  by  eighteen  voyagers.  Great  sickness  prevails  d  among 
the  Indians  on  the  voyage.  Before  Lake  Pepin  was  reached, 
a  Sisseton  Chief  died.  At  Little  Crow's  village,  then  on  the 
«ast  side  of  the  Mississippi,  n^&t  Red  Kock,  the  sickness  had 
so  increased  that  it  was  necessary  to  leave  one  of  the  boats, 
a.nd  on  the  80th  of  August  the  party  reached  Fort  Snelling. 
The  Agent  appointed  Mr.  Laidlow  to  conduct  the  Upper 
Minnesota  Indians  to  their  homes,  but  twelve  died  on  the 
way. 

LIBITT.  COL.   WILLOUQHBY   MORQAJT. 

In  the  fall  of  1825,  Col.  Snelling  obtained  a  fnrlough,  and 
during  his  absence  a  Virginian,  Lieut.  Col.  Willoughby  Mor- 
gan, WHS  in  command  and  was  much  respected.  Upon  his 
depai'ture,  the  following  correspondence  took  place: 

Fort  Sxellinq,  (Upper  Mississippi)  Dec.  28,  1825. 

Sir: — We,  officera  of  this  post,  or  your  departure  from 
among  us,  ol  testifying  our  respect  for  your  character,  and 
our  entire  Butisfiiction  of  your  conduct  while  in  command. 
We  have  witnessed  with  much  satisfaction  the  renewal  of 


LT.  OOL.   MOBQAN  COMPLIMBNTBD. 


899 


military  discipline,  when  it  had  tor  a  long  time  been  obliged 
to  yield  to  laborious  duty  on  the  public  wcx-ks. 

We  have  seen  you  constantly  and  zealously  laboring  for  the 
improvement  of  your  command,  uniting  the  urbanity  of  a 
gentleman  with  the  discipline  of  the  soldier.  We  tender  to 
you  on  this  occasion  our  sinccire  wishes  for  your  prosperity 
and  happiness. 

Major  T.  Hamiltok. 

Capt.  J.  Plympton. 

Capt.  D.  Wilcox. 

Capt.  N.  Clark. 

Lieut.  J.  B.  Russel. 

Adjt.  p.  R.  Grbbx. 

LtBUT.  A.  Johnson. 

Surgeon  B.  F.  Harney. 

Ass't.  Surgeon  R.  Wood. 

Lieut.  J  M.  Baxlbt. 

Lieut.  D.  Hunter. 

Lieut.  St.  C.  Dennt. 

Lieut.  W.  Alexander. 

Lieut.  D.  W.  Allanson. 
Xieut.  Col.  W.  Morgan,  5th  Infantry. 


^  Gentlemen: — I  have  the  pleasure  to  acknowledge  the  re- 
ceipt of  your  note  of  this  date  enclosing  an  address  from  the 
officers  of  this  post,  in  which  they  have  done  me  the  honor 
to  express  it  in  the  most  obliging  terms,  the  very  favorable 
view  they  have  taken  of  the  course  of  my  command,  during 
the  absence  of  the  Colonel  of  the  Regiment. 

I  esteem  myself  extremely  happy  in  having  been  able  to 
secure  the  approbation  of  the  officers  of  this  post,  more  es- 
pecially as  I  am  sensible  that  I  have  sought  their  approbation 
in  no  other  way  than  by  the  faithful  discharge  of  my  duty, 

>  the  only  way  indeed  in  which  the  approbation  of  the  very 
respectable  and  very  iuteligent  officers  of  this  post  could 
liave  been  obtained. 

Permit  me  to  ask  you  that  you  will  tender  to  them  ray  sin- 
-cere  thanks,  not  only  for  the  very  polite  address,  but  for  the 


900 


HISTORY  OV  MINXESOTA. 


many  civilities  I  have  received  from  them  during  the  short 
period  of  my  command  at  this  post. 

I  experience  much  pleasure  in  being  able  to  congratulate 
the  officers  in  the  return  of  the  chief  of  the  regiment  after 
whom  this  beautiful  post  has  been  named  by  the  Government 
To  him  is  due  the  chief  merit  of  everything  which  has  been 
accomplished  here.  For  myself,  I  am  very  sensible  that  I 
ha^e  few  claims  beyond  these,  which  may  be  thought  due  to 
every  officer  who  has  faithfully  discharged  his  duties. 

Reciprocating  with  utmost  sincerity  the  kind  wishes  of  the 
officers  for  my  health  and  prosperity,  I  have  the  honor  to  be 
gentlemen,  with  unfeigned  esteem  and  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
W.  Morgan,  Lieut.  Col. 

To  Dr.  B.  F.  Harney,  Capt.  J.  Plympton,  Lieut.  St.  C.  Denny 

JIVENTS  OF  1826. 

During  the  months  of  February  and  March,  1826,  snow 
fell  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  feet,  and  there  was  great 
Buffermg  among  the  Indians.  On  one  occasion,  thirty  lodges 
of  Sisseton  and  other  Sioux  were  overtaken  by  a  storm  which 
continued  for  several  days,  and  the  provisions  were  almost 
exhausted.  The  stronger  men,  with  a  few  pairs  of  snow 
shoes,  started  for  a  trading  post,  one  hundred  miles  distant, 
which  they  reached  nearly  dead.  Four  Canadians  were  sent 
with  supplies,  and  found  the  living  feeding  upon  the  corpses 
of  their  companions.  A  mother  had  eaten  her  dead  child, 
and  a  portion  of  her  father's  arms.  The  shock  to  her  nervous 
system  was  so  great  that  she  remained  partially  insane.  Her 
name  was  Tashunota,  and  she  was  quite  good  looking.  One 
day  in  September,  1829,  while  at  Fort  Snelling,  taking  him 
by  the  coat,  she  asked  Captain  Jouett  if  he  knew  which  was 
the  best  portion  of  a  human  being  to  eat.  Astonished,  he  re- 
plied: "  No."  She  then  told  him:  "  The  arms,"  and  asked 
for  a  piece  of  his  servant  maid,  as  she  was  nice  and  fat.  A 
few  days  after  this  she  dashed  herself  from  the  bluffs  near 
Fort  Snelling,  into  the  river,  and  was  drowned. 


mont 
were 
Gag; 
the 

On 
lage, 
gaine 
in  ad 
30th, 
was  a 
and 
At 
and  V 
ling 
In 
keel 


INDIANS  ATTACK  KEEL  BOATS. 


901 


In  August,  1826,  owing  to  the  threats  of  Indians,  Col.  Snel- 
!ing  sent  troops  to  re-inforce  Fort  Crawford,  at  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  Capt.  Wilcox  was  placed  in  command. 

On  the  12th  of  June,  1827,  the  keel  boats  "  General  Aohley  " 
and  "0.  H.  Perry"  left  Prairie  du  Chien,  bound  for  Fort 
Snelling,  with  supplies.  Allen  F.  Lindsey  was  in  command 
of  the  "Ashley,"  and  Joseph  Snelling  was  a  passenger.  The 
"  Perry  "  was  in  charge  of  a  man  named  Benjamin  F.  Thaw. 

When  they  approached  Prairie  la  Crosse,  a  party  of  Win- 
nebagoes  came  to  the  "Ashley  "  in  canoes,  and  were  civilly 
treated.  When  the  boats  reached  Wapashah's  village  of 
Sioux,  now  the  site  ot  the  city  of  Winona,  the  Indians  de- 
manded that  they  should  land.  They  were  not  permitted  to 
come  on  board  the  "Ashley,"  but  about  fifty,  with  their  faces 
painted  black,  and  streaks  on  their  blankets,  mounted  the 
deck  of  the  "  Perry,"  and  reiused  to  shake  hands.  It  was 
reported  that  an  old  Indian,  named  the  Pine  Shooter,  went 
from  lodge  to  lodge  in  the  village,  and  urged  the  young  men 
to  make  an  attack.  As  the  crews  of  the  boats  were  unarmed 
they  were  quite  disturbed  by  these  manifestations. 

When  they  were  ready  to  return  from  the  Fort,  Col.  Snel- 
ling furnished  the  boats  with  thirty  guns,  and  a  large  keg  of 
ball  cartridges.  In  descending  the  river  on  the  27th  of  the 
month,  the  Winnebagoes  came  on  board  the  "Ashley,"  and 
were  kindly  treated.  They  were  of  the  party  who  had  killed 
Gagaier,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  an  account  of  which  is  given  on 
the  ihree  hundred  and  ninety-fifth  page. 

On  the  29th,  the  two  boats  again  passed  Wapashah^s  vil- 
lage, and  were  not  molested.  During  the  night  the  "Perry" 
gained  on  the  "Ashley,"  and  the  next  day  was  several  hours 
in  advance.  At  i  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  this  day,  the 
30th,  when  near  the  mouth  of  the  Bud  Axe  River,  the  "Perry" 
was  attacked  by  the  Winnebagoes,  and  fought  till  near  sunset, 
and  two  of  the  crew  were  killed  and  four  wounded. 

At  midnight  the  "Ashley"  drifted  past  the  Indian  camp 
and  was  fired  upon,  without  any  serious  result.  Joseph  Snel- 
ling returned  to  Prairie  du  Chien  on  this  boat. 

In  consequence  of  this  attack.  Colonel  Snelling  started  in 
keel  boats  with  four  companies  to  Fort  Cruwiord,  and  on  the 


902 


HISTOBT  09  KINKB80TA. 


17th  four  more  companies  left  tinder  Major  Fowle.  After  aa 
absence  of  six  weeks,  the  soldiers,  without  firing  a  gun  at  the 
enemy,  returned. 

A  tew  weeks  after  the  attack  upon  the  provision  boats  Gen' 
Gaines  inspected  the  Fort,  am!,  subsequently  in  a  communi- 
cation to  the  War  Department  wrote  aa  follows: 

"  The  main  points  of  defence  against  an  enemy  appear  to 
have  been  in  some  respects  sacrificed,  in  the  effort  to  secure 
comfort  and  convenience  of  troops  in  peace.  These  are  im- 
portant considerations,  but  on  an  exposed  frontier  the  primary 
object  ought  to  be  security  against  the  attack  of  an  enemy. 

"  The  buildings  are  too  large,  too  numerous,  and  extending 
over  a  space  entirely  too  great,  enclosing  a  large  parade,  five 
times  greater  than  is  at  all  desirable  in  that  climate.  Th» 
buildings  for  the  roost  part  seem  well  constructed,  of  good 
stone  and  other  materials,  and  they  contain  every  desirable 
convenience,  comfort  and  security  as  barracks  and  store  houses. 

"The  work  may  be  rendered  very  strong  and  adapted  to  a 
garrison  of  two  hundred  men  by  removing  one-half  the  build- 
ings, and  with  the  materials  of  which  thev  are  constructed, 
building  a  tower  sufficiently  high  to  command  the  hill  be-^ 
tween  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Peter's  [Minnesota],  and  by  a 
block  house  on  the  extreme  point,  or  brow  of  the  cliff,  near 
the  commandant's  quarters,  to  secure  most  effectually  the 
banks  of  the  river,  and  the  boats  at  the  landing. 

"  Much  credit  is  due  to  Colonel  Snelling,  his  officers  and 
men,  for  their  immense  labors  and  excellent  workmanship  ex- 
hibited in  the  construction  of  these  barracks  and  store  houses, 
but  this  has  been  effected  too  much  at  the  expense  of  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  regiment." 

From  reports  made  from  1828  to  1826,  the  health  of  the 
troops  was  good.  In  the  year  ending  September  30,  1823, 
there  were  but  two  deaths;  in  1821  only  six.  and  in  1825  but 
seven. 

In  1823  there  were  three  desertions,  in  1824  twenty-two, 
and  in  1825  twenty-nine.  Most  of  the  deserters  were  fresh 
recruits  and  natives  of  America.  Ten  of  the  deserters  were 
foreigners;  and  five  of  these  were  born  in  Ireland.    In  1826' 


DEATHS  AND    DESERTIONS. 


908 


there  were  eight  companies  numbering  two  hundred  and  four- 
teen soldiers  quartered  in  the  Fort. 

DEATH  op  COLONEL  BNELLINO. 

During  the  fall  of  1827  the  Fifth  Regiment  was  relieved  by 
a  part  of  the  First,  and  the  next  year  Colonel  Snelling  pro- 
ceeded to  Washington  on  business,  and  on  the  20th  of  August, 
1828,  died  with  inflammation  of  the  brain.  Major  General 
Macomb  announcing  his  death  in  an  order,  wrote: 

"Colonel  Snelling  joined  the  army  in  early  youth.  In  the 
battle  of  Tippecanoe,  he  was  distinguished  for  gallantry  and 
good  conduct.  Subsequently  and  during  the  whole  late  war 
with  Great  Britain,  from  the  battle  of  Brownstown  to  the 
termination  of  the  contest,  he  was  actively  employed  in  the 
fleld,  with  crdit  to  himself,  and  honor  to  his  country." 

EVENTS  OF  1828. 

On  the  15th  of  February,  1828,  Alexis  Bailly.  the  trader  at 
New  Hope,  now  deceased,  applied  for  the  establishment  of  a 
new  post  on  the  Cannon  River. 

During  the  month  of  June,  Samuel  Gibson,  a  drover  from 
Missouri,  lost  his  way  while  bringing  cattle  to  Fort  Snelling, 
and  he  abandoned  them  near  Lacqui  Parle.  The  trader  there, 
Joseph  Renville,  tools  charge  of  tiiem,  and  sixty-four  head 
were  subsequently  sold  for  $750  and  the  money  forwarded  to 
the  unfortunate  drover. 

One  day  this  month,  an  old  Sioux,  named  Mogoiya,  visited 
the  Fort  and  produced  a  Spanish  commission  dated  A.  D. 
1781,  and  signed  by  Colonel  Francisco  Cruzat,  military  gover- 
nor of  Louisiana,  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota  at  that  time 
having  been  a  portion  ot  the  Spanish  domain,  subsequently 
ceded  to  France. 

Oil  the  31st  of  August  Jacob  Falstrom  brought  up  a  mail 
from  Prairie  du  Chien.  He  had  a  romantic  career.  Born  in 
Sweden,  at  the  age  of  nine  years  he  became  a  cabin  boy  on  a 
vessel  which  was  wrecked  on  the  English  coast.  At  length 
friendless  and  penniless  he  found  himself  in  London,  where 
he  happened  to  meet  Lord  Selkirk  who  treated  him  with  kind- 
ness, and  sent  him  to  the  Selkirk  settlement,  by  way  of  Hud- 


904 


HISTOBT  OF   MINNESOTA. 


son's  Bay  and  York  River.  la  time  he  married  the  sister  of 
Bonuga,  a  descendant  of  a  negro  from  the  West  Indies,  who 
ctsme  to  Mackinaw  in  the  last  century  with  a  British  ofBcer. 
For  several  years  Falstrom  remained  on  the  military  reserva- 
tion, and  in  the  year  1838  he  professed  to  be  converted  under 
the  teachings  of  the  Methodist  missionaries  at  Red  Rock. 

PROPOSED  ORGANIZATION  OF  HURON  TERRITORY. 

The  first  movement  for  an  organized  government  in  the 
valley  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  was  in  1828,  when  a  number 
of  cit-zens  in  the  lead  mines,  near  Galena,  Illinois,  memorial- 
ized Congress  to  organize  Huron  Territory  with  Ga'.ena  for  its 
capital.  The  limits  indicated  were  the  British  possessions  for 
a  northern  boundary,  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  Lac  Trav- 
erse, Big  Stone  Lake,  and  a  line  to  the  Missouri  River,  and 
thence  easterly  to  the  Mississippi;  the  southern  boundary  a 
line  from  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan  westerly 
to  the  Mississippi;  the  eastern  boundary  through  the  center 
of  Lake  Michigan,  across  Michigan  Territory  to  Lake  Superior, 
comprising  what  is  now  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  the  north  half 
of  Iowa,  and  a  portion  of  Northern  Illinois. 

EVENTS  OP  1829. 

The  winter,  spring  and  summer  of  1829,  were  exceedingly 
dry.  For  ten  months  the  average  monthly  fall  of  rain  and 
snow  was  one  inch. 

On  Thursday,  the  lith  day  of  May,  the  steamboat  Jose- 
phine, from  St.  Louis,  reached  the  Stone  Cave,  (Carver's) 
when  her  machinery  broke,  but  after  a  delay  of  several  hours, 
at  10  o'clock  in  the  night,  reached  the  Fort,  and  among  her 
passengers  were  Capt.  Gale  and  family  and  a  Polish  Count. 

On  the  16th  of  May  the  Indians  engaged  in  a  ball  play  for 
the  gratification  of  the  Count  from  Poland,  and  others,  and 
then  the  steamboat  returned  to  Saint  Louis.  The  next  day 
ivas  Sunday,  and,  after  a  droug^it  of  more  than  forty  days, 
rain  fell. 

About  forty  of  Red  Wing's  band,  from  the  head  of  Lake 
Pepin,  called  upon  the  Agent,  and  said  that  since  the  death 
of  their  Chief,   old  Red  Wing,  they  had  not  been  able  to 


DOO   DANOB   AX  FORT  SNBIiLINO. 


905 


choose  another.  They  were  told  to  confer  with  each  other 
and  come  to  a  deciBion.  Upon  Monday  they  announced  that 
they  had  chosen  Wahcoata,  the  step-son  of  the  deceoied 
Chief. 

On  the  20th  of  May  there  was  a  peace  dance  by  about  one 
hundred  relatives  of  the  four  Sioux,  who  hud  been  delivered 
op  to  the  Ghippeways  in  1827,  and  shot  at  Fort  Snelling. 
The  dance  was  to  throw  off  their  mourning,  and  they  ate 
whatever  was  hung  up  on  a  stake.  One  uncooked  do^r  wus 
devoured,  each  dancer  coming  up  and  taking  a  bite.  Seven 
days  after,  twenty-two  bark  canoes,  tilled  with  Chippeways, 
from  Gull  Lake,  Sandy  Lake,  and  Rum  River  arrived,  and  B. 
F.  Baker,  then  trading  at  Gull  Lake.  On  Sunday,  the  last 
day  of  May,  the  Sioux  and  Ghippeways  danced  before  the 
Agent's  house.  Then  the  Sioux  went  over  to  the  Ghippe- 
ways' camp,  and  danced  before  their  lodges.  To  return  the 
complimedt,  the  next  day,  thirty  or  forty  Ghippeways  went 
up  to  Black  Dog\  the  Sioux  village,  on  the  Minnesota,  four 
miles  from  the  Fort,  and  danced,  and  the  next  day  they 
returned  to  their  homes,  having  made  an  agreement  by  which 
they  would  hunt  in  peace  upon  the  prairies  above  the  Sauk 
River. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  Little  Grow,  who  had  been  for  years 
the  Chief  of  the  Kaposia  band  of  Sioux,  dwelling  between 
Pig's  Eye  and  Red  Rock,  and  whose  name  was  placed  in  1805 
on  Pike's  Treaty,  visited  the  Fort,  and  thus  addressed  the 
Agent: 

(,  tITTLB  crow's  SPEECH. 

"My  Father!  I  rise  to  say  but  little  to  you  to-day.  Words 
reached  me  that  we  were  wanted,  but  we  did  not  know  for 
what  purpose,  whether  for  good  or  bad  news,  but  I  have  seen 
things  come  from  your  hands  which  opened  my  eyes,  and  I 
am  pleased. 

"I  can  say,  and  these  people  present  know  it-  that  there  was 
a  time  when  they  were  all  under  my  command,  but  you  see 
me  to-day  almost  alone,  my  band  being  scattered  in  every 
direction,  it  is  nuc  my  fault  that  it  is  so,  I  have  to  blame  some 
of  the  young  people  for  it. 

"We  made  peace  to  please  you,  but  if  we  are  badly  off,  we 


906 


HiBTOHT  OF  mmmoTA. 


must  blame  you  for  causing  as  to  gire  up  so  much  of  our 
lands  to  our  enemies.  We  were  better  off  before  the  whit* 
people  came  among  us,  but  now  they  are  here,  we  cannot  do 
without  your  assistance. 

^'  My  Fatherl  we  have  been  a  long  time  acquainted  with 
each  other,  and  you  know  how  the  hearts  of  my  children  are 
placed;  for  my  part  I  am  getting  old,  and  the  day  is  at  hand 
when  I  must  follow  all  the  old  people  in  the  grave,  but  after 
ray  death  my  people  will  speak  of  me  and  my  counsels,  and 
you  will  know  that  they  have  been  good,  for  since  the  last  war 
f  1812-1816],  1  have  listened  to  the  Americans,  and  have  no 
cause  to  repent  having  followed  their  advice. 

"  My  Father!  we  never  wish  to  lose  you  for  no  matter  what 
man  we  get,  he  can  never  please  us  as  well  as  you  have  done. 
You  know  us  and  our  ways.  I  speak  my  sentiments,  and 
mine  are  the  same  with  all  my  nation.  We  have  been  left 
destitute  by  our  trader  taking  away  all  our  guns  which  we  got 
on  credit  from  him  last  winter.  But  you  have  given  us  pow- 
der, lead  and  tobacco  with  which  we  are  much  pleased,  as  it 
will  enable  us  to  live  some  time  yet. 

'*  My  Fatherl  a  few  more  words  and  1  have  done.  I  was  the 
first  man  to  take  thirty  of  my  men  and  visit  your  people  after 
the  war.  I  returned  home,  and  then  made  one  more  trip  to 
visit  the  British,  but  have  not  done  the  same  thing  since  you 
came  among  us,  ten  years  ago." 

BOHOOL  AT  LAKE  OALHOUH. 

On  August  15th.  1829,  agent  Taliaferro  established  an 
Indian  agricultural  school  at  Lake  Calhoun,  which  he  named 
Eatonville,  after  the  then  Secretary  of  War.  Early  in  Sep-r 
tember.  Revs.  Alvan  Coe  and  J.  D.  Stevens,  two  Presbyterian 
missionaries,  visited  the  fort.  In  the  agent's  journal  is  the 
following  entry:  "The  Rev.  Mr.  Coe  and  Stevens  reported  to 
be  on  their  way  to  this  fort,  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  looking  out  for  suitable  places  to  make  missionary 
establishments  for  the  Sioux  and  Chippeways,  found  schools,.; 
and  instruct  in  the  arts  and  agriculture." 

The  agent,  though  not  at  that  time  a  communicant  of  thfrj 
church,  welcomed  these  visitors,    and  afforded  them  eveiy 


niKSBTrSRIAK  MI88IOHARII8. 


907 


facility  in  Tiaiting  the  Indians.  On  Sanday,  the  6th  of  Sep« 
tember,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Coe  preached  twice  at  the  fort,  and  the 
next  night  held  a  prayer>meeting  at  the  quarters  of  the  com- 
manding officer.  On  the  next  Sv.nday  he  preached  againi 
and  on  the  14th,  with  Mr.  Stevens  and  a  hired  guide,  returned 
to  Mackinaw  by  way  of  the  St.  Croix  river.  During  this  visit 
the  agent  offered  for  a  Presbyterian  mission  the  mill  which 
then  stood  on  the  site  of  Minneapolis,  and  had  been  erected 
by  the  soldiers,  as  well  as  a  farm  at  Lake  Calhoun,  which  had 
been  established  for  the  benefit  of  the  Dakotahs. 

On  the  8th  of  September  he  addressed  the  following  letter 
to  the  Rev.  Joshua  T.  Russell,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Missions  of  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa: 

"  Rbv.  Sib:  It  having  been  represented  to  me  by  the  Rev. 
Alvan  Coe,  that  it  is  very  desirable  on  the  part  of  the  Board 
of  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  form  an  establish- 
ment at  this  post,  and  also  within  the  heart  of  the  Cbippeway 
eountry  bordering  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  for  the  purposes 
of  agriculture,  schools,  and  the  development  of  the  light  and 
truths  of  the  Christian  religion  to  the  unhappy  i^origines  of 
this  vast  wilderness. 

*'  As  my  views  fully  accord  in  every  material  point  with 
those  of  Messrs.  Coe  and  Stevens,  I  can  in  truth  assure  the 
Board  through  you,  sir,  of  my  determination  heartily  to  co-^ 
operate  with  them  in  any  and  every  measure  that  may  be 
calculated  to  insure  success  in  the  highly  interesting  and 
important  objects  to  which  the  attention  of  the  society  has 
been  so  happily  directed. 

*' Should  the  Society  form  a  missionary  establishment  on 
the  waters  of  the  Saint  Croix,  some  of  which  communicate 
with  Rum  River  of  the  Mississippi,  and  a  special  Agent  or 
sub- Agent,  the  influence  of  whom  might  be  necessary  to  the 
more  efficient  operations  of  the  missionary  families  there 
located,  i  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  Qovernment  would  be 
willing  to  appoint  one  for  the  special  duty,  if  requested  by 
the  Society,  accompanied  by  explanatory  views  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

"As  to  an  establishment  for  the  Sioux  of  this  Agency,  it 
would  be  in  the  power  of  the  Society  to  commencit  opera* 


DOS 


HUTORT  OF  VINKWOTi.. 


tiotiH,  without  much  expense,  at  the  Palls  of  Saint  Anthony, 
where  there  is  a  good  gribt  and  saw-mill,  with  suitable  build 
ings,  at  present  going  into  decay  for  the  want  of  occupuntii. 
'  1  would  cheerfully  turn  over  my  present  iiifant  colony  oi 
agriculturists,  together  with  their  implenitnt'S  and  horses* 
etc.,  to  such  an  establishment." 

A  nRIDAL  TOUR. 

This  month  the  Surgeon  of  the  Fort,  Dr.  \l.  C.  Wood, 
m^.de  a  visit  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  in  a  few  weeks  returned 
iu  an  open  boat,  with  a  youthful  bride  by  his  side,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Col.  Zachary  Taylor,  then  in  command  at  Fort 
Crawford.  How  wonderful  the  changes  of  a  generation!  Col. 
Taylor  became  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  died 
during  angry  controversies  in  Congress,  relative  to  the  exten- 
'ijon  of  slavery.  Dr.  E.  C.  Wood,  his  son-in-law,  lived  to  see 
the  rebellion  of  the  Slave  States,  and  to  act  as  AH<>iHtHnt  Sur- 
geon General  of  the  United  Slat«^s  Army;  while  auotlier  son- 
in-law,  Jefferson  Davis,  l^ecame  the  President  of  the  Insurgent 
States,  and  a  grandson,  John  Wood,  commander  ot  one  of  its 
privateers,  the  Talahassee. 

BVKNTS  OF   A.  D.    1830. 

In  the  year  1830  Col.  Taylor  was  one  of  the  commissioners 
appointed  to  bold  a  treaty  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  but  for  some 
reason  the  traders  threw  obstacles  in  the  way,  which  called 
forth  a  letter  from  '^  Old  Zach,"  as  the  soldiers  and  citizens 
called  him,  in  which  were  these  words:  "  Take  the  American 
Fur  Company  in  the  aggregate,  and  they  are  the  greatest 
scoundrels  the  world  ever  knew." 

This  year  there  were  so  many  drunken  and  licentious  In- 
dians lounging  around  the  fort  that  the  following  order  was 
issued: 

"Headquarters  Fort  Snellxng.  Junk  17, 1830. 
"  The  commanding  officer  has  within  a  few  mornings  past, 
discovered  Indian  women  leaving  the  garrison  immediately 
after  reveille.  The  practice  of  admitting  Indians  into  the 
fort  to  remain  during  the  night  is  strictly  prohibited.  No 
officer  will  hereafter  pafis  any  Indian  or  Indians  into  thn  crar- 


INDIANS  nCLUDKD  FROM  FOBT. 


MO 


rison  wtlLoul  upecial  permission  from  the  commanding  officer. 

It  is  made  the  duty  of  the  officer  of  the  day  to  Mat  that  this 

order  ia  strictly  enforced. 

••  By  ord.T  «>f  Capt.  GALE. 

■     •'  E.  R.  WirjjAMB,  Lt.  and  A.ljt," 

The  following  day  Captain  Gale  received  the  following  let- 
ter from  Major  Taliaferro: 

'  "Aqekoy  House,  St.  Petru,  June  18,  1830. 

''Sir:  Since  my  request  to  you  of  yesterday  to  co-operate 
with  me  in  endeavoring  to  counteract  the  view  of  the  traders 
near  this  post,  by  excluding  all  Indians  from  the  fort,  1  have 
become  more  fully  acquainted  with  other  facts  cf  a  nature 
calculated  to  ensure  their  success  in  preventing  the  Indians 
from  attending  the  contemplated  treaty  at  Prairie  du  Chiem 
this  summer.  Penetion's  [Pinch  an's]  band  yewterday  received 
by  the  hand  of  one  of  his  nephews,  a  keg  of  whinkey,  and  this 
same  band  has  been  kept  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
traders  in  a  state  of  continual  drunkenness  for  some  time  past. 

"No  man  can  be  made  better  acquainted  with  these  facts 
than  myself.  I  shall  place  Mr.  Faribault's  bond  in  suit,  as 
also  Mr.  Gulbertson's,  the  moment  it  becomes  fairly  developed 
as  to  the  course  which  has  been  pursued  by  them,  respectively. 
I  have  sent  confidential  persons  to  all  the  villages,  'io  see  how 
the  Indians  get  the  whiskey,  and  from  whom,  and  what  num- 
ber are  found  drunk  in  each. 

"  I  have  again  to  request  that  no  Indians  be  permitted  to 
enter  the  fort  for  the  purposes  of  trade,  as  they  have  done  for 
some  time  past;  for  they  become  insolent,  lazy,  and  begin  to 
attempt  to  take  a  stand  independent  of  me,  consequently  no- 
thing short  of  their  entire  exclusion  from  the  fort  will  eflFect- 
ually  correct  the  evil  complained  of. 

"Mr.  Campbell  has  just  returned  from  his  expedition  to  the 
several  bands  of  the  Sioux.  On  his  passage  through  their 
country,  upon  leaving  my  message,  they  w^re  willing  to  at- 
tend the  treaty,  but  on  his  return  all  that  he  saw,  refused  to 
accompany  him  to  this  place,  on  the  ground  that  an  Indian 
messenger  had  passed  just  after  him,  stating  that  the  Sioux 
ought  not  to  go  down  to  the  Prairie,  for  if  they  did  they  would 


«10 


HIBTOBY  09  MUTKESOIA. 


be  turned  over  to  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  by  the  white  people. 

"This  report  naturally  caused  the  whole  of  the  band  to  dis- 
perse, their  chiefs  setting  the  example.  Asrain,  others  state 
as  they  can  get  plenty  of  whiskey  from  their  traders  and  a 
little  tobacco,  thut  they  had  no  occasion  to  go  anywhere,  and 
would  not  go;  so  that  in  the  brief  space  of  nine  months  my 
influence  with  most  of  the  bands  has  been  greatly  impaired  in 
consequence  of  the  quantities  of  whiskey  which  have  been  given 
them  by  the  traders.  Consequently  the  humane  policy  of  the 
Government  in  regard  to  these  deluded  people  has  thus  un- 
happily been  interfered  with,  and  this  too  at  a  time  when  it 
was  all  important  for  them  to  have  accepted  of  its  munificence 
and  mediation. 

The  disappointment  and  embarrassment  which  will  be 
<saused  the  Commissioners  by  the  refusal  of  the  Sioux  to  at- 
tend, may  be  more  easily  imagined  than  described,  as  the  treaty 
cannot  well  go  on  without  them,  they  being  mainly  concerned. 
J  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 
.ss*?|4u«  '■.«^'flwi>  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

LAW.  TALIAFERRO, 
Indian  Agent  at  St.  Peter. 

Capt.  J,  H.  Gale,  1st  Inf'try,  Com'dg  Fort  SnelUng. 

SIOXTX  ATTACK. 

rnrin^  the  summer  of  183C,  while  the  Indian  Agent  was  at 
Pruirie  du  Chien,  a  nephew  of  Little  Crow  with  fifteen  or 
twenty  of  the  Kaposia  Sioux,  went  to  the  St.  Croix  River 
and  killed  Cadotte,  a  half-breed,  and  three  or  four  Chippewas. 

Before  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  August,  a 
soldier  on  sentinel  duty  discovered  the  Indian  council  house  on 
fire  and  gave  the  alarm,  but  it  was  entirely  consumed.  The 
afternoon  before  some  drunken  Indians  came  over  trom  Alexis 
Bailly's  trading  house  and  used  abusive  language.  On  the 
11th  of  September,  an  Indian  relative  of  Mrs.  Faribault  came 
to  the  Agent,  and  voluntarily  informed  him  that  hia  uncle,  a 
Bon-in-law  of  Wapashah,  was  the  incendiary. 

This  year  the  agricultural  colony  of  Sioux  at  Lake  Calhoun, 
known  as  Entonville,  was  under  the  charge  of  Philander 
Prescott. 


ICABBIAOBS  AT  FORT  SKELLINa. 


ni 


EVBXT8  OP  A.  D.  1831. 

On  the  35th  of  .Tirly,  1831,  twenty  persons  from  Selkirk's 
Settlement  came  down  to  the  Fort,  having  been  erroneously 
informed  that  the  United  States  would  give  them  land  in  the 
Ticinity,  and  also  farming  implements. 

About  the  same  time,  forty  Sauks  passed  into  the  Sioux 
country,  between  the  headwaters  of  the  Gannon  and  Blue 
Earth  Rivers,  and  killed  several  Sioux  at  a  place  called  Cinta- 
gali,  or  Grey  Tail,  not  far  from  where  in  1822  and  1823  the 
Sauks  and  Sisseton  Sioux  had  fought. 

Dablam,  Brisbois,  and  Joseph  R.  Brown  on  the  IStfa  of 
September,  came  by  land  from  Prairie  da  Ghien,  an  unusual 
journey  at  that  time. 

EYBKTS  OF  A.  D.  1832. 

The  first  steamboat  that  arrived  at  the  Fort  in  the  year  1882 
was  on  the  12th  of  May,  and  the  boat  was  the  Versailles;  on 
the  27th  of  June  came  the  Enterprise. 

On  the  16th  of  June,  William  Carr  and  three  drovers  reached 
the  north  side  of  the  Minnesota  with  six  horses  and  eighty 
head  of  cattle  for  the  use  of  the  garrison. 

On  the  last  day  of  July  a  train  of  immigrants  arrived  from 
Red  River  with  fifty  or  sixty  cows  and  oxen  and  twenty  or 
twenty-five  horses.  Includmg  these,  four  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  persons  from  Selkirk  Settlement  had  arrived  since  1821, 
At  the  fort.  A  few,  Abraham  Perry  and  others,  became  farm- 
ers in  the  vicinity,  while  the  majority  went  to  Illinois  and 
Indiana. 

PERSONS  UKITED   XN  MARRIAGE  BT  INDIAN  AGENT, 

On  the  29th  of  July  Agent  Taliaferro  married  Sophia  Perry 
to  i»  Mr.  Godfrey.  Among  other  marriages  at  which  the 
Indian  agent  oflSciated,  was  on  July  3d,  1835,  Hippolite  Pro- 
vost and  Margaret  Brunell.  In  February,  1836,  Charles 
Mosseau  was  married  to  Fanny,  the  daughter  of  Abraham 
Perry,  a  Swiss  emigrant  who  ca.ae  from  the  Hudson  Bay 
territory  in  1827,  and  settled  at  first  between  the  fort  and  Min- 
nehaha, and  afterwards,  when  the  military  reservation  was 
'defined,  built  alo,^  house  in  what  is  now  a  suburb  of  St.  Paul. 


912 


HISTORY  OP  MWNESOTA. 


The  mother  of  the  bride  waa  an  accomplished  accoucheur,  and 
was  a  favorite  with  the  officers'  wives,  and  by  her  skill  put 
many  an  army  surgeon  to  the  blush,  although  they  were  not 
jealous  of  her  attainmerts. 

On  September  12th,  1836,  at  the  house  of  Oliver  Crattet 
near  the  fort,  James  Wells,  who  subsequently  was  a  member 
of  the  Territorial  Legislature  and  was  killed  in  the  late  ir^ioux 
massacre,  was  married  to  Jane,  daughter  of  Duncan  Graham, 
and  on  the  29th  of  November,  at  the  quarters  of  Captain 
Barker,  Alpheus  R.  French,  the  early  saddler  of  St.  Paul,  was 
married  to  Mary  Henry. 

-**»««*        SLAVES  AT   FORT  SKELLINO.  ■'^*^m*^- 

Among  the  few  slaves  brought  within  the  limits  of  Minne- 
sota, several  belonged  to  M<ijor  Taliaferro.  The  Indians  at 
that  time  had  no  prejudice  against  those  of  African  descent, 
and  welcomed  them  to  their  lodges  with  the  same  courtesy  as 
white  persons.  The  wooly  head  they  looked  upon  as  "wakan," 
and  designated  them  as  "black  Frenchmen."  Some  would 
put  their  hands  upon  the  coarse  curly  hair  of  the  negro,  and 
then  laugh.  As  early  as  March,  1826,  Taliaferro  hired  his 
black  boy  William  to  Goionel  Suelling,  and  under  date  of  the 
26th  of  May,  of  the  same  year,  we  find  in  his  journal  this 
entry:  " Captain  Plympton  wishes  to  purchase  my  servant 
girl,  I  informed  him  that  it  waa  my  intention  to  give  her 
freedom  after  a  limited  time,  but  that  Mrs.  Plympton  could 
keep  her  for  two  years  or  perhaps  three." 

DBBD   SCOTT. 

In  1836  Dred  Scott,  whoso  name  has  become  historic,  came 
to  Fort  Snelling  with  his  master.  Surgeon  Emerson,  and  fell 
in  love  with  Taliaferro's  slave  girl  Harriet,  and  in  due  time 
the  marriage  agreement  was  made  in  the  Major's  presence, 
and  was  duly  certified  by  him  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

The  decision  of  the  conscientious  and  pure-minded  Chief 
Justice  Taney,  relative  to  the  rights  of  Dred  Scott  as  a  citi- 
zen, led  to  acrimonial  discussions  between  the  friends  of  free- 
dom and  slavery,  and  was  one  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the 
fratricidal  war  which  wiped  out  with  much  precious  blood  the 


THE   DBED  SCOTT  0A81. 


»19 


"Bttble  spot"  upon  the  escutcheon  of  the  Republic,  to  which 
Moore  in  one  of  hia  poems  tauntingly  alludes. 

The  statement  or  the  case  upon  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  as  agreed  upon  by  the  counsel,  was  that  "  The  plain- 
tiff was  a  negro  slave  belonging  to  Dr.  Emerson,  who  was  a 
Burgeon  in  the  army  of  the  United  States.  In  the  year  1834, 
he  took  the  plaintiff  from  the  State  of  Missouri,  to  the  mili- 
tary post  at  Rock  Island,  and  held  him  there  as  a  slave  until 
the  month  of  May,  1836. 

"  At  the  last  mentioned  time,  said  Dr.  Emerson,  removed 
the  plaintiff  from  said  military  post  at  Rock  Island,  to  the 
military  post  at  Fort  Snelling,  situated  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  in  the  territory  known  as  Upper  Louis- 
iana, acquired  by  the  United  States  of  France,  and  situated 
north  of  latitude  36  deg,  30  min,  north  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
Bouri. 

"Said  Dr.  Eraerson  held  the  plaintiff  in  slavery  at  said 
Fort  Snelling  from  the  said  last  mentioned  date  until  the 
year  1838. 

"  In  the  year  1835,  Harriet,  who  is  named  in  the  said  com- 
plaint of  the  plaintiff's  declaration,  was  the  negro  slave  of 
Major  Taliaferro,  who  belonged  to  the  Army  of  the  United 
States.  In  the  year  1835,  said  Major  Taliaferro  took  said 
Harriet  to  the  said  Fort  Snelling,  a  military  post,  situated  as 
before  stated,  kept  her  there  as  a  slave  until  the  year  1836, 
then  sold  and  delivered  her  as  a  slave  at  said  Fort  Snelling, 
unto  said  Dr.  Emerson  herein  before  named.  Said  Dr.  Em- 
erson held  said  Harriet  in  slavery  at  Fort  Snelling  until  the 
year  1838. 

"  In  the  year  1836,  plaintiff  and  Harriet  inter-married  at 
Fort  Snelling,  with  the  consent  of  Dr.  Emerson,  who  then 
claimed  to  be  their  master  and  owner,  Eliza  and  Lizzie, 
named  in  the  third  count  of  the  plaintiff's  declaration,  arf 
the  fruits  of  the  marriage.  Eliza  is  about  fourteen  years  old, 
and  was  born  on  board  the  steamboat  Gipsy,  north  of  the 
boundary  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  upon  the  River  Mjp- 
sissippi.  Lizzie  is  also  seven  years  old,  and  was  bom  in  the 
State  of  Missouri,  at  the  military  post  called  Jefferson  Bac> 
racks.  58 


914 


HI8T0RT  OF  MINNESOTA. 


"  In  the  year  1838,  said  Dr  Emerson  removed  the  plaintiff 
and  Harriet  and  daughter  Eliza  from  said  Fort  Snelliug  to 
the  State  of  Missouri,  where  they  have  ever  since  resided." 

Both  the  Counsel  and  Judges  were  in  error  in  declaring 
that  Major  Taliaferro  "  belonged  to  the  Army  of  the  United 
States,"  as  in  1819  his  resignation  had  been  accepted,  a  gen- 
eration before  the  declaration  was  made. 

WIDOW  OF  ALEXANDBR  HAMILTON. 

On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  Juno,  A.  D.  1838,  the 
steamer  Burlington  arrived  for  the  third  time  since  the  open- 
ing of  navigation,  at  the  niouth  of  the  Minnesota,  with  about 
150  soldiers  for  Fort  Snelling,  and  a  few  tourists.  Among 
these  was  a  venerable  woman  who  was  the  daughter  of  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  New  York.  During  the 
winter  of  1780,  she  was  with  her  father,  who  was  General 
Philip  Schuyler,  at  Washington's  headquarters,  Morristown, 
N.  J.,  and  there  she  charmed,  and,  at  the  age  of  22,  married, 
Washingtons  favorite  aide  and  military  secretary,  the  then 
young  Alexander  Hamilton.  After  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, her  husband  was  active  in  framing  the  United  States 
Constitution,  and  appointed  by  Washington  the  first  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury.  In  July,  1804,  as  every  one  knows,  he 
fell  in  a  duel  with  Aaron  Burr. 

His  widow  received  the  sympathy  of  the  Nation,  and  as 
she  advanced  in  years  she  appeared  to  renew  her  youth.  She 
came  West  in  1838,  to  visit  her  son,  W.  S.  Hamilton,  en- 
gaged in  the  lead  mines  of  Wisconsin,  and  afterwards  at 
Galena  she  embarked  for  a  tour  to  the  Upper  Mississippi. 

A  lady  who  entertained  her,  wrote:  ''Pleasant  and  unaf- 
fected, she  stands  among  my  dearest  recollections.  She  bore 
her  age  with  graceful  dignity,  and  was  remarkably  active. 
Every  morning  before  breakfast,  she  would,  unattended,  take 
a  long  walk  in  search  of  wild  flowers." 

It  was  sunrise  when  the  Burlington  reached  Fort  Snelling, 
and  at  8  o'clock  the  officers  of  the  fort  came  to  pay  their  re- 
spects to  one  who  had  been  a  belle  at  Washington's  head- 
quarters. At  9  in  the  morning  a  carriage  was  sent  to  take  her 
to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  about  4  in  the  afternoon  she 


A  BEMABKABLE  WOMAN. 


915 


returned.and  was  received  at  the  gate  of  the  fort  by  the  oflScers. 
Leaning  upon  the  commandant's  arm,  she  was  escorted  to  a 
chair  upon  a  carpet,  spread  in  the  center  of  the  campus,  and 
then  the  troops  under  arms  marched  by  and  saluted.  After 
this  she  was  taken  to  headquarters  and  entertained.  The  same 
night  she  left  in  the  steamboat  ior  Galena. 

Subsequently  she  resided  with  a  married  daughter  in  Wash- 
ington, and  for  years  she  charmed  those  who  met  her  by  the 
grace  and  simplicity  of  her  manner. 

She  lived  in  that  city  near  the  residence  of  Alexander  Ram- 
sey when  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  very  attentive  to  his  wife  when  she 
came  to  Washington  a  bride,  She  was  permitted  to  see  the 
Territory  of  Minnesota  organized  from  the  region  she  had 
visited  when  hundreds  of  miles  beyond  the  limits  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  Alexander  Ramsey  appointed  its  first  governor. 
She  died  on  November  9, 1854,  at  the  ripe  age  of  97  years 
and  three  months. 

WHISKY  IN  1839. 

Whisky,  during  the  year  1839,  was  freely  introduced,  in 
face  of  the  law  prohibiting  it.  The  first  boat  ot  the  season, 
the  Ariel,  came  to  the  fort  on  the  14th  of  April,  and  brought 
twenty  barrels  of  whisky  for  Joseph  R.  Brown,  and  on  the 
21st  of  May,  the  Glaucus  brought  six  barrels  of  liquor  for 
David  Faribault.  On  the  30th  of  June,  some  soldiers  went 
to  Joseph  R.  Brown's  groggery  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  that  night  forty-seven  were  in  the  guard- 
house for  drunkenness.  The  demoralization  then  existing, 
led  to  a  letter  by  Surgeon  Emerson,  on  duty  at  the  fort,  to 
the  Surgeon  General  of  the  United  States  army,  in  which  he 
writes: 

"  The  whiskey  is  brought  here  by  citizens  who  are  pouring 
in  upon  us  and  settling  themselves  on  the  opposite  shore  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  in  defiance  of  our  worthy  commanding 
ofiBcer,  Major  J.  Plympton,  whose  authority  they  set  at  naught. 
At  this  moment  there  is  a  citizen  named  Brown,  once  a  soldiei 
in  the  Fifth  Infantry,  who  was  discharged  at  this  post,  whil« 
Colonel  Snelling  commanded,  and  who  has  been  since  em- 
ployed by  the  American  Fur  Company,  actually  building  on 


die 


HISTORY  OF  HINmSSOTA. 


the  land  marked  out  by  the  land  officers  as  the  reserve,  and 
within  gunshot  distance  of  the  fort,  a  very  expensive  whiskey 
shop." 

On  the  8th  of  September,  some  Sioux  Indians  crossed  over 
to  the  east  side  of  the,  Mississippi ,  and  destroyed  the  groggery 
owned  by  Joseph  R.  Brown,  Henry  C.  Menk,  a  foreigner,  and 
Anderson,  a  quarter-breed  Sioux. 

The  owners  wrongfully  suspected  the  Indian  Agent  of  in- 
citing the  Sioux  to  the  act  and  sought  revenge.  Menk,  by 
false  statements,  although  an  alien,  succeeded  in  obtaining  an 
appointment  as  special  deputy  sheriff  of  Clayton  County,  Iowa, 
and  went  and  arrested  Major  Taliaferro,  while  sick,  at  the  in- 
stance of  one  of  his  low  companions,  named  Chirt,  on  the 
false  charge  of  aiding  in  destroying  the  whisky  cabin. 

The  barefaced  scamp  surprised  the  agent  in  his  morning 
gown,  threw  him  on  the  floor,  placed  his  knee  on  his  stomach 
and  a  pistol  at  his  ear.  As  soon  as  the  commandant  of  the 
fort  heard  of  the  outrage  by  Menk,  who  was  not  only  an  alien 
but  an  intruder  on  the  military  reserve,  he  ordered  him  to 
leave  the  country. 

FIRST  WOOL  MANUFAOTTJRED. 

The  first  manufacture  of  wool  in  Minnesota  was  at  the 
Presbyterian  Mission  at  Lac  qui  Parle.  The  wife  of  A.  G. 
Huggins,  an  assistant  missionary,  taught  the  Sioux  girls  to 
twist  flax  and  wool,  and  in  the  fall  of  1838,  to  knit  socks. 
The  next  year  Mr  Huggius  put  up  a  loom,  and  two  Sioux 
women  and  two  girls,  each  wove  enough  linsey  to  make  a 
gown. 

THE  FIRST  CHURCH  BELL  IN  MINNESOTA. 

In  the  summer  of  1841,  Dr.  Williamson  and  Rev.  S.  R. 
Riggs,  Presbyterian  missionaries  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  built  a 
church  of  unburnt  brick,  which  stood  for  thirteen  years.  It 
contained  the  flrst  bell  ever  used  in  Minnesota. 

FIRST  FRAME  HOUSE  ABOVE  FORT  8NELLIN0. 

In  the  fall  of  184:6,  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Pond  was  invited  by 
the  Indian  Agent  and  the  chief  Shakpay,  to  reside  at  his  vil- 
lage, where  Oliver  Faribault  was  then  trader.  Mr.  Pond  ac- 
cepted the  request,  and  went  down  to  Point  Douglas  a)id 


SUILEBS  OF  FOBT  SN£LUNQ. 


917 


purchwtd  lumber.  His  brother  Gideon  afterwards  brought 
up  on  the  ice.  with  the  aid  of  oxen,  the  timbers  for  the  Irame 
ot  a  house.  Then,  with  four  yoke  of  oxen,  Samuel  again  went 
alter  4,000  feet  of  boards.  Upon  his  return,  near  Grey  Cioud 
Island,  the  animals  slipped,  fell,  and  broke  through  the  ice. 
Relieved  of  their  yokes  by  Mr.  Pond,  they  scrambled  out,  and 
the  harness  having  been  rearranged,  the  lumber  reached  Fort 
Snelling.  At  this  point  the  frame  of  the  house  was  made, 
and,  in  the  spring  of  1847,  transported  to  Shakpay's  village; 
and  Mr.  Pond  lives  in  it  to  this  day,  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
white  man's  town  of  Shakopee. 

A  MARCH  OK  THE  lOE. 

The  order  for  the  troops  at  Fort  Snelling  to  proceed  to  the 
seat  of  war  in  Mexico,  came  while  the  Mississippi  was  frozen, 
and  as  there  were  no  roads  out  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  they 
marched  down  on  the  ice,  which  was  probably  the  longest 
march  of  the  kind  in  themilitaryhistory  of  the  United  States. 

SUILERS  AT  FORT  SNELLING. 

Among  the  earliest  sutlers  was  Leonard,  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont. In  1806  he  was  a  cadet  at  West  Point  and  became 
an  officer  in  the  Light  Artillery.  He  had  as  Captain  distin- 
guished himself  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  1812-1815. 
There  was  disbanding  in  1821  of  the  Light  Artillery,  and  in 
July  of  the  same  year  was  appointed  Sutler  to  the  Fifth  In- 
fantry, and  stationed  at  Fort  St.  Anthony,  now  Snelling.  He 
is  said  to  have  lost  an  eye  in  a  duel  with  Lieut.  J.  M.  Baxley. 
In  1845  he  became  a  Military  Storekeeper,  and  in  1861  was 
retired.    On  February  11,  1865  he  died. 

JOHN  CULBERTSON. 

John  Culbertson,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  who  was  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  had  risen  to  a  captaincy 
in  the  Third  Infantry,  was  in  August,  1821,  made  a  sutler  in 
the  army,  and  was  from  December,  1828,  to  1832  at  Fort 
Snelling. 

SAHCTEL  C.  STAMBAUOH. 

Samuel  C.  Starabaugh,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  sutler  at  the 
time  of  the  treaties  of  1837.  He  came  to  Green  Bay,  Wis- 
consin, in  1829,  to  act  as  Indian  Agent,  and  in  November, 


918 


HIBTORT  09  MINNBSOTA. 


1830,  went  to  Washington  with  a  delegation  of  Menomonees. 
There,  with  Major  John  H.  Eaton,  Secretary  of  War,  he  made 
a  treaty  with  this  tribe,  but  it  waa  not  ratified,  and  the  Senate 
rejected  his  nomination.  After  the  Black  Hawlc  war  he  came 
to  Fort  Snelling.  He  was  one  of  the  first  in  1837  to  make  a 
claim  upon  Lake  St.  Croix,  and  laid  out  a  town  called  Stam- 
baughville. 

FRANKLIN  STEELE. 

He  was  ancceecled  by  Franklin  Steele,  of  whom  a  notice  will 
be  found  on  page  5U0  of  this  History.  At  the  time  of  hi» 
death,  in  September,  1880,  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  American  History  of  tlie  Minnesota  Historical  Society. 
From  a  memorial  read  at  the  next  monthly  meeting  of  this 
section  of  the  Society  after  his  death  the  following  paragraphs 
are  extracted: 

"Franklin  Steele  was  the  fourth  son  of  James  Steele,  In- 
spector General  of  Penn8ylvania  during  the  last  war  with 
Great  Britain,  and  was  born  in  1813  at  his  father's  residence 
near  the  western  boundary  of  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania. 

*  *  •  In  April,  1843,  he  was  married  in  Baltimore,  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Wyatt.  to  Anna,  daughter  of  W.  C.  Barney,  and 
grandchild  of  Commodore  Barney  of  the  United  States  Navy, 
and  also  by  her  mother,  of  Samuel  Chase,  one  of  the  Maryland 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  With  his  bride 
he  came  to  Fort  Snelling  when  it  was  surrounded  by  Indians, 
and  in  his  wilderness  home  he  always  exhibited  a  generous 
hospitality.    *    ♦    * 

"Unobtrusiveness  was  a  marked  charactei  istic  of  onr  late 
associate.  His  voice  was  not  heard  in  the  streets.  Persons 
would  associate  with  him  for  months  in  the  midst  of  this  city 
[Minneapolis],  and  would  never  think  he  had  a  right  to  say, 
^Quorum  magna  parsfui.^  A  gentleman  by  instinct,  he  av sided 
topics  and  allusions  which  would  be  painful  to  those  with 
whom  ho  conversed,  •  *  *  He  did  not  soil  his. mouth 
with  coarse,  profane,  or  indecent  utterances.  The  slang  of 
the  roaring  fellows  in  a  loggers'  camp  or  at  a  military  camp, 
to  him  hnd  no  attractions.  *  *  The  subject  of  our  sketch  was 
excelled  by  few  in  the  symmetry  of  his  physical  developm^nu 
As  a  young  man  his  presence  waa  noticeable- 


DEATH  OF  FBANKLIH  SXEELK. 


M 


"  An  old  array  officer  saw  him  conversing  with  a  .voiing  lady 
at  a  party  given  by  a  member  of  Congress  in  WiLshington, 
asked  his  name,  and  when  told  that  he  was  from  what  was 
then  called  Iowa  Territory,  replied,  'No  matter  where  he  re- 
sides, God  never  made  a  finer  form.'  *  *  *  At  our  meet- 
ing in  September  [1880]  no  one  could  have  looked  upon  his 
clear  cut  features,  his  fine  expression,  his  manly,  erect  and 
matured  form  without  feeling  that  'Death  found  strange  beauty 
on  that  polished  brow  and  dashed  it  out'' " 


APPENDIX  M.— PAGE  328. 

MURDERERS  OK  POUPON  AND  ANDREWS. 

The  following  letter,  never  before  published,  shows  the  pre- 
liminary steps  taken  to  secure  the  murderers. 

Indian  Agency,  St.  Peter's,  Oct.  1.  1820. 

To  His  Excellenci/,  Gov.  Wm.  Clark,  Sup'tof  Indian  Affairs, 
Sir: — I  beg  leave  to  say  to  your  Excellency  that  by  a  return 
party  from  the  Council  Bluffs  on  the  19th  of  last  month,  I  re- 
ceived a  communication  from  General  Atkinson,  commandant 
of  that  post,  on  the  subject  of  two  persons  being  killed,  viz: 
Isadore  Poupon,  a  half-breed,  and  Joseph  F.  Andrew,  a  Cana- 
dian of  the  Missouri  Pur  Company,  and  two  mules  and  three 
horses  were  taken  from  them,  aud  that  five  post  horses  were 
also  stolen,  supposed  by  the  Sussatongs  of  the  White  Rock 
on  the  river  St.  Peter. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  I  started  a  young  Indian  to  the 
villages  of  the  Sussatongs  aud  Wahpacotas,  to  invite  the 
chiefs  to  see  the  agent  at  this  post.  They  have  done  so  with- 
out suspecting  my  views.  The  council  was  held  yesterday,  in 
presence  of  Colonel  Snelling,  and  it  was  agreed  that  as  the 
prisoners  were  not  be  had,  we  would  detain  two  of  their  peace- 
ful young  men  as  hostages  for  a  speedy  delivery  of  the  mur- 
derers of  the  two  men  on  the  Missouri.  They  will  be  at  the 
fort,  perhaps,  in  fifteen  or  twenty  days.  They  were  not  well 
pleased  with  the  prompt  measures  adopted  towards  tb'  ai,  but 
left  us  without  doing  mischief. 


«ao 


Ul&TOBT  OW  HIKNESOTA. 


I  will  further  remark  that  they  (the  Suasatongs  and  Wah. 
pacotns)  acknowledge  that  a  party  from  each  band  had  been 
actually  concerned  and  killed  the  twojuen,  before  mentioned, 
but  they  deny  stealing  or  bringing  to  their  villages  more  than 
two  mules  and  one  horse.  One  of  the  mules  is  at  this  post, 
and  has  a  running  ulcer.  The  others  will  be  returned  in  all 
probability  when  the  murderers  are  delivered  up  to  Colonel 
Snelling  at  this  post. 

No  difficulties  have  occurred  within  the  limits  of  my  agency 
as  yet.     With  much  respect,  sir,  I  am 

Your  obedient  servant, 
LAW.  TALIAFERRO, 
/ .    : . : :  Indian  Agent,  St.  Peters,  Up.  Miss. 

APPENDIX  N.-PAGE  342. 

WILLIAM  JOSEPH  SKELLING. 

Life  within  the  walls  of  a  fort  is  sometimes  the  exact  con- 
trast of  a  paradise.  In  the  year  1826  a  Pandora  box  was 
opened,  among  the  officers,  and  dissensions  began  to  prevail. 
One  young  officer,  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  whose  father 
had  been  a  professor  in  Princeton  College,  challenged  the 
father  and  then  fought  with,  and  slightly  wounded,  Wil- 
liam Joseph,  the  talented  son  of  Col.  Snelling,  who 
was  then  twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  had  been  three 
years  at  West  Point.  At  a  court  martial  convened  to 
try  the  officer  for  violating  the  Articles  of  War,  the  accused 
objected  to  the  testimony  of  Lieut.  William  Alexander,  a 
Tennesseean,  not  a  graduate  of  the  Military  Academy,  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  an  infidel.  Alexander,  hurt  by  this  allu- 
sion,  challenged  the  objector,  and  another  duel  was  fought, 
resulting  only  in  slight  injuries  to  the  clothing  of  the  com- 
batants. InspectG.^  General  E.  P.  Gaines,  after  this  visited 
the  fort,  and  in  his  report  of  the  inspection,  he  wrote:  ''A 
defect  in  the  discipline  of  this  regiment  has  appeared  in  the 
character  of  certain  personal  controversies,  between  the  Col- 
onel and  several  of  his  young  officers,  the  particulars  of  which 


DUKLMKQ  AT   PORT  BNKLLIlfq. 


921 


I  forbear  to  enter  into,  assured  as  I  am  thai  Lhej  will  be  de- 
veloped in  the  proceedin^i^s  of  a  genera!  court  martial  ordered 
for  the  trial  of  Lieutenant  Uanter  and  other  officers  at  Jeifer- 
son  Barrack. 

"From  a  conversation  with  the  Colonel  I  can  have  no  doubt 
that  he  has  errdd  in  the  course  pursued  by  him  in  reference  to 
some  of  the  controversies,  inasmuch  as  he  has  intimated  to 
hii*  officers  his  willingneHs  to  sanction  in  certain  cases,  and 
even  to  participate  in  personal  conflicts,  contrmry  to  the  twen- 
ty-fifth Article  of  War." 

The  Colonel's  son,  William  Joseph,  after  thu  passed  several 
years  among  traders  and  Indians,  and  becaiue  distinguished 
as  a  poet  and  brilliant  author. 

A  portion  of  one  of  his  poems  is  on  the  fifliv -ninth  page. 

His  "Tales  of  the  Northwest,"  published  in  Boston  in  1830, 
by  Hilliard,  Gray,  Little  &  Wilkins,  is  a  work  of  great  literary 
ability,  and  Catlin  thought  the  book  was  the  most  faithful 
picture  of  Indian  life  he  had  read.  Some  of  his  poems  were 
also  of  a  high  order.  One  of  his  pieces,  deficinut  in  dignity, 
was  a  caustic  satire  upon  modern  American  poets,  and  waa 
published  under  the  title  of  "Truth,  a  Gift  for  Sftrihblers." 

Nathaniel  P.  Willis,  who  had  winced  under  ^  K'^te  the 
following  lampoon: 

"  Oh,  Smelling  Joseph!  Thou  art  like  a  cur, 

I'm  told  thou  once  did  live  by  hunting  fur: 

Of  bigger  dogs  thou  smellest,  and  in  sooth 

Of  one  extreme,  perhaps,  can  tell  the  truth; 

'Tis  wise  to  shift,  and  show  thou  know'st  thy  powers, 

To  leave  the  'North- West  Tales,"  and  take  to  smelling  >«rd. 

In  1832,  a  second  edition  of  "Truth"  appeared  with  addi- 
tions and  emendations.  In  this  appeared  the  following  pa^ 
quinade  upon  Willis: 


"I  live  by  hunting  fur,  thou  say'st,  so  let  it  be, 
But  tell  me.  Natty!  Had  I  hunted  thee. 
Had  not  my  time  been  thrown  away,  young  sir, 
And  eke  my  powder?    Puppies  have  no  fur. 


922  HISTOaT  OF  minnksota. 

"Our  tailsP    Thou  ownest  thee  to  a  tail, 
I've  acanned  the  o'er  and  o'er, 
But,  though  I  guessed  the  species  right, 
I  was  not  sure  before. 

Our  savages,  authentic  travelers  say,  • 

To  natural  fools,  religious  homas^e  pay, 

Hadat  thou  been  born  in  wigwam's  smoke,  and  died  In, 

Nat!  thine  apotheosis  had  been  certain." 

In  1831,  a  work  firom  his  pen  was  published  at  Boston,  with 
the  title  "A  Free  and  Impartial  History  of  the  Life  of  Andrew 
Jackson,  President  of  the  United  Slates.     By  a  Free  Man." 

Under  a  pseudonym  he  also  published  "Tales  of  Travel, 
West  of  the  Mississippi."  In  1834  he  was  editor  of  the  New 
England  Qalaxy,  and  was  severe  in  his  editorials  upon  certain 
gambling  houses,  and  the  drunkenness  of  a  Judge,  which  led 
to  his  trial  for  a  libel  of  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Whitmore,  Sr., 
Judge  of  the  Police  Court,  Boston.  Contributions  from  his 
pen  are  found  in  the  North  American  Review  for  the  years 
1831  and  1835,  and  in  the  Boston  Book  of  1837.  At  the  time 
of  his  death,  in  1848,  he  was  editor  of  the  Boston  Herald, 


APPENDIX  O.-PAGE  45b. 

TREATIB8  OF  1837  AND  CLAIMS  MADE. 

The  treaties  with  the  Chippeways  and  Sioux  in  1837  were 
of  great  importance. 

During  the  early  summer,  Charles  Vineyard,  a  sub-agent, 
was  sent  to  invite  the  Chippeways  to  a  council  at  Fort  Snell- 
ing,  with  U.  S.  Commissioners.  Twelve  hundred  were  assem- 
bled in  July.  The  American  Fur  Company  in  a  treaty  in 
1830,  at  Praire  du  Chien,  succeeded  in  having  inserted  for  the 
first  time  a  provision  by  which  an  Indian  tribe  would  be  held 
responsible  for  the  bad  debts  of  individuals  of  the  nation. 
The  treaty  with  the  Chippeways  was  concluded  on  the  29th 
of  July,  at  Fort  Snelling,  with  some  excitement.  Two  prom- 
inent traders  entered  the  Indian  Agent's  office,  in  apparent 


AM   IXOaBlTAlTT  OLAUI. 


haste,  and  anked  for  a  p<>n.  Soon  after  a  claim  was  presented 
to  the  Secretary  ot  the  Commissioners  for  $5,000  tor  mills  on 
Chippewa  llivt>r.  The  Indians  were  astonished  at  the  Irnud, 
but  one  Chief,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  was  willing  to  allow 
$500  for  that  which  had  been  erected  for  their  own  profit,  by 
white  men,  on  unceded  hind.  Hole-in-the-Day,  the  elder, 
however,  objected,  and  in  a  little  while,  a  band  of  Chippeways 
were  seen  marching,  under  the  guidance  of  an  old  trader, 
Lyman  M.  Warren,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  recogmtioa 
of  the  claim. 

As  they  pushed  into  the  trepty  arbor.  Major  Taliaferro,  a» 
Indian  Agent,  encouraged  by  Hole-iu-the-Day,  pointed  a 
pistol  at  Warren,  but  General  Dodge  begged  him  not  to  shoot. 
The  traders  by  persistance  gained  their  end,  and  the  treaty 
was  ratified  with  the  following  article  :  "  The  sum  of  $70,000 
shall  be  applied  to  the  payment,  by  the  United  States  of  cer- 
tain claims  against  the  Indians,  of  which  amount  $28,000,  at 
their  request,  shall  be  paid  to  William  A.  Aitkin  ;  $25,000  to 
Lyman  Warren,  and  other  just  demands  against  them,  which 
they  acknowledged  to  be  the  case,  with  regard  to  that  pre- 
sented by  Hercules  L.  Donsman,  for  the  sum  of  $5,000,  and 
they  request  that  it  be  paid." 

810UX  TREATY. 

The  treaty  with  the  Chippeways  being  concluded.  General 
Dodge  requested  the  Indian  Agent  to  select  a  delegation  of 
Sioux  and  proceed  to  Washington.  The  traders  attt-inpted 
to  prevent  th  departure  of  the  Sioux,  until  they  made  a 
promise  that  they  would  provide  for  the  indebtedness  of  indi- 
viduals to  traders. 

The  agent,  keeping  his  own  counsel,  engaged  a  steamboat 
to  be  ready  on  a  certain  day.  Captain  LafFerty  was  promptly 
at  Fort  Snelling,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  trader.*,  the 
agent,  interpreters,  and  a  portion  of  the  delegation  were 
quickly  on  board,  and  the  boat  glided  down  the  river.  Stop- 
ping at  Kaposia.  Big  Thunder  came  aboard  with  his  pipe 
bearer ;  at  Red  Wing,  Wahkoota  and  his  war  chief  became 
passengers  ;  and  at  Winona,  Wapashah  and  others  increased 
the  delegation  to  twenty -six.     Without  accident  they  reached 


924 


HISTORY  OF  HIKNESOTA. 


Washingtoa,  and  a  synopsis  of  a  treaty  was  presented  to 
Poinsett,  the  Secretary  of  War. 

The  Fur  Company  was  in  turn  represented  by  H,  H.  Sibley, 
Alexis  Bailly,  Joseph  Laframbois,  Augustus  Rocque,  Francis 
Labathe  and  others,  and  on  the  29th  of  September  a  treaty 
was  signed,  and  the  next  year  was  ratified  by  the  Senate  and 
appioved  by  the  President. 

The  Sioux  delogatioa  returned  by  way  of  St.  Louis,  and 
from  thence  they  came  on  the  steamboat  RoUo  to  Fort  Snell- 
ing.  On  the  way  one  of  the  boilers  collapsed,  but  fortunately 
no  one  was  scalded,  and  on  the  10th  of  Novembei',  1837,  the 
party  landed  in  safety.  ' 

CLAIMS   UPON  CEDED  LANDS. 

The  pine  forests  between  the  Saint  Croix  and  Minnesota 
had  been  for  several  years  a  temptation  •  energetic  men.  As 
early  as  November,  1836,  a  Mr.  Pitt  went  with  a  boat  and  a 
party  of  men  to  the  Falls  of  Saiut  Croix  to  cut  pine  timber 
with  the  consent  of  the  Chippeways,  but  the  dissent  of  the 
United  States  cuthoritie  . 

In  1837  while  the  treaty  was  being  made  by  Commissioners 
Dodge  and  Smith  at  Fort  Snelling.  on  one  Sunday  Franklin 
Steele,  Dr.  Fitch,  Jeremiah  Russell,  and  a  Mr.  Maginnis  left 
Fort  Snelling  for  the  Falls  of  Saint  Croix,  in  a  birch  bark 
canoe  paddled  by  eight  men,  and  reached  that  point  about 
noon  on  Monday  and  commenced  a  log  cabin.  Steele  and 
Maginnis  remained  here,  while  the  others,  dividing  into  two 
parties,  one  under  Fitch,  and  the  other  under  Russell,  searched 
for  pine  land.  The  first  stopped  at  Sun  Rise,  while  Russell 
went  on  to  the  Snake  Ri.'er.  About  the  same  time  Robbinet 
and  James  B.  Taylor  came  to  the  Falls  in  the  interest  of 
B.  F.  Baker  who  had  a  stone  trading  house  near  Fort  Snell- 
ing, since  destroyed  by  fire.  On  the  15th  July,  1838,  the 
Palmyra,  Capt.  Holland,  arrived  at  the  Fort,  with  the  ofiBcial 
notice  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaties  ceding  the  lands 
between  the  Saint  Croix  and  the  Mississippi. 

She  had  on  board  C.  A.  Tuttle,  L.  W.  Stratton  and  others, 
with  the  machinery  for  the  projected  mills  of  the  Northwest 
Lumber  Company  at  the  Falls  of  Saiit  Croix,  and  reached 


8T.  CBOK   VALLEY  PIONEERS. 


925 


to 


that  point  on  the  17th,  the  first  steamboat  to  disturb  the 
waters  above  Lake  Saint  Croix.  The  steamer  Gypsy  came  to 
the  fort  on  the  21st  of  October,  with  goods  for  the  Chippe- 
ways,  and  was  chartered  for  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  to 
carry  them  up  to  the  Falls  of  Saint  Croix.  In  passing  through 
the  lake  the  boat  grounded  near  a  projected  town  called  Stam- 
baughville,  after  S.  C.  Stambaugh,  the  suttler  at  the  fort.  On 
the  afternoon  of  the  26fch,  the  goods  were  landed  as  stipulated. 

The  agent  of  the  Improvement  Company  at  the  falls  was 
Washiogton  Libby,  who  left  in  the  fall  of  1838,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Jeremiah  Russell,  Stratton  acting  as  millwright  in 
place  of  Calvin  Tuttle.  On  the  12th  of  December,  Russell 
and  Stratton  walked  down  the  river,  cut  the  first  tree  and 
built  a  cabii)  at  Marine,  and  sold  their  claim. 

The  first  women  al  the  Falls  of  Saint  Croix  were  a  Mrs, 
Orr,  Mrs.  Sackett,  and  a  daughter  of  a  Mr.  Young.  During 
the  winter  of  1838-9,  Jeremiah  Russell  married  a  daughter 
of  a  respectable  gentlemanly  trader,  Charles  H.  Oakes. 

Among  the  first  preachers  were  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Boutwell 
and  Mr  Seymour,  of  the  Chippeway  Mission  at  Pokeguma. 
The  Rav.  A.  Brunson,  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  who  visited  this 
region  \n  1838,  wrote  that  at  the  mouth  of  Snake  River  he 
found  Franklin  Steele,  with  twenty-five  or  thirty  men,  cut- 
ting timber  for  a  mill,  and  when  he  offered  to  preach  Mr. 
Steele  gavo  a  cordial  assent. 

On  the  I6th  of  August,  Mr.  Seeele,  Livingston,  and  others, 
left  Khe  Falls  of  Saint  Croix  in  a  barge,  and  went  around  to 
Fort  Snelliag. 

,  The  steamboat  Fayette  about  the  middle  of  May,  1839, 
landed  sutlers'  stores  at  Fort  Snelling  and  then  proceeded 
with  several  persons  of  intelligence  to  the  Saint  Croix  River, 
who  settled  at  Marine. 

The  place  was  called  after  Marine  in  Madison  County,  111., 
where  the  company,  sonsisting  of  Judd,  Hone,  and  others, 
was  formed  to  build  a  saw  mill  in  the  Saint  Croix  Valley. 
The  mill  at  Marine  commenced  to  saw  lumber  on  August  24, 
1839,  the  first  in  Minnesota,  beyond  the  Fort  Snelling  reser- 
vation. 


I 


«26 


HI8T0BY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


APPENDIX  P.-PAGE  454. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  DIARY  OF  CAPT.  MARRTAT,  B.  N". 

On  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  June,  1838,  the  steamboat 
Burlington  airived  at  Fort  Snelling  with  a  number  of  visitors, 
among  whom  was  Captain  Marryat  of  the  British  Navy,  the 
well  known  novelist,  who  became  a  guest  of  Mr.  Sibley  at 
Meiidota.  The  following  extracts  are  from  his  "Diary  in 
America." 

"While  I  was  there  a  band  of  Sioux  from  the  Lac  qui  Piirle 
(so  named  from  a  remarkable  echo),  distant  about  two  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  from  Fort  Snelling,  headed  by  a  Mons. 
Kainville,  or  de  Rainville,  as  he  told  me  was  his  real  name, 
and  he  asserts  descended  from  one  of  the  best  families  in  France 
who  settled  in  Canada. 

"He  is  a  half-breed,  his  father  being  a  Frenchman  and  his 
mother  a  Sioux.  His  wife  is  also  a  Sioux,  so  that  his  family 
are  three-quarters  red.  He  had  been  residing  many  years  with 
the  Sioux  tribes,  trafficking  with  them  for  peltry,  and  has 
been  very  judicious  in  his  treatment  cf  them.  *  *  *  Lat- 
terly two  missionaries  [Williamson  and  Riggs]  have  been  sent 
out  to  his  assistance.  The  Dacotah  language  h&s  been  reduced 
to  writing.  *  *  *  J  have  now  in  my  possession  an  ele- 
mei  cary  spelling  book  published  at  Boston  in  the  Sioux 
tongue.    *    *    * 

"Mr.  Rainville's  children  read  and  write  Engh'sh,  Sioux  and 
French.  They  are  modest  and  well  behaved  as  Indian  women 
generally  are.  They  had  prayers  every  evening  and  I  used  to 
attend  them.  The  warriors  sat  on  the  floor  around  the  room. 
The  missionary  [Rev.  S.  R.  Riggs],  with  Mr.  Rainville  and 
his  family  in  the  centre,  and  they  all  sang  remarkably  well. 

JACK  FRASBR. 

"  A  half-breed  by  the  name  of  Jack  Fraser  came  up  with 
us  on  t'  )  steamboat.  He  has  been  admitted  into  one  of  the 
bands  of  Sioux  who  live  on  the  river,  and  he  is  reckoned  one 
of  the  bravest  of  their  warriors.  I  counted  twenty-eight 
notches  on  the  handle  of  his  tomahawk,  each  ont  denotes  a 
scalp  taken,  and  when  dressed  he  wears  eafle's  feathers  to 


ANECDOTES  OP  JACK  FBASBB. 


927 


that  amount.  He  is  a  fine,  intellectual  looking  man.  I  con- 
versed with  him  through  the  interpreter,  and  he  told  me  that 
the  only  man  he  wished  to  kill  was  his  father.  On  inquiry, 
why?  He  replied  that  his  father  had  broken  his  word  to  him; 
that  he  had  promised  to  make  him  a  white  man,  that  is,  to 
have  him  educated  and  brought  up  in  a  civilized  manner,  and 
that  he  had  left  him  a  Sioux. 

"The  following  story  is  told  of  Jack  Fraser:  When  he 
was  a  lad  twelve  years  old,  he  was  with  three  Sioux  Indians 
captured  by  the  Chippeways.  At  that  period,  these  tribes 
were  not  at  war,  but  preparing  for  it;  the  Chippeways,  there- 
fore, did  not  kill,  but  insulted  the  Sioux  who  fell  into  their 
hands.  The  greatest  affront  is  to  cut  off  the  hair  which  grows 
very  long,  before  and  behind,  hanging  down  in  plaits  orna- 
mented with  silver  brooches. 

The  Chippeways  cut  off  the  hair  of  the  Sioux  Indians  and 
ivere  about  to  perform  the  same  office  for  Jack,  when  he 
threw  them  off,  telling  them  that  if  they  wanted  his  hair  they 
must  take  it  with  the  scalp  attached  to  it. 

"  The  boldness  on  the  part  of  the  boy  astonished  the  Chip- 
peways, and  they  put  their  hands  to  their  mouths,  as  the 
Indians  always  do  when  they  are  very  much  surprised.  They 
determined,  however,  to  ascertain  if  Jack  was  really  as  braye 
as  he  appeared  to  be. 

"  One  of  the  Chippeways  re-filled  his  pipe,  and  put  the  hot 
bowl  of  it  to  Jack's  nether  quarters,  and  kept  in  close  contact 
until  it  had  burned  a  hole  in  his  flesh  as  large  as  a  dollar  and 
a  half  inch  deep.  Jack  never  flinched  during  the  operation, 
and  the  Indians  was  so  pleased  with  them  that  they  not  only 
-allowed  Jack  to  retain  his  hair,  but  they  gave  him  his  liberty." 


986 


HISTORY  OF  KII^NESOTA. 


APPENDIX  Q.-PAGE  XLIX. 


fOPaLATION"  ACCORDIKQ  TO  CEKSDS  OF  A.  D.  1880. 


Counties. 


The  State    .  . 

Aitkin 

Anoka 

Becker 

Beltrami „ 

Benton 

Big  Stone 
Blue  Karth.... 

Brown 

Carlton 

Carver 

Oass 

Chippewa.  .  . 

Chisago 

Clay 

Cook  

Cottonwood... 
Crow  Wing.... 

Dakota 

Dodge  

Douglass 

Faribault 

Filunore 

Freeborn 

Goodhue 

Grant 

Hennepin 

Houston 

Isanti 

ItSkfca 

Jackson 

Kanabec 

Kandiyohi 

Kittson 

I.acqui  Parle. 

I^ke 

Le  Sueur 

Lincoln 

Lvon 

McLeod 


776.884 

30e 

7.083 

4,468 

10 

2.977 

3,888 

22.851 

12.009 

1,101 

14,138 

461 

S,405 

7,983 

6,8S5 

15 

8,633 

2,248 

17,307 

11,333 

9,105 

13.013 

28.150 

16,067 

29,684 

3.004 

66,453 

16,820 

5,062 

46 

4,806 

484 

10,158 

871 

4,891 

65 

16,067 

2.942 

6,25.) 

12,341 


O 

o 


3,889 

60 

25 

760 

"  36 


38 

9 

120 

2 

26 

3 

39 

32 

60 


660 

12 

1 

78 


Counties. 


Marshall 

Martin 

Meeker.. 

.villlp.  Lacs 

Morrison 

Mower 

Murray 

Nicollett 

Nobles 

Olmsted.  , 

Otter  Tstil 

fine. 

Pipe  Stone..  

Polk 

Pope 

Kam.spy  

Redwood 

Renville 

Klce 

Rock , 

St.  Louis...  

Scott  

Sherburne 

Sibley 

Stearns 

Steele 

Stevens 

Swift    

Todd 

Tarverse 

Wabasha 

Wadena 

Waseca  

Washington 

Watonwan 

Wilkin  

Winona. 

Wright 

Yellow  Medicine. 


991 

6,249 

11,728 

i,467 

6,863 

16,787 

3,804 

12,330 

4,435 

21,628 

18,664 

1,192 

2,091 

11,211 

6,874 

46,386 

6,347 

10,791 

22.3851 

3,669 

4,387 

13,461 

3,865 

10,637 

21,964 

12,428 

3,906 

7,437 

6,129 

1.606 

16.149 

2,080 

12,37C 

19,600 

6101 

1,8W! 

27,176 

18,101 

8,882 


1 

o 

o 


11 

U 

12 
12 


8 


16 
21 

178 
1 

222 


625 
28 


96 


13T 
6S 


4 

1 

67 

9 
63 

3 
10 
72 

3 

2 


CLASSIFICATION. 

Total  population 780,713 

Whites  born  In  Minnesota  29!i,&'H) 

Coliired  born  In  Minnesota 2,541 

Whites  other  ol  United  States 209,Ma 

Colored  other  ol  United  States 1,174 


Total  native  born i 613.097 

Scandinavian  countries 107,770 

German V  and  German  speaking  people    77.506 

Great  Britain,  Ireland  and  English  colonies 68,277 

Other  countries 14,154 

Total  foreign  population 267,676 


TJIOQEAPHIOAL. 


929 


MINNESOTA  C0NGEE8SMBN. 

[Continued  from  page  04.) 

DwiOHT  M.  Sabin  was  elected  in  February,  1883,  as  the 
successor  of  William  Windom  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
He  was  born  April  25,  1844,  on  a  farm,  near  Marseilles,  La 
Salle  County,  Illinois.  His  parents  returned  to  Windham, 
Connecticut,  and  for  a  period  he  was  a  pupil  in  Phillip's 
Academy,  Andover,  Massachusetts. 

In  1864  he  returned  to  Illinois,  and  in  September,  1867, 
made  a  visit  to,  and  the  next  spring  became  a  resident  of, 
Minnesota.  He  has  been  a  citizen  of  Stillwater  and  a  large 
manufacturer  of  threshing  machines,  and  is  now  President 
of  the  Northwestern  Manufacturing  and  Car  Company. 

Mild  White,  elected  in  the  fall  of  1882  to  the  U.  S. 
House  of  Representatives,  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Pere- 
grine White,  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  He  waj  born  August  17,  1830,  in  Fletcher,  Frank- 
lin County,  Vermont.  In  1853  he  went  to  New  York  City 
as  a  clerk,  and  in  1855  came  to  Chatfield,  Minnesota,  where 
he  has  been  an  active  business  man.  He  was  elected  State 
Senator  in  1871,  and  by  successive  elections  held  the  posi- 
tion until  he  became  a  member  of  Congress. 

J.  B.  Wakefield  is  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  in  1854 
came  to  Minnesota.  He  has  been  a  lawyer  at  Blue  Earth 
City,  Faribault  County.  In  1875  he  was  elected  Lieutenant 
Governor,  and  in  1877  was  re-elected.  In  1882  he  was 
elected  to  the  Forty-eighth  Congress,  which  convenes  in 
1883. 

_  Knute  Nelson  is  of  Scandinavian  parentage,  and  his 
boyhood  was  passed  in  Wisconsin.  By  indomitable  energy 
he  there  secured  a  good  academic  education,  and  during  his 
residence  in  Minnesota  has  commended  himself  to  his  fellow 
citizens,  by  his  aptness  for  public  affairs.  After  an  exciting 
contest,  in  the  autumn  of  1882,  he  was  elected  to  the  Forty- 
eighth  Congress. 


of. 


Col 


Lie 


Afa 


Q.l 

Sur 

Aga 

Cha 


jif,. 


0 

1861 
1,1 
dale 
1865 
Reco 
Bria 


APPENDIX  R. 


BECOBD  OP  BTAPP  OFFICERS,    AND  BRIEF    REGIMENTAL  HISTORIES. 

The  following  brief  notices,  based  upon  the  repoiis  of  the  Adjutant  General 
of  Minnesota,  are  appended  for  convenience  of  reference. 

FIRST  REGIMENT,  INFANTRY. 

CoImmI.       WlUls  A.  Gorman,  St.  Paul :  promoted  Brlcadler  General,  Oct.  1, 1981. 

Napoleon  .J.T.  Dana,  St.  raul ;  promoted  RiiKadier General,  Feb.  3, 1863. 

Alfred  Sully,  promoted  Brigadier  General,  Sept.  26, 1863. 

George  N.  Morcan,  Minneapolis  ;  resigned  Mav5, 1863. 

■William  Colville,  Jr.,  Ked  Wing  j  discharged  wltli  regiment  May  4, 1864. 
TAeut  Vol.   Stephen  Miller,  St.  Clond  ;  promoted  Colonel  7th  Minn.  Inf 'y,  Ang.,  1863. 

George  N.  Morgan,  Minneapolis  ;  promoted  Colonel,  Sept.  26,  IsS. 

■William  Colville,  Jr.,  Red  Wing  ;  promoted  Colonel,  May  f>,  1863. 

Charles  P.  Adams,  Hastings  ;  alscliarged  witli  regiment,  May  4, 18M. 
Maior.        Wlliiarn  H.  Dil<e,  Farihault ;  re-signed,  Oct.  22, 1861. 

George  N.  Morgan,  Minneapolis  j  promoted  Lieut.  Col.,  Aug.  28, 1882. 

■William  Colville,  Jr.,  Ked  Wing  ;  promoted  Lieut.  Col.,  Sept.  26, 1863. 

Charles  P.  Adams,  Hastings  ;  promoted  Lieut.  Col.,  May  6,  1863. 

Mark  'W.  Downle,  Stillwater  ;  discharged  wltli  regiment  Mav  4, 1864. 
Adjutant.    'William  IJ.  Leach,  Hastings  ;  promoted  Capt.  and  A.  A.  G.,  Feb.  23, 1862; 

John  N.  Chase,  St.  Anthony  ;  promot'd  Ciipt.  Co.  G.,  Sept.  2S,  1862, 

.Tosias  R.  King,  St.  Paul :  promoted  Capt.  Co.  E.,  .lulv  2,  I8C3. 

John  Peller.  Ha.stlngs  :  discharged  with  regiment,  Jfay  4, 1864. 
Q.  ItMter,  Marlt  W.  Downle,  Stillwater  ;  promoted  Capt,  Co.  B.,  'July  16, 1861. 

George  H.  Woods,  promoted  Capt.  and  A.  Q.  M.,  Aug  13, 1861. 

Mark  A.  Iloyt,  Red  Wing  ;  resigned,  1862. 

Fra;icl3  Baasen,  New  Ulm,  discliaiged  with  regiment,  May  4, 1864. 
Surgeon.      Jacob  H.  Stewart,  St.  Paul ;  transferred  to  skeleton  regiment. 

■William  H.  Morton,  St.  Paul ;  resigned,  June  23,  1863. 

John  B.  LeBloiid,  discharged  witli  regiment.  May  4.  1864. 
Aut  Surg.  Clias.  W.  l^eBoiitlllier,  St.  Anthony  :  transferred  to  Minn,  skeleton  regt. 

D.  W.  Hand,  St.  Paul  brevettcd  Lt.  Colonel. 

John  B.  LeBlond,  promoted  Surgeon,  Aug.  7, 1863. 

Edmund  J.  Pugsley,  cashiered,  Aug.  15. 1874. 

Peter  Gabrlelson,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  with  regiment.  May  4, 1864. 
Chaplain,    Edw.D.  Neill.St.  Paul ;  appointed  July  13, 1862,  Hospital  Cbaplaln,  U.S.A. 

F.  A.  Couwell,  Minneapolis. 

Ordered  to  Washington,  D.  C,  .Tune  14, 1861.  First  Bull  Run,  .luly  21, 
1861;  Edward's  Feiry,  Oct.,  1861;  Yorktown,  May  7,  1862;  Fair  Oaks,  Juno 
1,  1862;  Peach  Orchard,  June  29, 1862;  Savage  Station,  June  29, 1862;  Glen- 
dale,  June  30  1862;  Nelson's  Farm,  June  ;30,  1862;  Malvern  Hill,  Julyl, 
1862;  Antietam,  Sept.  17,  1862;  first  Fredericksburg,  Dec.  11,  12  and  13; 
second  Fredricksburjg,  May  3,  1863;  Gettysburg.  July  2  and  3,  1863,  and 
Bristow  Station.    Discharged  at  Fort  Snelbng,  Minn.,  May  4, 1864. 


APPENDIX. 


BKCOND  REGIMENT,     INFANTRY. 


Colonel       Horatio  P.  VanCIeve,  3t.  Anthony  ;  promoted  to  Brig.  Gen. ,  March  21 ,  'di 

James  George,  Mantorvllle  ;  resfent'd  June  20, 186-t. 

Judson  W.  Kisbop,  CliatfloUl ;  dlscliiiined  with  re^jlment,  July  II,  1865. 
UeiU.  Col.   James  Oeorgo,  ^rantol•ville  :  pioniotcil  Colonel. 

Alexander  Wilkin,  tit.  I'aul ;  promoted  Colonel  9th  Regiment  MInnue- 
sota  Vols.,  Aug.  iW,  1802. 

Judson  W.  Ulshop,  Cliatfleld  ;  promoted  Colonel. 

Calvin  8.  Ullne,  St.  I'aul :  discliarKed  with  regiment.  July  11, 186(k 
Maior,         Simeon  Smith,  appointed  Payma.ster  U.  8.  A.,  Sept  17, 1861 

Alexander  Wilkfu,  St.  I'aul.  promoted  Lieutenant  Colonel. 

Judson  W.  Bishop,  Cliatlleld  ;  promoted  Lieutenant  ColoneL 

John  B.  Davis,  St.  Paul :  resigned  April  16, 1864. 

Calvin  8.  Uilne,  St.  Paul,  promoted  Lieutenant  Governor. 

John  Moulton,  St.  Paul ;  Discharged  with  regiment,  July  11, 18a& 
Surgeon.     Beiiinal  BiiiKham,  Winona,  dlamlised  May  27, 1864. 

Moody  C.  Toiman,  Anoka 

■William  Brown. 
A.ut  Surg.  Moody  G.  Tollman,  Anoka,  promoted  to  Surgeon. 

William  L.  Armlngton,  8t.  Paul ;  resigned,  Feb.  '23, 1863. 

William  Brown,  Ked  Wing ;  promoted  Surgeon. 

Otis  Ayer,  Le  Sueur ;  resigned,  Dec.  2.1, 1863 
Adjutant    Daniel  D.  Ileaney,  Rochester,  promoted  Captain  Co.  C, 

Bamuel  P.  Jenulson,  St.  Paul ;  promoted  Lieut.  Col.  loth  Minn  Infantry, 

August,  1862. 

Charles  F.  Meyer.  St.  Paul ;  promoted  Captain  Co.  G. 

James  W.  Wood,  St.  Paul ;  promoted  Ciiptain  Co.  B. 

George  W.  Shumaii,  St.  Paul ;  promoted  (.'aptaln  Co.  D. 

Frank  Y.  HolTstott,  St.  Paul ;  discliarKed  with  regiment,  July  11, 1865. 
Q.  MasUr,  William  S.  Grow,  Ued  Wing  ;  resigned,  January  28, 1863. 

8.  De  Witt  Parsons,  resigned  July  M,  18G4. 

John  L.  Kiun'ey,  Chatlleld  ;  disciiarged  with  regiment,  July  11, 186S. 
Chaplatn.    Timothy  Cressey,  resigned  Oct.  10, 1893. 

Levi  Gleason,  discharged  with  regiment.  July  11, 1866. 
Organized  July,  1861.  Ordered  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  October,  1861,  and 
assigned  to  the  Army  cf  the  Ohio.  Plngaged  in  the  following  marches,  battles, 
akii'mishes  and  sieges:  Mill  Spring,  January  19,  1862;  Siege  of  Corinth, 
Apiil,  1862.  Transferred  to  the  Army  of  the 'lennessee.  Bragg'sraid;  Perry- 
ville,  Octobers,  1862;  skirmishes  of  the  TuUahoma  campaign;  Chickamauga, 
September  19  and  20, 1868;  Mission  Ridge,  November  25, 1863.  Veteranized 
January,  1864.  Battles  and  skirmishes  of  the  Atlanta  campaign,  viz:  Resaca, 
June  14,  15  and  16,  1864;  Kenesaw  Mountain,  June  27,  1864;  Jonesboroj 
Sherman's  march  through  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas;  Bentonville,  March  19, 
1865.    Discharged  at  Fort  Snemng,  Minnesota,  July  11, 1865. 


THIRD  REGIMENT,  INFANTRY. 

Colonel       Henry  0.  Lester,  Winona ;  dismissed  December  1, 1862. 

Chauncev  W.  Griggs.  Chaska  :  resigned  July  15,  ma. 

Chrlstoijlier  0.  Andrews,  St.  Cloud  ;  promoted  Brig.  Gen,  April  27, 1864. 

Hans  Mattson,  Red  Wing  ;  discharged  with  regiment,  Sept.  2, 1865. 
Heut.  Ool.   Benjamin  F.  Smith,  MauKato  ;  resigned  Mav  9, 1862. 

Chauncev  W.  Griggs,  Chaska  :  promoted  Colonel,  Dec.  1, 1862. 

Christoi>ner  C.  Andrews,  St.  Cloud,  promoted  Colonel,  July  15, 1S63. 

Hans  Mattson,  Red  Wing  ;  promoted  Colonel,  April  15, 1861. 

Everett  W.  Foster,  Wabashaw  ;  resigned  May  22, 186.5. 

James  B.  Holt,  discharged  with  regiment,  Sept.  2, 1865. 
Major,         John  A.  Hadley,  resigned,  May  1, 1802. 

Chauncey  W.  Griggs,  Chaska  ;  promoted  Lieutenant  Col.,  May  29, 1862. 

Hans  Mattson,  Red  Wing  :  promoted  Lieutenant  Col.,  July  15. 1863. 

Everett  W.  Foster,  Wabashaw  :  promoted  Lieutenant  CoL,  April  16, 1861, 

Benjamin  F.  Rice,  resigned  before  being  mustered. 

William  W.  Webster,  resljjned,  November  12, 1804. 

James  B.  Holt,  promoted  Lieutenant  Col.,  May  25, 186f . 
Adjutant,    Cyrene  H.  Blskely,  promoted  Captain  of  Subsistence,  June  13, 1861. 

Ephralm  Pierce,  St.  Paul ;  promoted  Capt.  of  Co.  F,  April  17,  I86IS. 

Jed  F.  Fuller,  appointed  ist  Lieutenant  of  Co.  A. 

William  F.  Morse,  promoted  Captain  of  Co.  F,  July  19, 1865. 

Philander  £,  Folsom,  di^chargea  with  regiment,  Sept.  2, 180S. 


▲PPENDIH. 


8 


O.  Matter.  Samuel  H.  Tnmiian,  dlsmlsHed,  T)(>cember,  1, 1863. 

James  P.  Howlett,  leslKiieil,  Miiroli  2,  1804. 

■William  G.  .1.  Akors,  pioiiioted  ('iii)talii  Co.  I,  .Tan.,  Mm. 

Geoiife  L.  Jainuson,  nromotod  Captain  Co.  II,  May  3, 1H6B. 

MoiKfe  Oleson,  Kcil  wlnt? ;  illHcliarKcd  with  regiment,  Sept.  2, 1868. 
Surgeon.      Levi  Kutlcr,  resinned,  Septenilier  '20, 1803. 

Albert  (}.  Wedce,  dl8cliarKe<l  with  reKlment,  September  2, 186S. 
Aist.  Surg.  Francis  H.  MllllKan,  resigned,  April  8, 1862. 

Albert  0.  WedK<»,  promoted  HnrKeon,  Septiiniber  22, 1803. 

Moses  H.  (4reeley,  dlscliarccd  wltli  reKlment,  September  2, 1808. 

Nahana  Blxby,  dlseharned  with  retjimeni,  September  2, 186S. 
■Chaplain.    Channeoy  llobart,  resigned,  April  13, 18(13. 

B.  F.  Crary,  re.sl({ne<l,  .Jun(>  2,  ikk). 

Simeon  Putnam,  died,  September  11, 18fl4,  at  Afton,  Minnesota. 

Anthony  'Wiilord,  discharged  with  regiment,  September  2, 1868. 

Or(?anized  October,  1861.  Ordered  to  Nashville,  Tenn.,  March,  1862. 
•Captured  and  paroled  at  Murfreesboro,  July,  1862.  Ordered  to  St.  Louisi 
Mo.  Thence  to  Minnesota.  En"uged  in  the  Indian  Expedition  of  1862- 
Paxticipated  in  the  battle  of  Wood  Lake,  September,  1862.  Ordered  to  Little 
Rock,  Ark.,  November,  1863.  Veteranized  January,  1864.  EnfpiKed  in 
battle  of  Fitzhugh'a  Woods,  March  30,  1864.  Ordered  to  Pine  Bluff,  Ark., 
April,  1864,  thence  to  Du  Vall's  Bluff,  October.  1864.  Mustered  out  at 
Ouvall'B  Bluff,  September  2, 1865.    Discharged  at  Fort  SnelUng. 


WORTH  REGIMENT,    IHPANTHT. 


Colonel.       John  B.  Sanborn,  St.  Paul :  resigned  August  5, 1863. 

John  E.  Tourtellotte,  Mankato  ;  discharged  by  order  June  *1, 1865. 
JAeut.  Col.  Minor  T.  Thomas,  Stillwater  ;  promoted  Col.  8th  Minn.  Inf.,  Ang.  24, 1869 

John  E.  Tourtellotte,  Mankato  ;  promoted  Colonel,  Scut.  16, 1»)4. 

James  C.  Edson,  Glencoe  ;  discharged  with  regiment,  July  Ii),  1808. 
Major.        A.  Edward  Welch,  Hed  Wing  ;  died  Feb.  1, 1W12,  at  Nashville,  Teun. 

Luther  L.  Baxter,  Shakopee  ;  resigned  Octolxsr  11, 18(i2. 

James  C.  Edson.  Glencoe  ;  promoted  Lieut.  Colonel  Sept.  16, 1864. 

Leverett  K.  Wellmnn,  dischariged  with  regiment,  July  19, 1866. 
AMutant.    John  M.  Thompson,  pronioted"^Captain  Co.  E,  Nov.  20, 18(i2. 

■William  F.  Klthidge,  promoted  Caj)taln  and  A.  A.  G.,  Aug.  12, 1861 

■Watson  'W.  Ulch,  promoted  Captaui  Co.  D,  June  21,  im>. 

Frank  8.  DeMera,  discliaiged  with  regiment,  J>dy  19,  iscn. 
-Q.  Matter.  Thomas  15.  Hunt,  Shakopee  ;  promoted  Capt.  and  A.  Q.  M.,  April  9, 1861 

I).  M.  (i.  Murphy,  St.  l'a\d  ;  promoted  Capt.  Co.  B,  M^y  3, 1864. 

Samuel  W.  Uussell,  discharged  witli  regiment,  July  19, 1866. 
Suroeon.      John  H.  Murphy,  St.  Paul ;  resigned  Jiily  fl.  1863. 

Ellsba  W.  Cross,  Kochester ;  resigned  December  22, 1864. 

Henry  B.  Wedel,  Winona  ;  re.signed  June  15, 18i  5. 
AmU  Swg.  Ellsha  ^W.  Cross,  Rochester ;  promoted  surgeon,  July  9, 1863. 

Henry  R.  Wedel,  Winona  ;  promoted  Surgeon,  January  9, 1868. 

George  M.  D.  Lambert,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  with  regiment,  July  19,  '68* 
Chaplain.    Asa  S.  Fisk,  resigned  October  3, 1865. 

Organized  December  23, 1861.    Ordered  to  Benton  Barracks,  Mo.,  April  19, 

1862.  Assigned  to  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  May  4,  1862.  Siege  of  Corinth, 
April,  1862;  luka.  Sept.  19,  1862;  Connth,  Oct.  3  and  4,  1862;  Vicksburg, 
July,  1863.    Transferred  from  17th  to  16th  Coi-ps.     Mission  Ridge,  Nov.  25. 

1863.  Veteranized,  January,  1(^64.  Altoona,  July,  1864.  With  General 
Sherman,  in  march  through  Georgia  and  Carolinas,  March,  1865.  Mustraed 
out  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  July  19,  1665.    Discharged  at  Fort  Snelling. 


ft  APPENDIX. 

riFTU  RKOIMBNT.  INFANTRT. 

CoIofMl.       Bndolpli  Boreesrode,  Shakopefi ;  restsncd,  August  31, 1801 

LuciuH  K.  HuuUard,  dlsuharKed  by  order,  1WI5. 
lAeut.  Col.  LurIus  K.  Hubbard,  promoted  Colonel,  AuKUst  31, 11)02. 

William  H.  Oere,  discharged  by  order  AiiL-ust  30,  IHOS. 
Maior.        William  B.  Gere,  promoted  Intent.  Colouel  Augiuit  31, 1802, 

Francis  Hall,  resigned  ApuJl  30,  isat. 

John  C.  Becht,  St.  Paul ;  disf  liijrtt^d  by  order  March  18, 1866. 

John  F.  Houston,  Stlllwatei  ,  di.  Jiarged  with  regiment,  Sept.  S,  18811 
AOjutamt.    Alphcus  K.  Krencli,  resigned  March  I»,  1863. 

Thomas  1*.  (iere,  discharged  by  order  Apill  B,  1868. 

Alfred  Hhodes.  discharged  w(.th  regiment,  September  0, 1868. 
O.  Matter.   William  ».  Mcdrortv,  resigned  September  IB,  1864. 

Francis  (K  Brown,  (llscliiuged  with  regiment,  September  6, 1868. 
Surgeon.      Francis  K.  Etherldge.  resigned  September  3.  \m'i. 

Vincent  I'.  Kennetly,  discharged  by  order  iMay  1, 1866. 

William  H.  liConurd,  al.scharged  with  regiment,  September  6, 1840. 
AuU  Surg.  Vincent  1'.  Kennedy,  promoted  Surgeon,  September  3, 1862. 

William  H.  I^onarn,  promoted  Surgeon,  May  1, 1868. 

J.  A.  Vervain,  St.  raul ;  resigned  April  3, 1863. 
Chaplain.    James  F.  Chaffee,  Minneapolis,  resigned  June  23, 1882, 

Organized  May,  1862.  Ordered  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  May  9.  1862. 
Detachment  of  three  companies  remained  in  Minnesota,  garrisoning  frontier 
posts.  Participated  in  the  following  marches,  battles,  sieges  and  skirmishes: 
siege  of  Corinth,  April  and  May,  1862.  Detachment  in  Minnesota  engaged 
with  Indians  at  Redwood,  Minnesota,  August  18, 1862.  Siege  of  Ft.  Ridgely, 
August  20,  21  and  22,  1862.  Ft.  Abercrombie,  D.  T.,  August,  1862.  Regi- 
ment assigned  to  16th  Army  Corps.  Battle  of  luka,  September  .18,  1862; 
Corinth,  October  3  and  4,  1862;  Jackson,  May  14, 1863;  Siege  of  Vick»burg[; 
assault  of  Vicksburg,  May  22, 1863;  Mechanicsburg,  June  3, 1863;  Richmond, 
June  15,  1863;  Ft.  De  Russey,  La.,  March  14,  1864.  Red  River  Expeditaon, 
March,  April  and  May,  1864.  Lake  Chicot,  June  6. 1864;  Tupelo,  June,  1864. 
Veteranized  July,  1864.  Abbeyville,  August  23, 1864.  Marched,  in  Septem- 
her,  1864,  from  Brownsville,  Ark.,  to  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo.,  thence  by  boat  to 
Jefferson  City,  thence  to  Kansas  line,  thence  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Ordered  to 
NashviUe,  Nov.,  1874.  BatUes  of  Nashville,  Dec.  15  and  16,  1864.  Spanish 
Fort  and  Fort  Blakely,  April,  1865.  Mustered  out  at  Demopolis,  Ala.,  Sept. 
6, 1865.    Discharged  at  Fort  Snelling,  Minnesota. 

SIXTH  RBOIMEUT,     INFANTRY. 


Colotut,        William  Crooks,  St.  Panl ;  resigned  October  28, 1864. 

John  T.  Averlll,  Lake  City  ;  discharged  by  8.  O.  W.  D.  B18,  Sept.  80, 1865. 
lAexit.  Col.  John  T.  Averlll,  Lake  City,  promoted  Colonel,  October  28, 1864. 

Hiram  P.  Grant,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  wUli  regiment,  August  10, 1865. 
Major.        Robert  N.  McLaren,  Red  Wing  ;  promoted  Col.  2d  ftlnin.  Cav.  Jan.  12,  '84. 

Hiram  P.  Grant,  St.  Paul ;  promoted  Lieut.  Colonel,  October  28, 1864. 

Hiram  8.  Bailey,  discharged  with  regiment,  August  19, 1865. 
AdjxUant.    Florian  E.  Snow,  St.  I'auT ;  resigned  December  lo,  1864. 

Alonzo  P.  Connelly,  St.  Paul,  discharged  with  regiment,  August  19, 1866. 
Q.  Master,  Henry  L.  Cai-ver,  St.  Paul,  promoted  Capt.  A.  Q.  M.,  April,  1864. 

Henry  H.  Gilbert,  discharged  with  regiment,  August  19, 1866. 
Surgeon.      Alfred  Wliarton,  St.  Paul  ;  resigned  July  20, 1«63. 

Wallace  P.  Belden,  discharjged  with  regiment,  August  19, 1868. 
Aut  Surg.  Jared  W.  Daniels,  resigned,  Dec.  28,  I8ca 

Augustus  O.  Potter,  died  at  Helena,  Ark.,  September  13, 1864. 

.James  N.  McMasters,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  with  regiment,  Aug.  19,  t868b 

Henry  Wilson,  dischaiged  with  regiment,  August  19. 1865. 
Chaplain.    Richard  B.  Bull,  resigned  1864. 

Daniel  Cobb,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  with  regiment,  August  19, 1860. 


k 


APPKNDIX.  f 

Oiganimd  August,  1''62.  Detachment  of  200  in  battle  witTi  Sioux  Tndfana 
at  Birch  Coolie,  Sept.  2,  1862;  Wood  Lalce,  Sept.  22, 1862.  At  frontier  pout* 
from  Nov.,  1862,  to  May,  1863.  Indian  Expalition,  enKaKod  in  akirmisht)*, 
July,  1863.  Ordered  to  Helena,  Ark.,  June,  1864;  to  New  Orleona,  January 
18,  1865.  Assijjned  to  16th  Army  Corps.  In  action  at  Spanish  Fort  and 
Fort  Blakely,  near  Mobile.    DischorKed  at  Fort  Snelling,  August  19,  1865. 


•BTBNTH  REGIMENT,  INPANTRT. 


Colonel.       Stephen  Miller,  St.  Paul ;  promoted  Brigadier  General,  Nov.  9. 1868. 

'William  R.  Marfitiall,  St.  Paul ;  diHoliiu'Kcd  with  regiment, 
lAewt.  Cot.  William  R.  Marshall,  St.  Paul ;  promoted  Colonel,  Nov.  6, 1863. 

(ieorKe  Bradley,  St.  Paul ;  dlauliargcd  witli  reulinout. 
Major,        Oeorgo  Bradley,  St.  Paul,  promoted  Lieut.  Coumel,  Nov.  0, 1803, 

William  H.  Burt,  T:iylor's  Palls  ;  dlscliarKed  with  roKlmont. 
A.diutanL    •Tohn  K.  Arnold,  Waliaxhaw  ;  pronmted  Captain  Co,  A,  June  17,  1863. 

Kdward  A.  Trader,  St.  Louis  ;  resigned  Fcbruai^  3, 1866. 

A.  J.  Patch,  Dubuoue  ;  discharged  with  reKimeut. 
<i.  Matter.  Ammi  Outt(!r,  Anoka  ;  pri)niote4  Captain  and  A.  Q.  M.,  May  6,  ISOL 

Henry  C.  Boleoni,  Winoiiii ;  discliiiriiod  with  regiment. 
Surgeon.      Jeremiah  K.  Finch.  HuHtuigx,  resigned  May  28,  IHai. 

Lucius  B.  Smith,  killed  July  13, 18(11  at  battle  of  Tupelo. 

Albert  A.  Ames,  Minneapolis  ;  dischai^ged  with  regiment. 
Attt.  .Iwg.  Luciui  B.  Hmitli,  nromoled  Surgeon,  Mav  at,  I8<w. 

Albert  A.  Ames,  Minneapolis  :  promoted  Surgeon,  July  23, 186X 

Brewer  Mattocks,  St,  I'anl ;  discharged  with  legiment. 

Perclval  O.  Barton,  Pine  Bend  ;  distHiarged  witli  regiment. 
Chaplain.    Oliver  P.  Light,  reslgmul  June  ii,  isfii. 

£.  K.  Edwards,  Taylors  Palls  ;  discharged  with  regiment. 


Organized  August,  1862.  In  battle  with  Sioux  Indians  at  Wood  Lake, 
Sept.,  1862.  Indian  Expedition  of  1863.  Ordered  to  St.  Louis,  Oct.  7,  1863. 
Paducah,  Ky.,  April,  1864.  Assigned  to  16th  Ai-my  Corps.  Battle  of  Tupelo, 
July,  1864;  Tallahatchie,  August,  1864.  In  pursuit  of  General  Price.  Battle 
of  Nashville,  December,  1864.  Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Bhikely,  near  Mobile, 
April,  1865.    Discharged  at  Fort  Snelling,  Aug.  16,  1865, 

BIOUTH  REGIMENT,    INFANTR7. 

Colonel.      Minor  T.  Thomas,  Stillwater  ;  discharged  with  regiment,  July  it,  1868. 
Lieut.  Col.   Henry  C.  Rogers,  Austin  ;  discharged  by  reason  of  wounds.  May  16,  '«& 
Major,        George  A.  Camp,  St.  Anthony  ;  resigned  May  2, 1805. 

Edwlii  A.  Folsom,  Stillwater ;  discharged  with  regiment. 
AdjutatU.    George  W.  Butterfleld  promoted  Capt.  and  A.  A.  G.,  March  19, 186\ 

I^ewis  C.  Paxon,  discharged  with  regiment. 
Q.  Master.   George  L.  Plsk,  Mazeppa  ;  discharged  per  order  May  18, 1868. 
Suraeon.     Francis  Relger,  St.  Paul ;  resigned  ApiHI  lo,  1804. 

John  H.  Murphy,  St.  Paul  ;  resigned  ,lannary  12, 1865, 

Irvin  H.  Thurston,  discharged  with  regiment.  k 

AbbU  Sura.  IrvIn  H.  Thurston,  nronuHed  Surgeon,  May  2«,  1868. 

William  H.  Rouse,  Kdou  I'rairle  :  discharged  July  II,  1868. 
Vhaplatn.    Lauren  Annsby,  Faribault ;  discharged  with  regiment 


Organized  August  1,  1852.  Stationed  at  frontier  posts  until  May,  1864, 
when  ordered  upon  Indian  Expedition.  Engaged  in  the  followbg  battles, 
sieges,  skirmishes  and  marches:  Tah-cha-o-ku-tu,  July  28,  1864;  battle  of 
the  Cedars,  OverallV  Creek.  Ordered  to  Clifton,  Tenn.,  thence  to  Cincinnati, 
thence  to  Washington,  thence  to  Wilmington,  thence  to  Newbem,  N.  0. 
Battles  of  Kingston,  Maich  8,  9, 10,  1865.  Mustered  out  at  Charlotte,  N.  0., 
July  11, 1865.    Discharged  at  Fort  Snelhng,  Minnesota. 


APPENDIX. 


HINTH  REOIMBNT,    INFANTRY. 


Alv^xander  Wilkin,  St.  Paul :  killed  Juljr  14, 18<M,  In  battle  of  Tupelo,  Mlia. 

Joslnh  F.  Manh,  Austin  ;  rtlsrliargod  with  reKJrnenl. 

JuAlnh  V.  Mnrah,  Austin  ;  promoted  Colonel,  .Inly  27, 18«4. 

William  Markhain,  KoctiRNtor  ;  dlscliin'Kcd  with  r<-Klni)Mit. 

William  Markham.  Rocli<>Htt^r  :  proniotrd  Lleutc".  -iit  Col.,  July  27, 1884 

Horace  B.  Strait,  Hliakopci!  ;  dlscluuKi'd  with  rcK  ment 

Kdward  H.  C/anso,  dixrlnirui-d  wlHi  leginK-nt. 

Jolni  P.  Owens,  discliarnod  pur  order  May  15, 1808. 

Chas.  W.  TxiHontiliier,  Ht.  Anthony  ;  liltni  .Vpril  3  1863.  at  8t,  Peter,  Minn. 

Iteginald  H.  Uinsiliiin),  WInonii ;  dlsolnirKinl  witli  rRKliuent. 
.^Mt.  aurg.  Kellno  W.  Twitcliell,  (Miaffleld  :  proniottid  Surg.  72dC)ord  Inf.  July  7,  '64. 

John  Dowoy,  8t.  Paul  ;  resinned  Hepteinhcr  II,  IStW. 

John  C.  Dickson,  dlKcharKed  per  order  May  IB,  18tiS. 

Edwin  O.  Pngslev,  dlKciiarueu  with  reKlnient. 
OhapUUn.    Aaron  H.  Kerr,  St.  Peter ;  discharged  with  regiment 


OoHenel 

UevLOol. 

Major. 

A<liulant. 
Q.MwiUr. 
Burgean. 


Orsranized  August,  1862.  At  frontier  posts  until  September,  1873.  At 
Memphis,  Tenn.,  May,  WM.  Assiijned  to  16th  Army  Corps.  Battle  of 
Tupelo,  July,  1864.  Oxford  Expedition,  August  Tallahatchie,  August. 
Pursuit  of  General  Price.  Battles  of  NiL'^liville,  Lecembor,  1864.  tspanish 
Fort  and  Fort  Blakely,  April,  1865.  Di»<  liarged  at  Fort  Suelling,  August 
24.  1865. 


TENTH  KKOtMBNT,   INFANTBT. 


James  H.  Bakor,  Mankato  ;  discharged  with  rcKlment. 

Siinniel  1'.  Jonnlson,  Ht.  Paul  ;  discharged  witli  regiment. 

Michael  Cook,  Faribault ;  died  Dec.  27,  imt,  of  wounds  received  In  battle 

of  Nashville. 
Edwin  C.  Sanders,  Le  Sueur  ;  discharged  with  regiment. 
James  C.  Braden,  Brownsville  ;  dl.scharged  with  regiment, 
ecorgo  W.  Greene,  Clinton  Falls  ;  resigned,  March  2.3, 1864. 
Eden  N.  Leveies,  Faribault :  discharged  with  regiment. 
Samuel  B.  91.'  vdown,  Stockton  ;  discharged  with  regiment. 
.  William  W.  CiarK,  Mankato  ;  resigned  September  26, 1864. 
Alfred  H  F  v  n'  im,  dismissed  October  23, 18(13. 
Francis  .  {  M'/'Jlgan,  Wabashaw  ;  discharged  with  regiment. 
IjOuIs  ProeLvi  lug,  died  October  31, 1WI4,  at  Cairo,  Illinois. 
Cyrus  A.  Br  nks,  St.  Paul  ;  discharged  with  regiment. 
Chaplain.    Ezra  K.  Latlirop,  resigned, 'October  27, 1864. 


Ooloncl. 

IifetU.  Col. 
Major. 


'ant, 
a»ter. 


Su/rgeon. 
AitL  Surg. 


Organized  August,  1864.    Stationed  at  frontier  poste  until  June,  1863,  when 
ordered  upon  Indian  Expedition.    Engaged  with  Indians  July  24.  26,  and  2S 

1863.  Oraered  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  October,  1863;  thence  to  Columbus,  Ky., 
April,  1864;  thence  to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  June,  1864,  and  assigned  to  l6tii 
Army  Corps.  Participated  in  the  following  marches,  battles,  sieges  and 
Bkim-'shes:  Battle  of  Tupelo,  July  13,  1865.    Oxford  Expedition,  August, 

1864.  Marohed  in  pursuit  of  Price  from  Brownsville,  Ark.,  to  Cape  Girardeau; 
thence  by  boat  to  Jefferson  City;  thence  to  Kansas  line;  thence  to  St.  Louis. 
Mo.  Battles  of  Naahville,  Tenn.,  December  15  and  16,  1864.  Spanish  Fori 
and  Fort  Blakely,  April,  1885.    Discharged  at  Fort  Snelling,  Aug.  19,  1865. 


KIiBVBNTH  BEGIHBNT,    IKFANTHT. 


OofawMl.  James  B.  Gtlflllan,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  with  regiment. 

lAeuL  CoL  John  Ball,  Winona  :  discharged  with  regiment 

Major.  Martin  Maglnnis.  discharged  with  regiment. 

AUdutant.  Horatio  D.  Brown,  discharged  with  regiment. 


▲PPBMDIX.  7 

Q.  Matttr.  Martin  Maglnnb,  promotfld  Major  Rpptember  13, 1884. 

Nathiinlol  C.  (laiilt,  (lIsi^harKed  witli  rt'Klioent. 
Bwrgeon.      llnuy  McMnlion,  Fort  Kli)Ujy  ;  (llschaiKCii  wltli  reKiment 
Am.  Surg.  IVtor  Gabrlelnoii,  St.  l'a>il  ;  dlwliarKctl  with  rcKlment. 

Kobert  U  Morris,  illsflharged  with  rttfliiicnt. 
Chaplain.    Charles  U.  BuwUish,  Qlencue  ;  dUetiarKud  with  regiinent 

Organized  AuKust,  1864.  Ordered  to  Nashville,  Tonnessee.  Engaged  in 
guarding  railroad  between  NoMhrille  and  Loui*Tille,  until  muster  out  of  regi- 
ment, June  '26,  1866. 

INFANTRY    BATTALIOH. 

l4mU.  OOI.  Mark  W.  Dowiilo,  Stillwater  ;  discharged  with  regiment,  July  14,  ISA 

Maior.         Frank  Houston,  St.  I'aul ;  dlsoharged  with  regiment. 

^(Mutant.    James  H.  I'lnce,  St.  Cloiul ;  discharged  with  regiment. 

Q.  UatUr.  John  W.  Pride,  St.  Aiitliony  ;  discharged  with  regiment 

Swgton.     John  U.  LcRloiide.  illsoharged  with  regiment. 

Am.  Surg.  Charles  U.  Spear,  Minneapolis ;  discharged  with  regiment 

Originally  consisted  of  two  companies,  or^^jiized  from  the  rc-enlisted  vet- 
erans, stay-over  men,  and  recruits  of  the  Frrst  Regiment  Minnesota  Infantry 
Volunteers.  Oidered  to  Washington,  D.  f'.,  May,  1864;  joined  Army  of  the 
Potomac  June  10, 1864.  Porticyated  in  It'i  following  engagements:  Peten- 
burg,  Va.,  June  18, 1864:  Jerusalem  Ph  ml.  itoads,  Va.,  June  22  and  23,  1864; 
Deep  Bottom,  Va.,  July  27,  1864;  Deep  Bottom,  Va.,  August  14,  1864; 
Ream's  Station,  Va.,  August  26,  1864;  Hatcher's  Run,  Va.,  October  27,  1864; 
Hatcher's  Run,  February  5, 1865.  Company  C  joined  March  27, 186.5.  Took 
active  part  in  campaign  commencing  March  fc,  1865,  and  resulting  in  the 
capture  of  Petersburg,  Va.,  April  2,  1865.  Four  new  companies  jomed  at 
Barkflville,  Va.,  April,  1865.  Marched  from  Berksville,  Va.,  to  Washington, 
D.  C,  May,  1865.  Two  new  companies  joined  at  Washington.  Ordered  to 
Louisville,  Ky.,  June,  1865.  Mustered  out  at  Jeffersonville,  Ind.,  July  14, 
1865.    Discharged  at  Fort  Snelling,  Minnesota,  July  25, 1865. 

HEAVY  ARTILLERY,    FIRST  REGIMENT.  \ 

Colonel.       ■William  Colvllle,  Red  Wing  ;  discharged  by  order  May,  1866. 
lAeut.  Col.  Luther  L.  Baxter,  Shakopee  ;  discharged  with  regiment,  Sept.,  ItM. 
Maior.         Luther  L.  Baxter,  Shakopee  :  promoted  Lieut.  Col.,  February  23,  IWS. 

Orlando  Eddy,  (liscliarned  wltfi  regiment. 

Ohrl.stqplier  C.  lleirellliiger,  discharged  with  regiment. 

David  Mlsner,  discharged  with  regiment. 
Swgton.     Milo  M.  Meade,  Winona ;  discharged  with  regiment. 

Clinton  G.  Stees,  St.  Paul  ;  resigned,  June  24, 1805. 
Attt.  Swg.  MUo  M.  Meadu,  promoted  July  19, 1866. 

J.  C.  Ithodes,  SUllwatcr,  discharged. 
Chaplain.   Charles  Grlswold,  Winona ;  discharged  with  regiment. 

Organized  April,  1865.  Stationed  at  Chattanooga,  until  mustered  out  with 
regiment,  in  September,  1865. 

SHARP  SHOOTERS,   FIRST  COMPANY. 


Francis  Peteler,  Captain,  Anoka ;  promoted  Lieut.  Col.  2d  Reg't  U.  S.  S.,  Feb.  10, 1868. 
Benedict  Hinler,  1st  Lieutenant,  promoted  Capt.,  Feb.  10. 1862  :  resigned  July  28, '62. 
Dudley  P.  Chase,  Minneapolis  :  promoted  1st  Lieutenant,  Feb.  10, 1802  ;  Capt.  July 
18. 1862 ;  died  of  wounds  in  battle  of  Chancellorvllle,  Va. 


APPBBTMX. 


8HABF  8HOOTBR8,  SECOND  COMFA»T. 

Wm.  F.  Russell,  Ctiptaln  ;  reslgped  Feb.  20, 1863. 

r  mil  A.  Burner,  Captain  j  resigned  Nov.  23, 1863. 

biahlon  K,  .5k,  Gaplalu. 

Emll  A.  IJuiger,  l8t  Lieutenant ;  promoted  Captain,  Feb.  20, 1863. 

John  A.  W.  .Jones,  1st  Lieutenant ;  resigned  May  28, 188o. 

Mahlon  Black.  1st  Lieutenant ;  promoted  Captain,  Nov.  23, 1863. 

Louts  Fitzl'ntnons,  1st  Lieutenant. 

Jolin  A,  W.  Jones,  ?(1  Lieutenant ;  promoted  int  Lleuionaat,  February  20,  IBM. 

Mahlon  ''U;ick,  2d  Lieutenant :  promoted  1st  Lloutenaat.  , 

Daniel  H.  I'rlest,  2d  Lieuteuiint. 

The  company  left  St.  Paul,  Mii^n.,  April  21,  1862;  reported  by  order  of 
Maj.  Uen.  McClellan  to  the  Ist  Regt.  U.  S.  S.  S.  at  Yorktown,  Va.,  May  6, 
1862.  May  22, 1862,  by  speci",;  Order  No.  153,  issued  by  Maj.  Gen.  McClellan, 
the  company  was  aBsijjnea  for  duty  with  the  1st  Minn.  Vols.,  and  on  dutywitb 
that  r«.,jriment  from  June  1,  1862,  and  participating  in  all  the  enga^gementa 
and  battles  of  said  regiment  until  ita  muster  out  from  the  U.  S.  service.  All 
ihe  enlisted  men  of  the  company  whose  term  of  service  had  not  th'^n  expired, 
were  transferred  to  companies  A  and  B  of  the  1st  Minn.  Regiment  Infantry, 
in  pursuance  of  special  Order  No.  i02,  Head  Quarters  Army  of  the  Fotomao. 
dated  April  22,  I860. 


OAVALHY — MOtJNTED  HANGKKa,   FIB8T  BEaiUBMT. 


CoUmeh       Samuel  Mc?hall,  Caledonia;  discharged  with  regiment. 

liieut.  Col.  ■William  Plaeudeij  New  Ulm  ;  discliaiged  with  regiment. 

Slaior.        Jolm  H.  Parker,  Warsaw  ;  discliaiged  with  regiment. 
Salmon  A.  Buell,  St.  Peter  :  dlsciiarged  with  regi'  'ent, 
Orrln  T.  Hayes,  Hastings  ;  Discharged  with  regiment. 

A^iitamt    William  M.  I'lerce,  Oronoco  ;  discharged  with  regiment. 

Duncan  K.  Kennedy,  St.  Peter  ;  dlsrharged  with  regiment 
"■        ■  •■  '■■   •  vh" 


8iMa»te,r. 
om'hsary. 
Surueon. 
Ami.  Surg, 

Chaplain. 


Edward  D.  Col)b,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  with  rogimeut. 

.losiah  8.  Weiser,  Hliakopee :  kiiic  1  .lulv  24, 1863,  battle  Big  Mound.  D.  T. 

Keginald  H.  Biiigiiam,  Winona;  resigned  for  promotion.  May  7, 1863. 

James  C.  Rhodes,  Stillwater;  discliaiged  with  regiment 

Thomas  £.  Inman,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  with  regiment. 


Organized  March,  1868  Upon  the  frontier  until  May,  1863.  Indian  Expe- 
dition. Engaged  with  Indians,  Jaly  24,  26,  28,  1863.  Mustered  out  by 
companies  between  Oct.  ^  aiid  Dec.  w,  18(83. 


OAVAIJIY — aRACKETT  S  iATTALLIOH, 


Major.        AUrtti  B.  Brackeit,  8t.  Paul;  discharged  May  16, 1866. 


Originally  Ist  2d  anu  3d  companies  of  this  cavalry  organized  October  and 
November,  1861.  Ordered  to  Benton  Barracks,  Mo.,  December,  1861.  A88ig:...d 
to  a  regiir^nt  called  Curtis  Horse.  Ordeied  to  Fort  Henry,  Tenn.,  Febraary, 
1862.  Name  of  regiment  changed  to  5th  Iowa  cavalry,  April,  1862,  as  com- 
Ipanips  G,  D  and  K.  Engaged  in  siege  of  Corinth,  Apnl,  1862.  Ordered  to 
Fort  Heiman,  Temi.,  August,  1862.  Veteranized  Fenruarj,  1864.  Ordered 
to  Department  of  Noiihwest,  1864.     Ordeied  upon  Indian  Expedition.    En- 

agHJ  v.-ith  Indians  .luly  28,  and  August,  1864.    Mus^^red  out  by  companies 

et>  een  May.  1863  and  June,  1866. 


APPBJSTDIX. 


Oolonet. 
Lieut.  Col. 
Motor. 


Adjutant. 
Q.  Master. 
Utg.  Com. 
Surgeon. 
A-Btt.  Surer, 


fl^TJLMlV— BKCOHD  REOIMEin>. 

II?SJP  N.  McLaren,  iMJu  Wine:  discharged  with  regiment,  Wov.  17,  •« 

William  Plaender,  New  Ulm;  discharged  Dec.  7,  ISsS 

Ebenezor  A.  Bice,  Wilton;  dlBCtaarged  Dec.  6,  ISM. 

John  M.  Thompson,  Uokah ;  resigned  May  1, 1865. 

Bobert  H.  Bo3e,  Belle  Plalne ;  discharged  April  2, 1866. 

John  K.  .Tones,  Chatfteld ;  discharged  with  regiment. 

John  T.  Morrison,  Rose  Mound ;  discharged  with  regiment, 

Martin  Williams,  St.  Peter ;  discharged  with  regiment. 

Andiow  J.  Whitney,  St.  Paul :  discharged  with  regiment. 

Jared  V.  Daniels,  St.  Peter ;  discharged  with  regiment. 


Joseph  /..  Vervals,  St.  Pa>il ;  dismissed  Nov.  6. 1864, 
John  A.  McDonald.  Cliiiska ;  discharged  Dec.  4, 1866. 
Charles  J.  Farley,  St.  Paul ;  discharged  April  2, 1866. 
Chaplain.    Samuel  B.  Paine,  ChampUn ;  dlsctiarged  with  regiment  , 

Organized  JaLuaiy,  1864.  Indian  Expedition.  Enffafi^ed  with  Indiana, 
July  28,  1864.  Stationed  at  frontier  posts  and  musterea  out  from  Nov.,  1865, 
to  June,  1866. 

OAVAIjKT— INDKPBMDKNT   BATTALION. 

lAeitt.  Cot.  0.  Powell  Adams,  Hastings ;  discharged  with  battalion. 
Idajor.        E.  A.  C.  Hatch,  St.  Paul ;  resigned  Ji...e,  1864. 

C.  Powell  Adams,  Hastings ;  promoted  Lieut.  Col..  September  6, 1894. 

Henning  Von  Minden,  St.  I'aul ;   discharged  with  battalion. 
Asst.  Surg.  John  L.  Armington,  Hastings;  olscharged  March,  1864. 

Clinton  O.  Btoes,  Philadelphia;  promoted  Surgeon  ist  Regiment  Minn. 
Heavy  Artillery. 

HlppoUte  J.  belgneuret,  Hender&on ;  discharged  with  battalion. 

Organized  July  20,  186-3.  Ordered  to  Pembina,  D.  T.,  October,  1863. 
Ordered  to  Fort  Abercixjmbie,  D.  T.,  May,  1864.  Stationed  at  Fort  Aber- 
crombie  until  mustered  out.  Mustered  out  by  companies  from  April,  1866, 
to  June,  1866. 


AKTILLBBY— FIRST    BATTKBY. 


Emil  Mur.ch,  Cantain,  Chengwatana ;  resigned  December  2S,  1862. 

Vllllam  Pteiider,  Sen.  Ist  Lieut.,  New  Ulm ;  resigned  for  commission  in  Minnesota 

Mounted  rangers. 
Ferd.  E,  Peebles.  Jun.  let  Lieut,  Winona :  resigned  Aug.  18, 1862. 
Elchard  Fischer.  Sen.  2d  Lieut.,  New  Ulm ;  resigned  Aug.  18. 1862. 
8.  Fred  Cook,  Jun.  2d  Lieut.,  Winona:  resigned  October  li,  1862. 

Organized  October,  1861.  Ordered  to  St.  Louis,  December,  1861;  thence 
to  Pittsburg  Landing,  Febraary,  1862.  Engaged  in  the  following  marches, 
battles,  sieges  and  skirmislies:  Shiloh,  Apnl  5th  and  6th,  1862;  siege  of 
Corinth,  April,  1862;  Corinth,  October  8a  and  4th,  1862;  marched  from 
Corinth  to  Oirfbrd,  Miss.;  thence  to  Memphis,  Tenn.  Assigned  to  17th  Army 
Oorps,  November,  1862.  Veteranized  January,  1864.  Ordered  to  Cairo, 
Illinois;  thence  to  Huntsville,  Ala.;  thence  to  Altoona,  Ga.;  thence  to  Ack- 
worth,  Ga.;  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain ;  Atlanta,  July  22d  and  28th;  Sher- 
man's campaign  through  Georgia  and  tlie  Carohnaa.  Discharged  at  Fort 
Snelling,  Alinu.,  June  '-'J,  1865. 


'^'1 


10 


APPEKDIX. 


ABTIUiEKY— SECOND  BATTEBT. 

W.  A.  Hotchklss,  Oaptaln,  Anoka :  dlsctiaraed  with  battery,  Aug.  10, 1860. 
GHStave  Rosenk,  Sen.  1st  Lieut.,  St.  Paul;  discharged  Sept.  11, 1862. 
Albert  Woodbi  ry,  Jun.  1st  Lieut.,  Anoka:  died  from  wounds. 
Jackson  Taylor,  Sen.  2d  Lieut.,  Buffalo  ;  resigned  April  24, 1862. 
Blchard  L.  Dawley,  Jun.  2d  Lieut,  St.  Charles :  promoted  ist  Lieutenant. 

Oi'gonized  December,  1861.  Ordered  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  April,  18G2  \&\ 
to  Corinth,  May,  1862.  Participated  in  the  following  marches,  batHi* 
and  skinniahea:  Siege  of  Corinth,  April,  1862:  Bragg's  raid.  Ardgi  u  ri/ 
Army  of  the  Tennesse.  Battle  of  Perryville,  October  8th  and  9th,  1862; 
Lancaster,  October  12,  1862;  Knob  Gap,  December  20,  1862;  Stone  River, 
December  30,  1862;  Tullahoma.  Marched  to  Rome,  Ga.,  via  Stephenson, 
Ala.,  Caperton's  Ferry  and  Lookout  Mountain;  Chickamauga,  Sept.  19  and 
20,1863;  Mission  Ridge;  Ringgold,  Georgia.  Marched  to  relief  of  Knorville, 
Tenn.j  Buzzard's  Roost  Gap.  Veteranized  March,  1864.  Nashville,  Dec. 
15  and  li6, 1864.    Mustered  out  July  13, 1865.     Discharged  at  Fort  Suelling 


ABTILLBBT — THIRD  BATTERY. 


John  Jones,  Oaptaln,  St,  Paul ;  discharged  with  battery. 
John  0.  Whipple,  Sen.  1st  Lieut.,  Faribault ;  dl.schiirgea  with  battery, 
Horace  H.  Western,  Jun.  I3t  Lieut.,  St.  Paul ;  dlsclia-ged  with  battery. 
Dr.  A.  Daniels, Sen.  2d  Lieut.,  Rochester;  resigined  D.^cember  29, 1868. 
Oad  M.  Duelle.  Jun.  2d  Lieut.,  Lake  Olty ;  discharged  with  battery. 


Organized  February,  1868.  Ordered  upon  Ind)<ui  Expedition  of  1863;  par- 
ticipated in  engagement  with  Indians,  July  24,  26  atd  28,  1863;  stationed  at 
frontier  posts  until  May,  1864,  when  entered  upon  Indian  Expedition  of  186  i. 
Engaged  with  Indians  July  28,  1864,  and  August,  1864;  upon  return  of  expe- 
ditiOQi  stationed  at  frontier  post  vmtil  muetor  out  of  batteiy,  Feb.  27,  I860. 


p. 


(jt- 


(2; 
Br, 
m, 
id 
le, 


QEISrERAL  IISTDES:. 


at 

18- 


rOE  EVENffS  DURING  CIVIL  WAB  1861— 1S65,  8EB  KILITABY  INDEX. 


Accau,  see  Ako. 

Aitkin,  trader  at  Sandy  Lake,    428, 

432,  457 

Aitkin,  Alfred 416,  421 

Aitkin,  John 416 

Aitkin,  William. 416 

Aiton,  J.  F.;  on  stone  heaps 187 

Ako,  Michael,  viii.,  ix.,  127. 129,   133 
Albanel,  Charles,  Jesuit, 

Aldrich,  Cyrus,  M,  C 773 

Alien,  Lt.  James,  escorts  School- 
craft in  1832, 403;  makes  a  map 
of  Itasca  Lake,  407 ;  canoe  rap- 
iezed,  408;    displeased    with 

Schoolcraft 411 

Alien,  Capt.,  military  expedition  .472 
Allouez,  Claude,  Jesuit,  107, 108,   1 1 1 

American  Fur  Co 293 

American  Troops  take  Prairie  du 

Chien 283 

Ames,  Michael  E 525,  547 

Anderson,  trader's  clerk. . .  .259,  261 

Andr6,  Jesuit 120 

Andrews,  C.  C 774 

Arjeli-an,  see  Enjelran. 

Antaya  of  Prairie  du  Chien 236 

Apportionment  by  Logislature. .  .548 

Ac^uipaKuetin,  Sioux  Chief 131 

Ancarees 54 

Arctic  Explorers  at  St.  Paul 615 

Armitinffer,   British  trader 281 

Askin,  John,  British  trader. 280,  281 

Assineboine  River, 

Assineboines,         52,101,103,122,185 

' '       descnbed  by  LeSueur .  .  1 66 

"       trading  posts  destroyed  231 


Astor,  John  Jacob 293,  47& 

Atkinson,  Col 337,  398,  412,  413 

Austin,  Gov.  Horace,  notice  of  ad- 
ministration   759 

Averill,  J.  T.,  M.  C,  notice  of, . .  .774 
Ayer,  Frederic,  Chippeway  teacher, 
424,  428,  481 

B 

Babasikanisiba,  Chippeway  Chief.  325 

Babcock,  L.  A 612,  545 

Backus,  Capt.,  U.  S.  A 474 

Backus,  Miss,  teacher. 520 

Bailly,  British  tnider 283 

Bailly,  Alexis,  trader,  414,4.53,493.512 
Baker,  B.  F.,  trader. . .  .382, 415, 453 

Balcombe,  St.  A.  D 61» 

Baldwin  School 587, 763 

Ball  play,  Indian 75,  273 

Bancroft,  Historian,  at  St.  Paul.  .597 

Bank  Robbery  at  Northfield 766 

Banning,  W,  L 767 

Barnes,  Rev.  Albert,  xlix. 

Barrett,  Indian  ttader 381 

Barton,  Ara 760 

Bass.  J.  W 491,495 

Batchdder,  G.  W 774 

Bay  des  Puants,  see  Green  Bay. 
Beauhamois,  Gov.  of  Canada, 

183,  189,  191 
Beaux  Horames  tribe,  xix. 
Beauieu  killed  at  Fort  Duquesne,  195 

Beaulieu,  trader 5.33 

Beavers  roasted  for  food. ...  ...  .2't8 

Becker,  G.L 775 

Bplanger,  trader 405 

Belfour,  Capt.   

Beilin's  Description  of  America.  .145 


I 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Beltrami  at  Fort  Snelling,  33 1,342, 
379;  described,  336;  his  bold 
project,  349;  deserted  by  jfuide, 
'3  his  umbrella,  367;  at  Red 
f-  '■  5"'  at  northern  source  of 
iu  i  ^1  371;  at  west  source 
of  A,  pi,  371;    at  Leech 

I^ke,  .      ,    Sandy  Lake,  377; 
at  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  378 
Berthot  Colin  murdered, 

Bianswah,  Indian  Chief 220 

Bible,  an  old 477,584 

Birch  bark  canoe,  making  of,  387,  425 

Bilansky,  Michael,  poisoned 640 

"        wife  hung.... 640 

Bird,  a  Red  River  voyageur 460 

Bishop,  Harriet  E 482 

Black,  C.  F 774 

Black,  Capt.  Mahlon 512 

Black  Dog's  village 342 

Black  Hawk  War,  280,  285,  414, 415 

Black  River 103 

Black  Feet  Indians, 

Blein,  French  trader 144 

Bliss,  Major  U.  S.  A 412,  441 

Blodgett's  Climatology,  xxxiii. 

Boal,J.  Mc 511 

Bobe,  a  learned  priest,         expo- 
ses La  Hontan,  on  Pacific 
route, 
Boisguiilot,  Wis.  trader,  vi.,  141,  143 

Borup,  C.  W.,  trader 416 

Bottineau,  Pierre 452 

Boucher  de  Niverville,  xxi. 
Boucher,  see  La  Perriere. 

Boura.ssa,  a  trader 311 

Boutiilier,  C.  W.,  see  Mil.  Index. 

BoutiJlier,  Francis 320 

Boutwdl,  Rev.  W.  T.,  companion 
of  Schoolcraft,  403  j  describes 
country,  409 — 10;  visits  Nicol- 
let, 418;  threatened  by  Indians, 
421;  at  LaPointe  Mission,  428; 
at  Leech  Lake,  432;  marria^ 
of,  439;  at  Stillwater,  483;  let- 
ters from,  432—438. 
Bradley,  Corporal  U.  S.  A.,  253,  256 

Braildock's  defeat 195 

Bremer,  Fredrika,  at  St.  Paul.  ..543 
Bridge,  first  across  Mississippi. .  .613 

Brislnn,  J.  B 615,318 

Brisbois,  Michael .320 

Bnsotte,  a  trader 520 

British  influence 278,  329 

British  Posts  abandoned 239 

Brochets,  tribe  of, 

Brown,  Joseph  R.,  331, 415, 452, 462, 
507,  519,  594 


Bruce,  Indian  Ag't 4S0 

Brunson,  B.  W 495,  512,  52i 

Brusky,  Cliarles,  trader 227 

Buade,  Louis,  Count  Prontenac.  .138 

Buell,  D,  L 764 

Buffalo,  hunting  of 449—451 

"  last  seen  east  of  Mississ- 
ippi, 451 ;  Mai'quette  describes, 
4k;  Hennepin's   picture,  451; 

Bulger,  Capt 187 

Bulwer,  SirE.  L.,translat€8]Schil- 
ler'a  poem  on  Sioux  Chief  ...  59 

Bungo,  a  Negrojibway 324,  416 

Burial  scaffold  near  St.  Paul 412 

Burkleo,  Samuel 511 

Burnett.  Indian  Agent 413 

C 

Cadillac,  see  Lamotte. 

Cadotte,  Michael 280,  404 

Calhoun,  John  C 319 

Calhoun,  Lake,  why  named 338 

Callieres,  Gov.  of  Canada 137 

Cameron,  Duncan  of  N.  W.  Co.,  304 

305,  307.  308 

Cameron,  Murdock,  242, 243, 268, 275 

276, 278. 

Campbell,  Colin. .' 829 

Campbell,  Duncan 382 

Campbell,  John 382 

Campbell,  Lt.,  TJ.  S.  A 285 

Camp  Cold  Water 321,  327 

Canadians  robbed  by  Sioux.  .164,  169 

Cannibalism 281,  532 

Cannon  I  Inyanbosndata)  River.  .159 
Canoes  of  birch,  how  made.  .389, 415 
Capital,  proposed  removal  to  St. 

Peter 318,  619 

Cartier,  Jacques,  explorer 99 

Carver's  Cave,  burial  place,  207; 
Schiller's  poem  on  Sioux  Chief 
buried  there,  89;  M^'or  Long's 
visit,  207,249;  examined 

by  Nicollet,  208;  Pike  could  not 
find  it,  267. 
Carver,  Jonathan,  early  life, 

202;  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  203; 
description  of  Saint  Anthony's 
Falls,  xliv.,  208;  his  Sioux  vo- 
cabulai-y,  95;  his  short  route  to 
Pacific,  213;  supposed  origin  of 
Sioux,  214;  claim  of  his  heirs, 
215 — 219;  alleged  speech  over 
Sioux  Chief,  211;  Martha,  his 
daughter,  216. 


GENERAL  IKDEX. 


B 


Cass,  Gov.  Lewis  explorations,  320 
— 322;  at  Red  Cedar,  now  Casa 
Lake,  323;  at  Camp  Cold  Water, 
326;  at  Fountain  Cave,  325;  at 
Little  Crow's  village,  326;  in 
Winnebago  war,  3y8. 

Catlin,  George,  artist 416 

Cavanaugh.  J.  M.,  M.  C 772 

Census  of  Minnesota,  xlix.,  505,508 
Chambers,  Sioux  Commissioner.  .518 

Champlain,  the  explorer 99 

Charleville's  description  of  St.  An- 
thony Falls,  xliv. 
Charlivoix  on  the  word  Sioux,  51; 
describes  Isle  Pele6, 148;  alludes 
to  blue  earth,  171. 
Chatfield,  Judge  A.  G.  .589,  773,  776 

Chavigny,  a  voyageur 120 

Chegoimegon,  see  La  Pointe 

Cherrotiere,  a  voyageur 120 

Chevaliei-  Amable 237 

Cheyennes 54 

Chickasaws 178,  229 

Cbippeways  (also  called  Ojibways, 
Acnipou<5,  OutchipouCs,  Chip- 
ouds,  Chippeweigns,  and  Saul- 
teurs)  102,  107,  108,  112,  113, 
139, 148, 149, 177. 
180, 181. 197. 199, 212,223, 245; 
attacked  by  Sioux,  108, 224, 3.38, 
339, 340, 392, 402;  at  Rum  River 
and  St.  Croix,  457,  463,  526; 
attack  Sioux,  405,  454;  at  Fort 
Snelling,  456, 462, 463, 469, 471 ; 
protected  at  Fort  Snelling.  392, 
474;  woman  recovers  after  beins 
scalped,  386;  kill  a  Sioux  girl 
in  Hennepin  county,  608. 
Chippeway  Chief,  Flat  Mouth.  .260 

405  407 

"  "  Old  Sweet '.261 

"  ••  DeI3reche,..261,323 

"  "  Hole-in-the-Day.464 

"    "    Jr.527,551 
Ohippeway  Missions,  425,4:32,453,464 
467,  470,  550 
Chippeway  Missionaries,  Rev.  W. 
l^Boutwell,  403, 421, 432;  Rev. 
Sherman  Hall,  404,  425,  427, 
431.     Frederic  Ayer,  teacher, 
425,428,  470;  E.  F.  Ely,  teach- 
er, 432,  468. 

China,  route  to 135 

Chouteau  vnsits  Osages 247 

Clark,  Ciipt.  N 321,  333,  392 

"     CoLGeo,R 229 

"     Governor 283,  327,  335 

"     Agent  of  Carver  Claim.  ..216 


Climate  of  Minnesota.  x:xxii. 
Clough,  W.  P.  argument  before 

U.  S.  Supreme  Court 761 

Cloutier  Alex.,  liquor  seller 578 

Cobb,  Rev.  D 759 

Coe,  Rev.  D.  at  Fort  Snelling. . .  .899 

Colbert,  Ministor  of  France, 146 

Columbia  Fur  Co 830,  .342. 391 

Constitutional  Conv'nt'n,  626,627,628 
Cooper,  Judge  D.  .502,  503, 509, 775 
Council  of  Pike  with  Sioux l!48 

"      at  Prairie  du  Chien 383 

Coquard,  Rev.  Claude,        195 

"  lett^ondeathof  St.  Pierre, 
Com,  Indian  mode  of  gathering. 444 

Couriers  des  Bois 116, 117, 171 

Courts,  first  in  Minnesota 509 

Cox,  E.St.  J 775 

Crawford,  British  trader 281 

"    County,  Wis 320 

Cree  insults  a  Sioux Ill 

Cresafi,  Chevalier,        148 

Cretin,  R.  C,  Bishop 685 

Cristenaux, 

Crow  River 258 

"       petrifactions,  a  hoax.. 576 

Crow  Win<?  battle 222 

Cullen,  W.  J...   773 

Culver,  George 485,  486 

Curry,  Thomas 231 

D 

Dablon,  Jesuit  missionary 120 

Dakotah,  meaning  of 69 

Dakotahs,  see  Sioux. 

Davis,  Gov.  Cushman  K 760, 661 

Day,  Dr.  David ..520,  580 

Deac«,  trader 280,  283 

De  Caumont,  Sieur 144 

DeCorbiere 199 

DefaultofN.  W.  Co 238 

Dekorah,  Winnobi^fo  Chief.  397,  414 
DelaBarre,  Gov.,  ...138,140 

De  la  Come  succeeds  St.  Pierre, 
De  la  Tour,  Jesuit, 
DelaToureiie,  brother  of  DuLuth, 

142 
De  Lignery,  180;  attacks  Fox  In- 
dians, 18.5,  189;  at  Braddock's 
defeat,  195. 
Del'Isle,  his  maps,  xlvi. 

De  Lorimer 197 

De  Lusignan  visits  Sioux 191 

Demociiitic  Party  organizes 518 

Denonville,  Gov, ,  149 

Denis,  early  trader 160 

De  Noyelles  succeeds  Verendrye, 


OEKERAL  INDBX. 


Detroit  attacked 157 

D'Evaque  in  charge  of  fort  at  Blue 

Earth,  xvi 176 

Devenport,  Ambrose 416 

WiUiam 416 

De  Vincennea  at  Detroit 177 

De  Peyster,  British  commander  at 
Mackinaw,  228;  verses  on  Wa- 
pasha,  228;  notice  of,  229. 

Dewey,  J.  J 495,  512 

D'Iberville,  Gov.  of  Louisiana,  ex- 
poses Hennepin,  viii;  his  report, 
171;  list  of  Indian  tribes,  171. 
Dickson,  Col.  Robert,  236,  237,  250 
261,  261, 263, 267, 276, 279, 280, 
283,  287,  290,  291. 
Dickson,  William,  trader  at  Lao 

Traverse 882,  461 

Dieskau,  Baron 196 

Dinwiddie,  Gov.  of  Virginia 196 

Dirty  Indian  villages 97 

Dodge,  Gen.  defeats  Black  Hawk, 

402;  treats  with  Sioux 453 

Dog  meat  valued 80,  376 

Donnelly ,  Ignatius,  M.  C. . .  .646, 773 

Doty,  Sioux  Commissioner 469 

Douglas,  Capt 322 

Dousman,  H.  L 242,  283,  590 

Dreuilletes,  Gabriel,  Jesuit,  102,  113 

120 
Drovers  maltreated  by  Sioux  . . .  .472 

Drunkenness  among  Sioux 510 

Dubuque,  Julien 236 

Dufautt,  Louis,  tiudcr 416 

Dugas,  Wilham 512,  618 

Du  Gay,  Picard 127,  129,  133 

Dn  Luth  (or  Du  Lut,  Dulhut,  De 
Luth,  121,  122 

137,  138,  140,  141, 142. 

Dunn,  Judge  Charles .483 

DunneU,  Mark  H.,  M.  C 774 

Duprat 120 

Dupuis 120 

E 

Earth  Works 204,  408 

Eastman,  Capt.,  U.  S.  A 485 

"       Mrs.,  poem  on  seal  of 

Minnesota 517 

Eatonville  on  Lake  Calhoun 399 

Election,  first  in  Minnesota 507 

Election  returns 520 

Elk  Lake,  now  Itasca 371 

Elk  River 209 

EUett.  Mrs.  describes  Ft.  Snelling,  335 
Ely,  E.  F.,  Indian  teacher,  432,  466 
English  strife  for  the  West 179 


Eivjalran,  Jesuit  Missionary,     .  .141 

P 

Fairbanks,  J.  H.,  trader 416 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony  described  by 
Barnes,  xlix;  Beltrami,  377; 
Boutwell,  410 j  Carver,  xliv; 
Charleville,  vhv;  Hennepin, 
xlii;  Long,  Penicaut, 

garrison  mill  at,  377,  399,  409; 
first  literary  address  at,521;  first 
steamboat  at,  527;  first  steam- 
boat above,  634. 
Falls  of  St.  Croix,  fight  at,  223; 

early  settlers,  416. 
Falls  of  St.  Mary,  council  of  1671, 

120 

Faribault,  Alexander 388,  533 

J.  B 415,463 

Oliver 632 

Pelagie 463 

Featherstonhaugh,  geologist,  416, 442 

476 

Ferry,  Rev.  W.  M 424 

Fillmore,  Ex-Pres't,  at  St.  Paul.  .697 

Finley,  trader 881 

Fmdley,  John 220 

Fire,  the  first  in  St.  Paul 528 

Fireworks  at  Fort  Beaubarnois..  183 

Fish  in  lakes  nurjerous 436,  439 

Fish  dance,  76;  at  Kaposia 628 

Fisher,  trader  at  Prarie  du  Chien,  242 

Flag  hoisted  at  Itasca  Lake 407 

Flandrau,  Chas.  E 625 

"        see  Military  Index. 
Fletcher,  Winnebago  Agent,  483,484 
Flom*  mill  explos  'n  at  Minneapoli8,769 

Flood  at  Red  River 380 

Flood  of  1728. 184 

Forbes,  W.  H.,  496, 607, 509, 511, 533 

Ford,  JohnA 518 

Ford,  Dr.  John  D 633 

Forney,  John  W 609 

Forsyth,  Major 322 

Forsyth,  T.,  m  1819,  atMendota, 
Fort  Beaunamois,   Lake  Pepin, 

788 
"    Bourbon, 

"    Crawford 397 

"    CreveccBur 127 

"    Douglas 311 

"    Edward 196 

"    Frontenac 124, 142 

•'    George  ( Wm.  Heni7) 202 

"    GreenBay 203 

"    Jonquiere, 

"    LaReine,  800 


OEKEHAL  INDEX. 


Fort  Le  Sueur,  xvi.,  xlvi 148 

"    L'H'jilUer,  xvi.,  xlvi 164 

"    McKay 283 

"    Orange 126 

••    Praino  du  Chien 288 

••    Perrot,         138,145 

"    Shelby...   283,284 

Port  Snellinp:,  first  troops  at 319 

Camp  Cold  Water,  321 ;  comer 
stone  laid,  321 ;  first  birth  at,  327 ; 
crave  yard,  327;  first  atieam- 
Boat  arrival,  333;  Indian  fight 
in  1827,  338;  church  organized, 
443;  Indian  troubles  at,  456; 
Bguatters  removed,  459;  mar- 
riage at,  523;  Indian  council  in 
1850,  528.  Indians  hung  at,  767 

Fort  St.  Charles,        300 

"  St.  Nicholas 800 

"  St.  Pierre, 
Pourcelles,  Chevalier  de  la. 
Fourth  of  July  celebration,  1849.  .504 

Fox,  Chief,  speech  of 151 

Fox(Outagamis  Renard8)Indian8,  xiii. 
109,  111,  138, 139, 150, 155, 176, 180 
200, 203, 223, 230,  273,  400;  pe- 
culiar language,  176;  attack  De- 
troit, 177;  kill  traders,  189;  de- 
feated, 190;  fight  at  St.  Croix 
Falls,  223. 

Franklin,  Sir  John 615 

Franks,  Indian  trader 281 

Franquelin,  maps  of, 

Freeborn,  Mr 620 

Fremont,  John  C 420 

Frobisher  Brothers 231 

Fronchet,  a  voyageur 418 

Fuller,  A.  G 507 

Fuller,  Judge  Jerome 563 

Furber,  Joseph  W 511,  618 

Fur  trade,  mode  of 118, 119,  294 

"    "      value  of 330 

Fur  traders'  life,  115,  116,  178,  232 

429,430 


<Jagnier  killed  by  Red  Bird 895 

Galena  lead  mines 139, 155 

Galissoniere,  Gov.  of  Canada, 

Gamelle's  wife  killed 469 

Gardiner,  Charles 615 

Gardiner  family  killed  by  Sioux.  .622 
Garreau,  Jesuit  Missionary.  .102, 104 

Gear,  Rev.  E.  G 521,  534,  574 

George,  James  C 777 

Gervais,  Pierre,  early  settler 390 

Gervais,  B 472 


Giard,  trader  ait  Prairie  du  Chieu,238 

Oilman,  J.M 773 

Girl  disguised  as  Indian  boy 84 

Glengary  Fencibles 309 

Goddard,  British  trader 199 

Goodhue,  Jams  M.,  first  editor.  495 

547,574 
Gooding, Capt.  U.S.A.,  ,.  .327 
Goodrich,  Judge  A. 502, 503, 509. 563 

Goodrich.Earle  S.,  editor 394 

Gorelle,  Lieut,  at  Green  Bay. . .  .200 
Gorman,  Gov,  W.  A.,  see  Military 
Index,  588,  589,  593,  612,  614,  616 

Graham,  Duncan 317,  395,  397 

Graham,  of  Red  Wing 772,  775 

Grandin,  Francis 882 

Grand  Portage 232 

Grant,  British  trader. .  .255,  257,  269 

261,  263,  310 

Grasshoppers,  years  1818,  1819.  .316 

,  "  "    1874,  1875. .766 

Gravier,  Jesuit  Missionary, 

Gray  Iron,  Indian  Chief 62 

Greeley,  Elam 471 

Green  Bay ...148,199 

Griffin,  Lasalle's  ship 127 

Grisnon,  Pierre 236,  337 

Groselhers,  early  explorer, 

103, 141 

Groselliers  River,  113 

Gros  Ventres  Indians,        , 

Guerin,  voyageur 106 

Guipias,  Jesuit  Missionary. .  183, 186 

Guillet,  voyageur,  vi. 

Gun,  a  grandson  of  Capt.  Carver,  299 


Haha,  Sioux  name  for  waterfall,  xli. 
Half-breed  tract  on  Lake  Pepin.  .400 
Hall,  Rev.  Sherman,  Chippeway 
Missionary,  425;  arrived  at  La 
Pointe,  4®;  visits  Lacdu  Flam- 
beau, 429;  extracts  from  jour- 
nal, 425-^28. 

Hamilton,  W.S 412 

Harpole,  Paul  killed 286 

Harris,  early  trader 233,  236 

Hai-vestof  1877 767 

Hateh,  E.  A.  C„  see  Military  In- 
dex  289 

Havner,  Judge  H.  Z 578 

decision  on  liquor  law.  .579 

Hayokah,  Sioux  divinity 56 

Haypeedan,  Sioux  warrior 289 

Hebert,  a  voyageur 144 

Heckle,  Sergeant,  U.  S.  A 338 

Hempstead,  (Japt 286 


lij 


GEKEBAI,  IKDBX, 


Hennepin  County  created 565 

Hennepin,  Louis,  FranciBcan,early 
life,  124;    unreliable,  his 

map,  xlvi ;  jealous  of  the  Jesuits, 
xlvi  J  captured  by  Sio\ix,  65, 128; 
chants  the  litany,  129;  near  St. 
Paul,  181 ;  walks  to  Mille  Lacs, 
131;  his  steam  bath,  132;  bap- 
tizes an  infant,  132;  last  days 
of,  137. 

Henniss,  C.  J.,  editor 545 

Herbin,  French  officer 197 

Herschell's,  SirJohn.translation  of 
Bchiller's  poem  on  Sioux  Chief,  89 

Hess,  Indian  trader :. .  .331 

Historical  Society,  Ist  public  meet- 
ing and  annual  address 522 

Hobart,  Rev.  Chauncy. 522 

Hohays,  see  Assinebomes. 

Holcomb,  WiUiam,  letter  to 491 

Hole-in-the-Day,  Sr 454 

Jr.,  527,533,534,552 
Holmes,  Thomas,  old  settler,  401,512 

518 
Hopkins,  Rev.  Robert,  Sioux  Miss- 

Konary 471,539,537 

Horses,  Indians'  mode  of  buying,561 

Hosford,  Miss  A 520 

Houghton,  Edward 217 

Housekeeping,  primitive 439 

Hudson  Bay  Co 301,  So?  018 

Huff,  H.  D .775 

Huggins,  Alex.,  mission  farmer, 

442,  462 

Hughes,  James,  editor 508 

Humboldt  on  accidental  analogie8,215 
Hurons 106,  108,114 

I 

bupeachment  of  William  Seeger, 
StaM.  Treasurer 760 

[mpe<tchment  of  Sherman  Page, 
Judge  10th  district 769 

Indian  ball  play 75,  273 

"      bravery  at  Pokegama  . . .  .467 

"      chants 64,  70 

"      cruelty 70 

"      doctors 66,  67 

"      dog-dance 76 

"      fish-dance 501 

"      fops 73 

"      games 74 

"      idea  of  horses 561 

"      legends...  90—94 

"      mourning 445 

"      priests 61 

"     suicides 84 


Indian  traders ' S81 

"      warfare 193 

"      wives 72 

Indians,  tribes  or  bonds  of— 

Algonquin 111,194 

Ancarees 54 

Arkansas 95, 173 

Assineboine.xx.  52,101,111,122,166 

Bayogoulas. .  • 172 

Biloxi. 173 

Causes  (Kansas) 173 

Chactas  (Choctaws) 173,  229 

Cheyennes 54 

Chicachas  (Chicka8aws)173, 178,229 
Chippeways  (Achipou^s,   Out- 
chipouCs,  Saulteurs)  77,102,108, 
ll'^113,139,148,149,177,180,181 
197,199,212223,245. 

Conchas 173 

Colapissa 173 

Cristmaux Ill 

Crows, 

FoUeAvomes,  194,197,250,251,253 

265 
Foxes(Outagamis,Renard8)  xiii,109 
111,  138, 149, 150, 158,176,180  197 
200,203,223,2:30,273,400. 

Hurons 106,  108,  111,  IM,  139 

Illinois.  108,  111,  120, 128, 155, 177 
loways  (Ayo<i8,Ayavoi8,Aion^3) 
54, 154,162, 164,173, 176, 186,197.20C 

Iroquois 114,  140, 146,15^ 

KasKiUskias 194 

Kickapoo  (Quincapoos)  154,157,173 

186 

Mantanes (Mandans)  xix.,  xx.,.173 

Mascoutens,  138, 143,147 

173,  174 

Massachusetts 55 

Menomenees 150,  203,  400 

Miamis,         128, 130, 1138, 148, 150 
173,  174, 197 

Missisagues 194 

Missoun 173,177 

Mohawks, 

Nadcches 173 

NezPerces 120 

Nepissmgs 194 

Omahaws 54, 166,  173 

Osages 154,  177 

Ottawas  (Outaouacs)  112  120,  146 
147, 194,  196,  197 

Ouma  (Houmas) 173 

Ottoes  (Otoctatas)  54, 162,  164, 165 
166,  173 

Panis  (Pawnees)       1734 

Paoutees  (Piutes?) 153 

Pascagoulas 177 


GEKTEi'AL  INDEX. 


Indians,  tribes  or  bands  of— 
Petite  Cense  tribe, 

Pottawatomies 156, 194.  197 

Puanta  (Winncbagoes)  100.  14;} 
155, 194, 197,  273, 394, 398, 484 
Sauks,  109, 150, 155, 176,  180,  200 

203 

Senecas 140 

Sioux  (Nadouessioux,  Nadouessi, 
Nadouessiouack,  Dakotahs,) 
102.1107,  111,  112, 120, 122, 143, 
144,154,206,210. 

Issati  (leanyati)         .  .51,  134,  152 
Ihanktonwan  ( i  akton,  Hinhan- 

netons)  vii 52, 170, 226 

Mendeoucantons,  51,  164,  165 

169,  170,  230,  400 

Mantantons 144, 165,  166, 169 

OuadebatoDS  (Houetbatons)122,170 

Ouagetgeodatons 170 

Ouapetons  (Wakpa-atons)  144, 170 

225 

Outemanetons 170 

Ouoretgeodaton 170 

Oiyalespoitons 164, 166,  170 

Psuicbatons 170 

Psinoutanhhintons, 170 

Painchatons 170 

Sioux  of  tbe  West.  .162, 163, 170, 218 

Sioux  of  the  East 162,  170,  218 

Snake  Indians,  xix. 

Tonicas ...173 

Taensas 173 

Indiana  Territoi7  organized 240 

Inkpadootah's  attack  on  settlers  in 
Southwestern  Minnesota. 622 — 625 

Iowa  Territory  organized 416 

Ii-vine,  JohnB 495,  520 

Isle  Pele(5,  XV. 148 

Itasca,  Latin  jargon 407 


Jackson,  Henry,  early  settler,  479, 512 

518 

Japan,  mute  to 135 

Jarrot,  Nicholas 273,  278 

Jarvis,  Surgeon  U.  S.  A .446 

Jay's  treaty 238 

Jeffries  of  Columbia  Fnr  Co. ...  .330 
lemerays,   Vercndrye  a  nephew, 

fobin,  French  trader 149 

lohnson.  Gov 195,  212 

John,  trader 281 

"  Judge 320 

'I  Parsons  K 512,52 

Joliet,  French  explorer 120 


Jonea,  J.  R 773 

Jonciuiere,  Gov., 

Judicial  districts  organized 502 

K 

Kalm's,  Prof,  account  of  Veren- 

drye,xx 189 

Kamanistigoya,  v 194,  230 

Koposia,  Sioux  band,  131,281,326,480 
Kawimbash  Falls,  xl. 
Kay,  English  trader,  199,233,285,236 
Keating,  Wm.  H.  Mineralogist.  .841 

Keelboats  attacked 396 

Kettle  River  Falls,  xl. 

Keveney,  Owen  of  H'ds'n  Bay  Co.  312 

Kildonan  Settlement 304,  ;^08 

King,  Carver's  grandson. ..... .284 

"     Oscar 525 

"     William  S.,  M.  C 775 

Kingsbury,  W.  W,,  delegate  to 

Congress ...  .771 

Kinie,  Francis,  trader 453 

L 

La  Come,  French  oflScer 189 

La  Croix 281 

Laguimoniere  robbed 309 

La  Hiu-pe's  Narrative 190 

La  Hontan 142 

Laidlaw  takes  graia  from  Prairie 

du  Chien  to  Pembina 317 

Lake  Alempigon  (Nepigon)        .109 

"   Big  Stone 317,322 

"    Buade    (Isantamde,    Mille 

Lacs)  xl.,  xlvii.,  122,  139,  231 
"    Calhoun,  origin  of  name. .  .838 

"    Cass  (Red  Cedar) 823 

"    Dauphin, 

"    George  (St.  Sacrament). . .  .197 

"    Harriet 338,456 

"    Itasca 407 

"    Leech 372.377 

' '    Ouisconches  ( Wisconsin ) ...  144 
"    Pepin  (Des  Pleurs)  xlvi.,  131 
159;  fort  built  at,  183;  earth- 
works, 203;  old  fort,  206. 

"    Superior  CTracy) 110 

"    Rainy 301 

"    Traverse 317,302 

'♦    Winnipeg 300 

"    Woods,  300,463 

Lakes  of  Minnesota,  xxxjv. 

Lambert,  David 495,  507,  519 

Henry  A 511,518,520 

Lamberi»n,H.  W 773 

Lamonde 128,  124,  125 


i^ 


8 


GSKKBAL  IKOEX. 


Lamont,  Indian  trader 882 

Lamotte  Cadtillac 147 

LandHinsf,  trader  killed 200 

Landslide  at  Stillwater 573 

Landade 196,230 

La  Perrieie  du  Boncher  attacks 
Haverhill;  builds  fort  at  Lak'j 

Pepin,  183 

I^a  Place,  voyageur  killed 160 

LaPlante 197 

T^arpenteur,  A..  L 491, 518 

LaSaUe 119,123,127 

LaTaupine  (seeTaupine) 

Lea,  Luke,  Siouz  Commissioner.  .556 

Leach,  Calrin 471 

Leavenworth,  Gen.  U.S.A.,  217 

320,825 

LeDuc,  Philip 194 

W.U. 545 

Leech  Lake 372,  377,  456 

Legardeur,  Augustin 144 

Legend  of  Anpetu  Sapa 91 

ofEagleEye 91 

of  Scarlet  Dove 91 

of  Maidens  Rock 93 

ofMendota 90 

St.  Anthony  FaUs 92 

St.  Croix  River 94 

Legislature  of  Temtory,  Ist  sess'n  511 
"    names  of  oflBcers  and  mem- 
bers  511,512 

organizes  new  counties  . .  •  .513 
sends    Red   Pipestone   for 
Washington  monument... 518 

second,  1851 546 

names  of  members 546 

third,  1852 564 

names  and  occupations  of 

members 564 

fourth,  1853 580 

members  of 580 

railway  predictions 581 

fifth,  1864 592 

members  of 593 

railroad  discussion 594 

sixth.  1855 613 

officers  of 613 

railway  bill  passed  over  veto  614 

seventh,  1866 615 

oiiicers  of 615 

members  of. 617 

eighth,  1867 618 

officers 618 

special  session 626 

of  State,  first,  Dec.,  1857.  .628 

elect  U.  S.  Senators 628 

second,  January,  1860 632 

third,  1861 640 


Legislature,  educational  policy. .  .640 

Legro  shot 460 

Le  Maire  murdered,  v. 

Lemire,  trader 144 

Lefilie,  Lt 199. 

Le  Sueur  mentioned,  73,  86;  com- 
panion of  Perrot,  144;  at 
La  Pointe,  148;  builds  fort 
below  Hastings,  148:  describes 
Assineboines,  53;  takes  chief  to 
Montreal, XV.,  148;  visits  France, 
151,  165:  ascends  Mlnnesobv 
River,  162;  builds  fort  L'Huil- 
164;  retiirns  to  France,  171, 172; 
his  fort  abandoned,  175. 
Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition,        841 

L'Huillier,  fort 164 

Linctot,  Ensign  at  La  Pointe,  181, 183 

Lisa,  Manuel  a  trader 286 

LitUe  Crow. .  .243,  338,  411,  464,  466 

Liquor  Law 565.  572,  679 

Livingston,  trader 281 

Lochren,  William. ._. 777 

Lockwood,  trader. .  T 830 

Loomis,  D.  B 547 

Col.G.A.,U.S.A.412,442 

Long,  Lt.  J 229 

'•     Major  Stephen  H.,  U,  S.  A. 
exploration  of;  1817,       '    229j 
expedition  to  Red  River,  o41. 
Longeuil,  Gov.  of  Canada.  .181, 189 
Longfellow  alludes  to  Red  Pipe- 
Stone  Quarry 515 

Lott,  B.  W 518,520 

Louis  XIV.,dispatche8  of,  137,140,153 

Louisiana  ceded 240 

Upper .241 

Louvigny,  commander  at  Macki- 
naw, xii.,  146, 147;  defeats  Fox- 
es, 178,  179. 

Lowry.S.B ■•    486 

Loyer,  voyageur 397 

Lull,  C.  V.P 495,520 

Ludden,  JohnD 620 

M 

Macalester  College,  see  Baldwin 

School. 

Mackenzie,  Alex.,  explorer 832 

Macf<^y,  Lieut 322 

Mackinaw  surprised  by  British,  280; 

fiir  company,  293;  mission  school, 

424. 
Mahkahto  or  Blue  Earth  River.  .162 

Mahzakotah  at  Fort  Snelling 328 

Mail  routes  of  1850 524 

"  carrier  to  Fort  Snelling  . . .  .415 


M 
M 
M 
M 

:m 
id 


OBNERAL  INDEX. 


9 


■JtiViPRftbowi  kills  Gov.  Sample. .  .311 

Mulanu<k,  Michi^n 148 

MHiitniiton  Sioux 144 

Map  of  Philip  Buache,  xlvu. 
of  Canada,  xlvi. 

"  ofChumplain 100 

"  ol  Coronellis,  xliv 131 

"  olDeL'isle,  xlvi 14.*) 

*'  of  Franquelin, 

"   of  Hennepin,  xlvi. 

"   of  Jett're^g,  xlvii 145 

"  of  Ix)ui8mna 164 

"   ofOtchoKas, 

*'   of  'I'illenion,  xlv. 

"   of  west  of  Lake  Superior.  .  .188 
Marble  family  attacked  by  Sioux,  623 

624 
Marest,  Jesuit  Missionary,       148,154 
Mann,  Lamarque  de, 
Marffiy.  Pierre, 
Marquette,  Jesuit  Missionary,  111,423 

MarnH(i;e  at  Fort  Snellinf? 523 

Marsh,  John,  Sioux  Interpreter.  .412 
Marshall,  Gov.  W.  R.,  489,  512,  520 

614;  Military  Index,  notice  of,  758 

Martin,  Abraham,  pilot 103 

Martin,  Moivan  L 488 

Massacre  Island,  301 

'       ^    Sioux 716—738 

Massoy.  Ixjuis,  early  settler 390 

Matavet,  AbbC 1-97 

Mather,  Cotton  on  Indian  reliKion,  55 

Pi-of.,  Geologist 416 

Maury,  on  Minnesota  climate,  xxxii. 
May,  Capt.,  Lord  Selkirk's  agent,  318 

Mayall,  Sunuiel 759,  760 

McDonnell,  Alex,  of  N.  W.Co.;i05,307 

Gov.  Miles 307,314 

McGilles,  Hugh,  at  Leech  Lake.  .259 

261 

McGregory 141 

McKay,  Capt.,  attacks  Ft.  Shelby,  284 

McRay.ofN.W.Co 284 

McKean.  HIiaii 471 

WoKonncy,Tho8.L.,lndianCom'r,384 
M(  Ken/ieof  Col'mbia  FurCo.306,330 
MtKusick.  John,  of  Stillwater. .  .471 
McLean.  Nathaniel,  editor.  .508,  5:30 
AlcLeod,  Norman,  of  N.  W.  Co.  .312 

McLeod.  Martin 462,  473,  546 

WrLellan,  of  N.  W.  Co 313 

McMillan,  Isaiah,  trial  of 525 

McMillan,  S.  J.  R.,  U.  S.  Senator777 

McNair,  Sheriff,  Thos 320,  394 

McNuir.  W.  W 775 

McNainani,  Capt.  John 229 

McTavish,  of  Montreal 231 

J^edary,  Gov.  Samuel 626 


Medicine  Men 61,  66 

Dance 62 

Meek,  Corporal,  U.  S.  A 262 

Meeker,  Bradlev  B. . .  .502,  605,  .''.09 

Menard,  Ken(5,  Jesuit  Missionary, 
at  Lake  Superior,  105;  lost  in 
Wisconsin,  106. 

Mendeouiicantor  River,  see  Rum. 
"    Bioux,  51, 129, 164, 165, 169, 176 

230 

Mendota  in  1819,  320,321; 

Gov.  Caas  at,  325. 

Messayer,  French  Missionary  fit 
Pigeon  River, 

Methode,  a  half-breed,  killed 394 

Michigan  Territory  organized,241 ,400 

Mill,  first  in  Chippeway  Valley.  .330 
"  "  at  Black  River  Falls... 298 
"  •'  grist  above  Pr.duChien, 298 
"      "   at  Fulls  of  St.  Anthony.  331 

"      "  at  Stillwater 471 

"    explosion  at  Minneapolis . . . 

Mille  Lacs  (Lake  Buade)  see  Fran- 
quelin'smap,  xl., xlvii.,  122,130,231 

Miller,Gov.Stephen,  notice  of, 757: 
Lt.  Col.  of  Ist  Reg't,  at  Bull 
Run,  684;  Col.  of  7th,  767j 
Brig.  General,  757. 

Minneapolis,  largest  city  in  State, 
Appendix  D, 
''  mill  explosion 769 

Minnesota,  meaning  of  word,  1; 
boundaries  of,  xxxii.;  lakes  of, 
iv.;  waterfalls,  xl.;  steps  to  or- 
ganize a  Territory,  488,489,490; 
convention  at  Stillwater,  491; 
act  for  organization,  49i3,  494; 
proclamation  of  Gov.  Ramsey, 
502;  the  first  courts,  503;  first 
election,  507;  first  execution  of 
death  penalty,  611;  flret  white 
person  nung,  640;  act  to  form  a 
State  Constitution,  626;  consti- 
tional  convention,  627. 

Missouri  Territoiy  organized 406 

Missionaries,  Chippeway,  403,404, 
421 ,  425, 427, 4:31, 432, 468, 470; 
Sioux,  56,84,  96,  441,  442,  447, 
471,  480,  540,  562,  720. 

Missions,  Indian 422 

"    French  unsuocessful. .  .423,  441 

"    School 424 

"    Chippeway 425 

••    Sandy  Lake 42,  4;32 

"    Leech  Lake 4J2 

"    LakeHorriet 441,447 

"    Lao  qui  Parle 443,  594 

"    Red  Wing 452,493 


10 


GENERAL  IKDEX. 


Ifiasiontt,  Red  Lake 470,  5V) 

"     Methodist 4.V2 

"    Kaposia 49:1 

"    Pokeffuma 453,464,487 

"    Travewe  des  Sioux 471 

"    Shokpay ■ 540 

"    Hazlewood 720 

"    Pnjutazee 720 

Misaiflflippi  ascended  by  Menard,   iv 

Mitcliall,  Alex.  M 607,  543 

Moffet,  Ijot,  early  settler 496 

Monroe,  Capt.,  U  S.  A. . .  .528,  tm 

MooerH.  Hazen 342,  382,  415 

Moran  (Marin?)  French  officer.  .190 

194,  196 
Moreau,  Pierre  (see  Taupine) 
Morrison,  Allan,  trader,  375, 416, 572 

.'>78 

Morrison,  William 375,  376 

Morse,  Rev.  Dr 424 

Murphy,  H.  Or.,  Indian  Ak'I,  309,511 
Musou,  Charles 441 

N 

Nodouessioux  see  Sioux. 

Narrhetoba,  Sioux  Chief 128 

Na8h,C.  W 776 

Nepn^oes  called  Black  Frenchmen,  390 
Neill,  Rev.  E.D.,  495;  offers  prayer 
at  Ist  Le^nslature,  512;  lectures 
at  St.  Anthony  Falls,  521;  ad- 
dress before  Historical  Society, 
622;  sermon  on  railways,  597; 
Chancellor  of  University,  639, 
642;  Supt.  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, 565,  642;  Chaplain  First 
Regiment,  6.50,  657,  666—669, 
67^-681.     691— C96. 

er,  1st  in  Minnesota,  494,508 

Pioneer". 494,522 

"    "Register" 508 

"    "Chronicle" 508 

"    "  Chronicle  and  Register"  .508 
"    "  Minnesota  Democrat"  . . .  544 

"    "  Dakotah  Friend" 544 

"    "  St.  Anthony  Express" . .  .576 

"    "  Minnesotian" 562 

Newspaper  hoax 676,  576 

Nicolas,  Louis,  Jesuit Ill 

Nicolet,  Interpreter 101 

Nicollet,  J.  N.,  Astronomer  and 

Geologist,  417;  sketch  of,  418: 

at  Leech  Lake,  418;    at  Fort 

Snelling,  447;  second  tour,  420. 

Noble,  Mrs.,  captured  by  Sioux, 

623;  murdered,  624. 
Nobles,  William  H 495 


Norris,  James  3 518,  019 

North,  J.  W .547,627 

Northtield  Robbers 766 

Northup,  Anson 633 

Northwest  Company,  2;]  1 ,237,2.59, 

276,  280;   strife   with    Hudson 

Bay  Co.,  ;^00  306,  318;   post  at  . 

mouth  of  Assineboine,  310;  at 

Sandy  Lake,  323. 
Norton,  Daniel  S.,  U.  I«,  Senator, 777 
Norwood,  Ur.  Ueoiogist 380 

0 

Oanktayhee,  a  Sioux  divinity         55 
Oakes,  Charles  H.,  trader..  31 

Odugameeg,  or  Fox  Indianf  '6 

Ogden,  Mi^or,  U.S.  A -^ 

Ojibways,  see  Chippewaya, 

Olmstead,  S  B 613 

Olmsted,  David,  495,511,543,591,614 

Olivers  Grove  (Hastings) 416 

Omahaws ^ 54 

One-eyed  Sioux 226 

One-legged  Jim 467 

OsHiniboia 302 

Otis,  Geo.  L 7.59 

Owen,  John  P.,  editor 508,  o62 

Owens,  Wilfred .^ 320 

P 

Pacific,  northern  route  to,      213, 603 

Page,  Judge  impeached 769 

Paffert,  Du  Luth's  guide, 
Pagonta, trader  killed  at  Mendota,225 
Pamierston,  on  Carver's  Claim.  .221 
Panis  (Pawnees) 

Parant,  early  settler 475 

Parsons,  Rev.  J.  P 522 

Prairie  du  Chien.  203,  206,  236; 
during  war  of  1812,  2*^,  285; 
treaty  of  1825, 383 ;  Indians  trou- 
blesome at,  395 — 397. 

Patron,  Du  Luth's  uncle .123 

Pembina,  meaning  of,  348;  Major 
Wood's  expedition,  603;  teach- 
er kiUed  at,  573. 

Pemmican,  how  made 451 

Pemoussa,  Fox  warrior 177,  178 

Penicault  desciibes  Perrot's  lead 
mines,  at  Falls  of  St.  An- 

thony,        at  Le  Sueur's  fort, 
his  journal,  175;  notice  of, 
175. 
Penneshaw,  trader,  199,  200,  230} 

village,  'M2. 
Peosta  8  vrife  finds  lead 236 


SB 


OEKERAL  IXDBX. 


1} 


Perlier,  James,  trader 237,  475 

Perkins  bnildH  saw  mill 880 

Lt..  U.S.  A 289 

Perrault,  trader 2.33,  234,  236 

Perrot,  Nicolas,  early  life, 
his  wife,  escort  of  Father 

Menard,  describes  flight  of 
Hurons  to  the  Mississippi,  114; 
at  Sault  St.  Marie  Council,  121 ; 
first  visit  to  Lake  Pepin,  143; 
other  notices,  146, 

148,  151. 

Perry,  early  settler 890 

Peters,  Rev.  Samuel 217,  219 

Petite  Cerise  Indians, 

Pettijohn,  Eli 448 

Phelps,  W.  W.,  delegate  to  Con- 
gress  772 

Phillips,  W.  D.. .  .491,  495,  511,520 

Picot,  French  botanist 506 

Pig's  Eye,  13!;  Indian  fight  at.  .469 
Pigeon  River  Falls,  xl. 

Pigiiet,  trader 286 

Pike,  Lieut.  Zebulon  M.,  241:  at 
Kaposia,242  ;council  with  Sioux, 
Wi;  obtains  site  for  fort,  xxii., 
243;  at  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
247;  winters  near  Sauk  Rapids, 
255—266. 

Pike's  Island 453 

Pillsbui-t,  Gov.  J.  S.,  ;notice 
of,  764  views  uponR.  R.  bonds, 
765,  766,  aid  to  settlers  768. 

Pillagers  of  Leech  Lake 372 

Pine  River 254 

Pinot,  voyageur 234 

Plympton.  Major,  U.  S.  A 391 

Poage,  Sarah,  mission  teacher. .  .443 

Pokcguma,  battle  of. 468 

"  Missiou 463 

Pond,  Rev.  Gideon  H.,  441,  447,  454 
540,  540,  544,  660 
Pond,  Rev.  S.  \V.,  441,  447,  540, 662 
Pontchartrain,  Minister  of  France, 

137,  152 
Population  of  Minnesota,    xlix.; 

Appendix  D,  505,  508. 
Poskoiac  River, 

Pothier,  trader 281 

Prescott,  Philander,  67,  882,  52:^, 
530;  notice  of,  737. 

Presbytery  of  Dakotah 96 

Presbyterian  Missions,  899,  411,443 

447,  478 

Prevost,  Sienr 123 

Prichard,  John 311 

Printing  Press,  eai-ly 610 

PurceLl,  Surgeon,  U.  S.  A., 


Roe,  Arctic  explorer,  at  St.  Paul,  67C 

Railroad  agitation 613,  615,  616 

"    Bonds.  .GIJO,  631,  632,  6:W,  767 

"    granUofl854....607,  608,  610 

"     of  1867 629 

Railroad  Co.,  Minnesota  &  N.W.611 
"  excursion  from  Chicago...  .5Su 
*'    sermon 5?' 

Ramsey,  Gov.  Alex.,  arrival  of, 
495;  biographical  notice,  496; 

Sroclamatiov  W2;  comes  from 
[endota  i'     lirch  bark  canoe, 
504;  proviMiH  for  captive  Chip- 

§eway  boy,  626;  speech  to  In- 
ians  at  Fort  Snelling,  530; 
Thanksgiving  proclamat'n,  545, 
563;  treaty  commissioner,  659; 
elected  Governor,  6;-J3;  views  on 
railroad  bonds,  633;  on  school 
lands,  640;  oilers  a  regiment  to 
tlie  President,  646;  U.S.Sen'r.776 

Ramsev,  Anna  E. 497 

Randall,  Dr.  A.,  newspaper  pro- 
prietor  508 

RatUesnakes 159 

Raymbault,  Jesuit  priest 101 

Raymneccha,  or  lied  W^'ng,  xlviii. 
Red  Cediir  Lake  trading  post. . .  .255 
Red  Bird,  Winnebago  Chief,  394,395 

398 

Red  Pipestone  quarry 513,  515 

Red  River  carts 449 

"     "      settlers .33.3,387,389 

Red  Wing,  Sioux  Chief 288 

'■'     "        village ;327 

Reaume,  Judge,  ti-ader. . .  -2.36,  2.37 

Reeder,  Captain 391 

Reinhard,  Charles  de,  executed.  .312 

313 

Renville,  Joseph,  Sr. .  .242,  263,  3.30 

341,  416,  443;  sketch  of,  475 

F«nville,  Joseph,  Jr 416,  476,  567 

Republican  party  organized 614 

Ribourde,  Franciscan 128 

Rice,  Henry  M.,  selects  lands  for 
Winnebagoes,  483,  484;  signs 
memorial  of  1848,  489;  visits 
Washington,  492;  eaily  friend 
of  citvof  St.  Paul,  494;  biogiu- 
phical  notices,  498,  666;  sends 
freight  boat  to  Crow  Wing,  507; 
elected  delegate  to  (Jongress, 
591;  U.  S.  Senator,  776. 
Rice,  Matilda 500 


it* 


li 


IS 


OBKEBAL  ISBVL. 


Rigffs,  Rev.  Stephen  R.,  Sioux 
Miseionary,  447, 479;  at  Lac  qui 
Parle,  447;  tour  to  Missouri, 
462;  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  471; 
his  house  burned,  494,  letter 
from,  720. 

Robert,  Louis 490 

Robertson,  Colin,  Hudson  Bay  Co.308 
D.  A.,  editor. . .  .544,  591 

Rocky  Mountain  locust 766 

Rocky  Mountains  discovered  by 

Verendrye,  xviii. 

Rogers,  Capt.  Robt,  198, 199, 20ii,  213 

Rolette,  Joseph.  262,  "m,  273,  276 

280,  285,  330 

"      Jr.,4',e;476,567,619 

Rollins,  John 518 

B.osser,J.T 589 

Rum  River,  xlvii., 52,  131 

Rum  selling 247 

Russell,  Jerumiah 464,  512 

"       R.  P 620 


8 


Saint  Antoine,  Charles,  voyageur 
of  Red  River 318 

Saint  Anthoivy  "  Express"  first 
newspaper  of  Minneapolis 556 

St.  Anthony  Palls,  aiiscribed  by 
Baines,  xlix. ;  by  Beltrami,  377; 
Boutwell,410;  Carver,  xliii.,208: 
Chai'leville,  xliii, ;  Hennepin, 
xlil.;  Long,  Penicsiut, 

St.  Anthony  ganison  mill  377,399,409 

"      library  Association 622 

"      first  steamboat  at 527 

"       "  "        above..., 5;M 

**      early  school 620 

"      wire  suspension  bridge.  .  .613 

St.  Croix  Falls,  xl.;  Indian  tight -223 

"      River,  legend  of 94 

"        "    early  steamboat 456 

Saint  Croix,  French  uuder 161 

Saint  Pierre,  Capt ,  161 

180, 192, 194, 195,  208 

Saint  Pierre  (Saint  Peter)  River, 
now  Minnesota,  144,  161, 

208;  act  of  Congres."  relative  to 
name,  666. 

Saint  Joseph  village  captured.  .  .^83 

Saint  Lusson,  Sieur 120 

Saint  Paul,  origin  of  ita  name,  481 ; 
early  days  of,  481 ;  early  school, 
520;  Indian  fight  at,  587;  Pres- 
byterian chapel  burned,  529;  de- 
scription of  place  by  Miss  Bre- 
Bremer,  543;  execution  of  Yu- 


bazee,  611 ;  arrival  of  relics  of 
Sir  John  Franklin's  party,  616} 
Mrs.  Bilanskv,  hung,  64<». 
Saint  Remi   River,    tributary  of 

BlueEaith 16& 

Sandy  Lake  Chippeways,  223;  tra- 
ding i)ost,  234,  238, 403.  405; 
Pike  visits,  257,  Gov.  Cass  at, 
323;  mission  at,  428: 
Saskatchewan  River,  ..321' 

Saucy  Jack 391 

Sauk  Indians  at  Detroit 176,  177 

Sault  S„  Marie  Council 120 

Saultrurs,  why  so  called 113 

Say,  Thomas  H.,  ZowOgist 341 

Scalp  dance  at  Cass  Lake,  106;  at 
Shllwater,  526,  at  Kaposia,  506 

Schenectady  burned 142^ 

Schiller,  poem  on  Sioux  Chief 89' 

SchoolcrMl,  H.  R.,  accompanies 
Gov.  Cass,  322;  tour  of  lb31, 
461 ;  tour  of  1832, 403;  at  Leech, 
Lake,  405 ;  at  Elk  Lake  or  Itasca, 
407:  at  Stillwater,  411, 

School.  Baldwin 587,  763 

School  Fund,  kttempt  to  divide.  .586 

"      houses  in  1862 669 

' '     Section  Debate  in  Congres8,553 

Schools,  Indian. .  .424, 432,  433,  447 

423,  464,  467 

Schools  at  St.  Anthony ■• . .  .520 

at  St.  Paul 481,620 

"        at  Stillwater 620 

Supt  of,  641 ;  ReBort  of. .  566 

"       Normal ' 633 

Seal  of  Mim,.esota,  its  motto,  516 
poem  on,  617. 

Selby,  J.W 611 

Selkirk,    Earl  of,  290,  301,  302,  308 

314,  315 

Selkirk  Settlement 303 

Semple,  Gov.,  309;  killed 311 

Setzer,  Henry  F 512,  618 

Seymour.  Samuel 341 

Shields,  Gen.  Jame8,U.  S.  S.,628,677 

Sherburne,  Judge 689 

Shokpay,  or  Shakopee,  xlviii., . .  .662 
'^       hung  at  Fort  Snelling,  767 

768 
Siblev,  Gov,  H.H„  417,  442.  462, 
514,690;  signs  memorial  of  1848, 
487;  delegate  at  Stillwater,  491; 
delegate  to  Congress,  492,  511; 
entertams  Gov.  Ramsey,  495; 
biogrp.pliical  notice,  497;  Gov- 
ernor of  Minnesota,  632;  mili- 
itary  record  see  Military'  Index; 
Congressional  service 771 


OBKKRAL  IKDEX. 


18 


Sibley,  Mrs  Sarah 497 

Simpson,  Alex.,  brother  of  Thos.462 

Simpton,  Capt.,  U.  8.  A 579 

"      Wm.,  eaily  resident  at, 

St.  Paul 480,  496,  502 

Simp8on,Thoma8,  Arctic  explorer, 

death  in  Minnesota 461 

Sioux  Bands,  Isanyati,  61 ;  Yank- 
ton, vii.,  62,  IVO,  225;  Md^wa- 
kantons,  51,  164, 165,  169,  170, 
230.400;  Sissetoans,  327,  472, 
510. 
Sioux  Chief,  Aile  Roupre,  269, 326, 338 

411 
"        "  hung  at  Fort  Snelling, 
758,hip  body  dissected  at  a  Phu- 

adeiphia  medical  college 759 

"      Fi\8dePinchow....2-^6 

"     KiUeur  Rouge 267 

"       "     Petit  Corbeau,  267,  282 
285,  292,  687. 
"     Indians,  language  of,  49; 
origin  of  the  name,  5> ;   idea  of 
diseases^  87;  idea  of  future  life, 
88;  suicides,  88;  legends,  90-95; 
lexicon,  96;  attacked  by  Chip- 
peways,  107 ;  capture  Hennepin, 
128;  visited  by  Perrot,  143;  first 
chief  at  Men  veal,  148;  attack 
Verendrye,   189;  visit  English 
at  Mackinaw,  199;  attack  Ohip- 
peways,  227,  3;:J8,  394,  402,  457, 
463,  526;  attacked  by  Chippe- 
ways,  454,  456,  469;  massacre 
of  whits  settlers  621—666. 
Sioux  Missions.  i4i,  442, 447, 471, 480 
540,  462,  720 

Sioux  books  'printed 721—724 

Slade,  Ex-G  jv 481 

Slaves,  Air  can,  at  Fort  Snelling,  391 

Smith,  C.  K 502,522 

Snelling,  Col.  Joseph,  327,  328,  329 
3;«,  3:^1,  393,  394,  397 
SnelUng,  Wm.  Josetih,  poem  on 
Thunder  Bird,  57;  notices  of, 

342,  349,  377,  397 
Sources  of  Mississippi.  .374,  375,  377 

tpencer.  Missionary  at  Red  Lake,470 
pring  of  1827,  very  cold .jctO 

Stage road.first  thro'  Wisconsin.  .524 

Stambaugh,  S.  C 453 

Steamboat,  first  at  Fort  Snelling,  333 

"    "St.  Croix  Falls,450 

"  "  above  Ft.Snelling,391 

"  "atSt.  Anthonv...527 

"  Gov.  Ramsey,  above 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 534 

"   on  Minnesota  River 534 


Stramboat,  first  on  Red  River.  .633 

Steams,  0.  P.,  notice  of 777 

Steele,  Franklin,  453,  487.  491; 
develops  water  power  at  Minne- 
apolis, 501 ;  notice  of,  500. 

Steele,  Mrs.  Franklin 501 

Steuben,  Baron 2ii8 

Stevens,  Rev.  J.  D.,  Sioux  Mis- 
sionary, 399,  443,  445. 

Stevens,  John  H 500 

Thaddeus 554 

Stewart,  James,  explorer 615 

Dr.  Jacob  M.C 776 

Stillwater,  settlement  of,  471 ,  483; 
scalp-dance  at,  626;  landslide, 
573;  land  office,  504. 

>=;titt  L.  M.,  trader ^416 

Stoddard,  Capt.  U.  S.  A 240 

Stone  heaps  at  Red  Wing 187 

Strait,  H.  B..  M.  C,  notice  of. .  .775 

Sturges,  William 511 

Sullivan,  Capt 285 

Sumner,  Capt.,  U.  S.  A. . .  .472,  473 
Swartz,  Andrew,  killed  by  Sioux,  555 

Sweetzer,  Madison 590 

Swift,  Gov.  Henry  A.,  notice  of.  .757 

Swiss  settlers 389,  390,  459 

"    Missiont  ries 452 

T 

Tailhan,  editor  of  Perrot 's  book. .  114 

Takushkanshkan.Dakotah  divinity57 

Taliaferro,  Major  Lawrence,  383,  337 

380,  391,  399,  441 

Talon,  Intendant  of  Canada 120 

Tanner,  John,  f>jund  at    Ramy 

Lake 314,349 

Tanner,  James,  his  son 349 

Tatankam,  ni,  Sioux  Chief 327 

Taupine,  alias  Moreau.120, 12«,  123 
Taylor,  D.C 495 

'^'       Joshua,  L.,  502,  50V, 
Zachary,  286. 

Tecumseh 279 

Tegahkouita,  Catharine 142 

Temperance  among  Sioux 509 

Teeoskahtay,  Sioux  chief.140,151,167 

T.,rr;'.  Elijah,  murdered 573 

Thanksgiving  Day P45,  563 

Thatcher,  Miss,  captured.  .  A£i,  624 

Thiviider  Bird 

Ticond-rcga,  western  Indiann  ii\i.l97 

Tipsinna,  wild  turnip 606 

Tonty,   Sieur,   DuLuth'scousii'    vi. 

U;    142 

Todd,  Capt.,  U.  S.  A 53(   533 

Toopunkah  Zeze,  Sioux  brave.    393 


u 


QESiEBAL  INDEX. 


Trask,  Sylvonus 512,  518 

Treaty  of  1825 385 

"    of  Fon  du  Lac,  1826 386 

"    of  1837 453 

"    of  1851 556 

"    ofWatab 587 

Trowbridge,  C.  C 322 

Tully,  Abi-aham,    rescued   from 

Indians 333 

Tully,  Tohn,  rescued  from  Indians,  333 
Tuttle,  Calvin 501 

U 

University  of  Minnesota.  .547,634,637 

641 

V 

VanVorhe8,A 504 

Vercheres,  commander  at  Green 
Bay 194 

Verendrye(Veranderie)Sieur  de  la, 
his  sons,  at  Lake 

of  Woods,         at  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, 187,  300, 

Verendrye,  Jr.. 
'*  Chevalier, 

Virpii.ia,  first  steamboat  at  Fort 
SneUing.    333 

Voyageur  badly  frozen 324 

Voyageurs'  mode  of  life,  294, 297, 303 
strength  of,  404. 

Vose,  Ma,ior,  U.  S.  A., 

W 

Wahkan teepee,  Sioux  Chief,  xvi., 

166,  167,  168 

Wohkootay  (Wakute) 228 

Wahnata,  Sioux  Chief 327,  843 

Wait.L.B 511 

Wakefield,  John  A 522 

Wale.s,  W.  W 619 

Wambojeeg,  Chippewav  Chief. .  .223 

Wapasha,  xlviii.,  227,  228,  260,  281 

282,  292,  338,  415,  485 


Warren,  John,  Esais 618 

"   .      trader  at  La  Pointe,403, 405 
William    . . .  .279,  435,  530 

Washington,  General  George 195 

Watson,  a  driver,  killed 472 

Welch,  Judge 611 

Wells,  James,  trader. .  .493,512,  518 
Whallon's  farm  house  visited  by 

Indians 618 

Whistler,  Major,  U.  S.  A 398 

White,  Wallace  B 530 

Whiteside,  Capt 286 

Whitworth,  meDiber  of  Parham't,214 

Wilder,  J  udge 775 

Wilkin,  Col.  Alexander 563,  691 

WUkinson,  M.  S.,  U.  S.  Senator, 

512;  notice  of,  774,  776. 
Wmiamson,  Rev.  T.  S.,  M   D., 
Sioux  Missionary,  early  life,  442; 
at  Fcrt  Snelling,  442;  letters 
from  Lac  qui  Parle,  443;  esti- 
mate on  Renville,  477 ;  at  Kapo- 
sia,  480,  493;  procures  a  teach- 
er for  St.  Paul,  481 ;  examines 
an  Indian's  wound,   536;    his 
translations,  721 — 724. 
Wilson,  Eugene  M.,  notice  of,. .  .773 
Windom,  Wilham,  U.  S.  Senator, 

notice  of 772,  777 

Winnebago  Indians,  100, 143, 155,282 
394,  398,  483,  485 

Winthrop,  R.  C 790 

Wisconsin  Territory  organized. .  .416 

Wolf,  General 198 

Wolf  bonip,  trader,  see  Bomp. 

Women  vot«rs .  -    763 

Wood,  Manor,  U.  S.  A .503 

Wood,  trader 242,  267,  271 

Y 

Yeetkadootah,  Sioux  brave.  .456, 4.J3 

Yeiser,  Capt.  U.  S.  A 284,  386 

Yellow^  Stone, 

Yomville,  Maidame,  neice  of  Ve- 
rendrye, 
Yuhazee  executed  at  St.  Paul,.571,611 


^^ 


.618 

1,405 

,530 

.195 

.472 
.611 
518 

ay 

.618 
.398 
.5:30 
.286 

t,214 
775 
691 


GENERAL    INDEX. 

PAGE  770  TO  PAGE  928. 
A  D 


Ako,  Michael 812,  822, 823. 829 

Aldnch,  Cyrua  M.  C 789 

Andriani  censures  N,  W.  Co. . .  .871 

Andrews,  CO.... 788 

Assineboine  (St.  Charles)  River.. 801 
Averill,  J,  T„  M.  C 790 

B 

Banning,  W.  L,  R.  R.  President. 785 

Beauharnois,  Governor  of  Canada,  183 

189,  191,  860 

•  Beaux  Horames  tribe 860 

Becker,  G.  L.,  R.  R.  President.  .783 
Benin's  Description  of  America.  .145 
Benin's  notice  of  Ochaga's  Map.. 800 

Berthot,  Colin  murdered 817 

Black  River,  a  Huron  retreat. . .  .807 

Black  Feot  Indians  862 

Bon^ira  or  Buogo,  a  ne^^ro  slave.  .874 

Boucher,  LaPerriere  noticed 8-51 

*'       Montbrun 851 

"      de  NiverviUe 862 

Boacherville  and    Guig^nas  cap- 
tured  8.52 

Buffalo  in  Red  River  Valley 880 

0 

Cameron,  Red  River  trader 882 

death  of,  885:  burial... 885 
Capital,  proposed  removal.  .318,  619 

Capitol  at  St.  Paul  burned 778 

Cavanaugh,  J.  M.,  U.  S.  H.  of  R. 788 

Chatfleld,  Judge 589,  789 

Coquard 862 

"    on  death  of  St.  Pierre. ...  195 
Cox,  Judge  E.  St.  J.  impeached.. 778 

Cristenaux  tribe 862 

Culbertson,  Sutler  at  Ft.  Snelling.918 


DeGonor.  Jesuit,  at  Fort  Pepin.  .857 

De  la  Come,  St.  Luc 864 

De  la  Jemeraye 801 

DelaTourette,  DuLnth's  brother.  142 

799 

Denonville,  Governor 149   «05 

De  Noyp'les  succeeds  Verandrie.  .860 

Donof        Iflfuatius 646,  780 

Drakt        ' '  .  President  R.  R. . .  .784 

DuLuths     ir 819-822 

Dunnell,  M  fl.,  M.  C 790 


Faff&rt,  Du  Luth's  interpretei . .  .811 

Fort  Henry,  Park  River 877 

"  LaReme 300,859 

Port  Snelling,  early  days  of.  319,  890 

920 

Fort  St.  Charles 300,  80 

"  St.  Nicolas 300,799 

"  St.  Pierre 800 

"  William 882 

Franquelin's  maps 798,  799 

G 

Galissoniere,  GoTemor 860 

George,  James  C 780 

Gillam,  Captain,  of  Boston 805 

Groselliers,  notice  of. ..... .  .805,  H-'iO 

Gros  Ventre  Indiani 862 

Guignas  captured 851 

s 

Hamilton,   Alexander,  widow  of.  914 

Harrisse  on  early  maps 798 

Hennepin's  writings 822-831 


«l* 


16 


AUDITION  TO  OBNEBAL  ;NDBX. 


Historical  Society  Address. 522 

in  court 771 

Hubbard,  Governor  L.  F 778 

Hudson  Bay,  early  history 805 

Hurons,  flight  of 806,  808 

I 

Impeachment  of  Judire  Page. . .  .769 
"      Cox 778 

J 

Jemeraye,  Verandrie's  nephew..  .851 

"        map  of 801,  859 

Joliet,  explorer. . .  .120,  797,  798,  806 
Jonquiere,  Governor 86 

E 

Kamanistipfoya. ...  194,  799, 800,  809 

King,  W.  S.,  M.  C 791 

Kingsbury,  W.  W 789 

L 

LaCorne,  Louis  Luc.  noticed. . .  .864 
Lake.  Red,  visit  of  Thompson. .  .869 
LaPerriere  Boucher  at  Haverhill..  183 

"notice  of 851 

"  builds  Fort  Pepin850 
LaSalle  disparages  DuLuth.  .810-812 

Legislature,  biennial  session 776 

settles  R.  R.  Bonds. 777 
Leonard,  Sutler  at  Fort  Snelling.918 
LeSueur,  additional  notices  of  .846,848 

Lochren    William 7fl.3 

Lunatic  Asylum  burned 776 

M 

Maps,  early,  described 800-802 

Map  of  Champlain 797 

"    "Franquelin 798 

"    "Ochagas 800,857 

Marest,  Jesuit 148,  154,  849 

Marin,  Lamarque  de 865 

Maryatt  at  Fort  Snelling 927 

McGrilles,  Hugh  at  Grand  Portage  868 

McMillan,  D.  S.,  Senator 793 

McNair,  WW 791 

Menard  Father,  notice  of. 805 

Minneapolis  in  1880 xlix 

TX 

Negro  slaves  at  Fort  Snelling. .  .913 
Korth-West  Company,  notice  of,  870 
Noue,  Robertel  la .856,  857 


0 

Ossiniboia,  ongin  ot  dame 85$ 

P 

Park  River,  fort  at 856 

Pembina,  Henry's  post  at 882 

Perrot,  sketch  of 832-839 

Petite  Cerise 860 

Poehler,  Henry,  M.  C 794 

Pillsbury,  Governor,  last  term...  77ft 

R 

Railroad,  first  from  St.  Paul 782 

Ramsey,  Alex,,  Secretary  of  War. 794 

Randin's  map 797 

Red  Lake  visited  by  Thompson.. .869 

Red  River  cart  invented 883 

Rice,  Edmund,  R.  R.  President.. 782 
Rum  Selling  near  Fort  Snelling.  .917 

8 

Saint  Pierre,  Jacques  Legardeur,  161 
180,  192.  855.;Notices  of.  863,  864 

Scott,  Dred,  case  of. 913 

Shields,  U.  S.,  Senator 792 

Sibley,  H.  H.,  M.  C 787 

Steele,  Frankhn,  obituary  of 919 

Strait,  H.  R.,  M.  C 791 

T 

Thompson,  David,  explorations  of, 86ft 

870 
V 

Verendrye  (Verandrie),  explorer,  187 

800,868 
"       his  sons  at  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  859;  at  Rocky 

Mountains 859 

"       deathof 860 

son  of  killed 859 

"       Chevalier 860 

W 

Wn-^liburn,  W.  D.  notice  of 794 

W.    ,nson,  M.S 790.792 

Williamson,  death  of  Rev.  Dr. .  .774 
Windom,  William,  U.  S  Sec'y  of 
I  reasury 79S 

Y 

Yellowstone  Valley        862 

Youville,  Madame,  neice  of  Ver- 
andrie  859 


INDEX  TO 

MILITARY  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


Acker,  Capt.  W.  H. . .  .647.  648,  679 
Adams,  Lieut.  Col.  of  Ist  Regt., 

wounded 743 

Anawanymane,  Simon;  Friendly 

Indian 720 

Andrews,  Gen.  C.  C.  .  .715,  751,  754 
Arnold,  Capt.  J  K 753 

B 

BaJker,  Col.  E.  D.,  killed 682 

Ball's  Bluff  Disaster 682,  683 

Bassett,  Hon.  W.  of  Va 694 

Battle  of  BaU's  Bluff 682 

•'   Bull  Run 672-681 

"  Birch  Coolie 730 

"  Chicamauga 745 

"  Corinth 705-707 

"  Fair  Oaks 696 

•'  luka 703 

"  Malvem  Hills 701 

"  Mill  Springs 685 

near  Mobile 754 

"  Nashville 753 

"  Pittsburg  Landing,...  688 

"  Tupelo 752 

"  Wood  Lake 731 

Beauregard,  Gen 671 

Becht,  Major 752 

Bishop,  Lt.  Col 746 

Blake,  drummer- boy 686 

Blakely,  C.  H..  Adj't 684 

Boone,  Lt.  Col.  of  Mississippi. . .  674 

Borgpnrode,  Cd 702 

Boutillier,     5«  "  Le  Boutillier" 

Bradley,  Ma,ior  of  7th  Regiment  731 

Brainerd,  Rev. ,  'ohn 716 


Brigade,  Franklin's 666 

Brigham,  Surgeon 684 

Brother,  a  dead 686 

Brown,  Major  Joseph  R 730 

Burgess,  Color  Beaier  of  Ist  R.  700^ 

Bumside,  Geneiul 671,  677 

Butler,  Levi,  Surgeon  3d  Reg't.  684 

c 

Cameron,  Sec.  of  War 648,  650 

Chaffee,  Chaplain  J.  F 702 

Clark.  Lt.  Geo.  A 738 

Clavton  Lt 689,  704 

Coates,  Capt.  H.  A 681,  741 

Cochran,  Col.  John,  of  N.  Y. . .  699 
Collins,  Frank  E,,  Q.  M.  Sergt. .  789 

Colvllle,  Col .700,  740 

Cook,  Li.,  o>.  Pittsburg  Landing  689 

Comwallis,  surrender  of 692 

Cressey,  Timothy,  Chaplain 684 

Cross,  Asst.  Surgeon  of  4th  Regt.  702 
Crooks,  Col.  of  6th  Regt 733 

D 

Da  Costa,  Chaplain  5th  Mass. 

656,  659,  674 
Dahlgren,  Commodore  U.  S.  N..  653 

Dakotah  Bibliography 721 

Dana's  Brigade  at  Fair  Oaks. . .  697 

Dana,  Col.  N.  J.  T 682,  692 

Dart,  Capt.  J.  R 710 

Davis,  Corpoi-al 690 

Do  Camp,  Mrs.,  rescued 721 

De  Grey,  Lt.,  wounded 743 

Dengle,  of  Ist  Regt 677 

Dike,  Ma,jor 650,  680,  681 

Donnelly,  Lt.  Governor. . .  .64').  649 
Downie,  Maj..648,  650,  670,G7:{,  674 


s 


IKDBX. 


E 

Ethridge,  Surgec  D 702 

F 

FarreU,  Capt.,  kiUed 742,  743 

Fiske,  Chaplain,  Asa  S 702 

Flandrau,  Col.  defends  New  Ulm  728 

Franklin,  Col.  W.  B.,  i-eports  of j  677 

French,  Adjt.  A.  R 702 

Fort  Snelling  recruiting  camp. .  647 

Fort  Sumter 645 

G 

George,  Col.  James 6^3,  746 

Gere,  Lt,  Col.  W.^ 702,  714 

Gibbs,  Gates,  ambulance  driver,  627 

Gibbons,  General 742 

Gorman's  Brigade 605 

Gorman,  Gen.  W.  A.649,650,678,  682 

Griggs,  Lt.  Col.  C.  "W 715 

Grow,  Quai-termaster 684 

H 

Hadlcy,  Major  J.  A 684 

Hancock's  Corps  at  Gettysburgh  739 

Hancock.  General 740 

Hand,  Surgeon  D.  W 663 

Harley,  Lt.,  wounded 679 

Haimon,  Lt.  Wm 700,  744 

Heaney,  Adjt.  D 684 

Heffolfinger,  Lt.  at  Gettysburgh  744 
Heintzelman,  Col.. 657, 670, 673,  677 

Hinea,  dnimmer-boy 675 

Hospital  Fund  of  l8tRegt.,origin  660 
"  "    contributors  to...  662 

"  '*    expenditures 66!? 

"  "    erects   monument  663 

Hotchkiss,  Capt.  W.  A 714.  751 

Hoyt,  Capt.  of  3d  Regt .715 

Hubbard,  Col.  L.  F..  ..702,710,  753 

Hudson,  Lt.  Col.  of  N.  Y 696 

Hunt,  Lt.  Thos.  B 709 

Hunter,  Gen.,  wounded 676 

I 

mdian  Policy  of  1612 716 

"     of  London  Compv  719 

"     Education,  1619 '.  717 

"     Massacre 716-737 

"     Missionaries 720,  727 

li«land.  Chaplain 702,  711 

Irvine,  Capt.  Javan  B 672 

"     captures  Lt.  Col.  Bocne,  674 


Irvine,  promoted  for  services . . .  672 
Irvine,  Corporal  W.  N 742,  744 

J 

Jennison,  Lt.  Col.  S.  P 755 

Johnson,  Gen.  R.  W 745 

K 

Kennedy,  Surgeon  V.  P 702 

Kenot  of  1st  Regt.,  wounded . .  680 
Kittredge,  Sergt.  Major 709 

L 

Lamson  kills  Little  Crow .......  737 

Lawrence,  Loren.,  friendly  Sioux  720 

Leach,  Adjt.  W.  B 6.50,  682 

LeBoutiUier,  Surg.,  650,660,677,  681 

Leftwich,  Rev.  Mr 657 

Legi'o,  Capt.  at  luka 703 

Lewis,  of  Palmetto  Regt 675 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  elected  Pres.  644 
LitUe  Crow,  Sioux  Chief,  721, 

733.  735,  737 
"       "    his  son  captured 737 

M 

Manson,  Col.  of  Indiana 685 

Marshall,  Lt.  Col.  W.  R.,..731,  753 

Martin,  Capt.  L.  B 738 

Mason,  Lt.  at  Gettysburgh 744 

Mazatumani,  Paul,  Friendly 

Sioux 910 

McCa-tlin  at  Savage  Station  ....  700 

McClellan.  General 672,  701 

McCook,  Col.  Robert 685 

McDcnald,  Joseph,  of  Ist  Regt.  700 

McDowell,  General 669,  677 

McGrorty,  Quartenuaster 701 

McLaren,  Major 731 

McKune,  Capt.  killed 675 

Messick,  Capt.  killed 742.  74;^ 

MiUer,  Col.  Stephen 650,  734 

"    at  Bull  Run 684 

Milligan,  Asst;  Surgeon 584 

Minnesota  let  Battery,  684,  688, 

761,  754 
"        2d       "  701,  755 

3d       "        755 

'•        Heavv  Artillery 755 

"         Cavalry  (Rangers)...  755 
"  "        (Brackett's).  755 

"  "       2d  Regiment  755 

"  "        (Hatch's)...  755 

"        Inf'y  Battalion,  754,  755 


IKD£X. 


3 


Minnesota  1st  Reg.  must'd,  647,  649 
"  "    "  visits  St.  Paul,  649 

"  "    •'  presented  with 

a  flag 649 

"  •'  Chaplain's  address  650 

••  "list  of  staff  officers  650 

"  *'  goes  to  seat  of  war  650 

"  *•  at  Washington. . .  662 

"  "  n'r  Alexandria  654,  655 

"  "  at  Songster's  Sfn  666-9 

M  .        »  at  Bufi  Run. .  .672-681 
••  "  at  Edward's  Ferry  682 

"  "  at  Ball's  Bluff  ...  682 

"  "near  Winchester..  690 

"  "atsiegeofYorkt'n  691 

"  "at  West  Point. ...  693 

"  "  at  Fair  Oaks 696 

"  "  at  Peach  Orchard.  700 

••  "at  Savage  Station.  700 

''  "  at  Malvern  HiUs. .  701 

"  "atAntietam 701 

"          "atFredericksburgh  714 
"          "  atGettysburgh  739-746 
"          "  at  Bristow  Station  647 
"          "  Banquet  at  Wash- 
ington  748 

"  "last  parade 751 

"          "  Gettysburgh  Mon- 
ument  662 

Minn.  2d  Regt.  Officers 682 

"    at  Mill  Springs....  685 
"         "    at  Chicamauga  ...  745 

"         "    Return 748 

"         »    Discharge 755 

Minn.  3d  Regt.  Officers 684 

"         "    unfortunate 715 

••         "    discharged 755 

Minn.  4th  Regt.  Officers 702 

"    atluka 703 

"         "    at  Corinth 7ii4 

"  "    Report  of 706 

"  "    at  Port  Gibson  ....  738 

"  "    at  Raymond 738 

»         "    at  Jackson 738 

"  "    at  Vicksburg 739 

"  "    atAltoona 753 

"  "    with  Gen.  Sherman  754 

"  "    discharged 755 

Minn.  5th  Regt.  Officers 702 

"         "    goes  to  seat  of  war  701 
"         "    near  Corinth..  702,  705 

"         "      "     Jackson 739 

"  "    before  Vicksburg  . .  739 

"         "    at  Tupelo 752 

"  "    at  Nashville 753 

"         "    dischaiged 755 


Minn.  6th  Regt.  near  Mobile. . .  754 

"    discharged 756 

Minn.  7th  Regt.  at  Nashville. . .  753 

"    discharged 755 

Minn.  8th  Regt.  n'r  Murfreesboro  753 

"  "    discharged 755 

Minn.  9th  Regt.  at  Nashville. . .  758 

"         "    at  Tupelo 752 

"  "    discharged 755 

Minn.  10th  Regt.  at  Tupelo. ...  762 

"         "    at  Nashville 753 

"         "    near  Mobile 754 

"         "    discharged 755 

Minn.  Sharpshooters,  Co.  A. . . .  '755 

Co.  B....  755 

Morgan,  Capt ^ . .  682 

Morrow,  W.H 686 

Mossom,  Rev.  David 695 

Mowers,  Capt 706 

MouHon,  Capt.,  killed 742 

Munch,  Capt      688,  704 

Murdock,  Lt.,  Irilled 745 

Murphy,  Sm^on,  J.  H.  702, 703,  710 

N 

Neill,  Chaplain,  E.  D 650 

"         "    Letters  of ;  658,  657, 

660,  661,  696,  669,  691 
"        "    Hospital  Fund  Re- 
ports   661-666 

Neill,  Col.  Thomas  H 696,  699 

Nelson,  Col.  Anderson  D 647 

Northup,   Anson 680 

0 

Oakes,  Lt.  David,  killed 701 

O'Brien,  H.  D.  of  Ist  Regt.  .742,  744 

Olin,  A(yt.  R.  C 684 

Other-Day,  Friendly  Sioux..  720,  727 

P 

Parker,  Albert,  of  2d  Regt.  on 

death  of  his  brother 686 

Peebles,  Lt 6>59.  690 

Peteler,  Capt.  F 684 

Pell,  Capt 648 

Peller.  Adjt.  of  1st  Regt 743 

Perkins,  E.  P.,  wounded  at  Get- 
tysburg  744 

Perriam,  Capt.,  killed 742 

Peyton,  Capt.  Bailie,  shot 686 

Pfaender,  Capt , 688 

Pope,  Major  General 736 

Prescott,  lit.  G.  W 746 


IKOEX. 


Prescott,  Philander,    killed  by 

Sioux 737 

Prescott,  Philander,  notice  of. . .  737 

Presbyterian  Sioux  Mission 720 

Putnam,  Capt 681 

B 

Bamsey,  Lt.  Douglass,  U.  S.  A. 

killed 678 

Bamsey,  Gov.  Alex 645,  649 

Bickett's  Battel 677,  678 

Biffgs,  Bev.  S.  ft 720,  727 

Bosecrans,  Qen 712 

Bussell,  Capt.  of  Sharpshooters.  701 

8 

Sanbom,  Gen.  John  B.,  647, 702, 

703,  706,  738,  739 

Saxdale  of  Battery  killed 690 

Sedgwick's  Division  at  Yorktown  691 
'Sherman,  Marshall,  of  let  Beat, 
captures  flag  at  GettysLurg.Tfe,  743 

Sherman,  Gen.  W.  T 681 

Sibley,  Gen.  H.  H.,  721, 729, 730, 

731,  732,  736,  737 

Sinclair,  Lt.,  wounded 743 

Sioux  Massacre,  cause  of . . . .  421-724 

"    affray  at  Acton 726 

"    attack  Lower  Agency 726 

"    approach  Fort  Ridgley.  . .  728 

"    attack  New  Ulm 728 

"    defeated  at  Wood  Lake...  731 

"    Indians  bung 734 

fimith,  Lt.  Col.  B,  P 687 

Smith,  Lt.  Frank  G.,  U.  S.  A. .  745 
Smith,  Surgeon,  kiUed. ........  752 

Smith,  Sumner.  Mm'or 688 

Spencer,  Geo.  A.,  captured 726 

Stanley,  General 710 

Stansbuiy,  Capt.  Top.  £ng 649 


Stinson,  Colby 690 

Strong,  Geo.  D.  of  2d  Regt 688 

Stone,  Gen.  C  P 683 

Stout,  Lt..  wounded 686 

Sudley,  Church 677,  678 

Sully,  Gen.  Alfred,  690,  696,  699,  636 
Sumter.  Fort 645 

T 

Tensas,  Rifles  of  Louisiana 676 

Thomas,  Lt.Col.  M.B.,  670,671,  702 

Thompson,  Ac^jt.  J.  M 702,  709 

Thorpe,  George,  of  Va 718 

Tollman,  Surgeon 684 

Tylei',  General,  repulsed 670 

u 

Uline,  Lt.  at  Mill  Springs 686 

V 

Van  Cleve,  General  H.  P.,  683, 

685,  745 

w 

Washington,  on  Civil  Discord. .  659 

"  his  marriage 694 

Welch,  Major 575,  702,  781 

Welles,  Sergeant  of  2d  Regt. . .  686 

Wicket,  Adam,  of  2d  Regt 686 

Wilkin,  Col.  Alex.,  669, 676, 683,  752 

Williamcon,  Rev.  T.  S 720,  727 

Wilson,  Capt  of  6th 731 

Wilson,  T.  P.  of  4th 709 

Workman,  an  ambulance  driver  678 

Y 

Yorktown,  Siege  of 691 


90 

86 
83 
86 
78 
36 
45 


76 
02 
09 

18 
84 
i70 


f45 


559 
>94 

m\ 

386 
386 
752 
727 
731 
709 
S78 


THE   BEST   HOMES 

For  1 0,000,000  People  now  Await  Oooupancy  in 

Minnesota,  North  Dakota,  Montana, 
Idaho,  Washington  and  Oregon. 

The  ITow  and  Frospergus 


2.000,000  Families— 10,000,000  Souls! 
Tho  uffc<nA»  crs>iMo>>_  u^>M^       '"  111'"  (ii'i'"!  ropulaliou— no  iiiiiii  can  predii't  how 

ine  wneai  rarmer  s  nome.  y,.p,^,  jtwin  iieci.nie-wiiicii  win  soon  mimiiit  this 
vast  renlon,  the  new  coinn;.  from  tlio  older  Slates  will  hpoonie  the  flrat  families,  and  leader», 
socially  and  politically,  In  this  newlv  opened  section  of  (lie  United  JStatps.  They  will  all  he- 
conie  prosperons,  and  many  will  actinire  fortunes  in  a  short  period,  h\  luniin;^  the  vast  wlieat 
producing  lands,  readv  for  llie  plow,  into  prodiictire  favins  ;  by  stock  rnhiiiL'  on  the  in.niense 
grazing  ranKea  ;  bydeveloping  the  resnurces  of  the  ..       1 

extensive  forests  iiinl  mineral  districts,  and  l)y  in- 
vastmeiils  in  the  thriving  new  towns  In  the  vast  re- 
gion opniied  for  settlement  all  along  the  line  of  the  ^-MMI-K*. 

"'''  ■■   \ 


Northern  Pacific  Railroad. 


IllinCI  Millions  and  Millions  of  Acres  of  low- 
UlllUO!  priced  Lands  for  sale  by  the  Northern 
facittc  K.  K.  Oo.  (HI  Kasy  Ternisi,  and  an  cqnal 
amount  of  government  landa  lyinK  in  alternat*  sec- 
tions with  the  railroad  land,  are  offered  free  to  ac- 
tual settlers,  under  the  Homestead,  Pre-emption 
and  Tree  Culture  laws.  Thev  are  the  cheapest  and 
most  productive  lands  ever  offered  '>v  any  railroad 
company,  or  open  for  settlemen  under  United 
States  lawi. 


HERDING— NORTHERN   PACIFIC   COUNTRY. 


Terms  of  Sale  of  Northern  Pacific  Eailroad  Lands. 

Agricultural  lands  of  the  Company,  east  of  the  Missouri  Uiver,  in  North  Dakota  and  Mon- 
tana, are  sold  chiefly  atf  4  per  acre,  and  the  preferred  gtocl«  of  theCoinpany  will  be  received  at 
par  In  payment.  When  lands  are  purchased  on  time,  oiie-»lxtU  stock  or  cusli  is  required 
at  time  of  purchase,  and  the  balance  In  flv<>  equal  aniiuul  piiyiuentM,  In  stock  or  cbhIi, 
with  Interest  at  7  per  cent. 

The  price  of  agricultural  lands  iniKorth  Dalcota  west  of  the  Missouri  River,  and  In  Montana, 
ranges  chiefly  from  $3.«0  to  $4  per  acre.  If  purchased  on  time,  one-sixth  cash,  and  the  bal- 
ance In  five  equal  annual  cash  payments,  with  UUerestat  7  percent,  per  annum. 

The  price  of  agricultural  lands  In  Washington  and  Oregon  ranges  chiefly  from  $2.00  to 
$6  per  u«re.  If  purchased  on  tln:«,  one-tlfib  cash.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  Interest 
only  on  the  unpaid  amount.  One-flfth  of  principal  and  Interest  due  at  end  of  each  of  next 
four  years.   Interest  7  p«r  cent,  per  annum. 


FREE.— For  Maps  and  Publications  sent  ft-ee  of  charge,  and  for  all  Information  relating 
to  land,'&c.,  apply  to,  or  address, 

OR.  CHAS.  B.  LAMBORN, 

Land  Commlsiloner, 

ST.  PAKt,  MINN. 


P.  B.  CROAT, 


I 


Gen'l  Emigration  A(«ut, 

ST.  PAUL,  MINN. 


THE  ST.  PAUL,  MINNEAPOLIS  &  MANITOBA 

RAILWAY  COMPANY 


OPERATES 


TW0  g^E^T  TOTK  lilNEg, 


I^TJl^^3s^Il^^(^■ 


n^ 


V 


Md  WEST 


:FK,oi>d: 


St  Paul  and  Minneapolis. 

UNITING  AT  BARNE8VILLE, 

FORMING  THE  ONLY  LINK  WHICH  KKACHES 

EYERYPSRTOFTHERED  RIVER  YflLLEY 

It  touches  the  Red  River  at  three  different  points,  and  connects  at  either 
with  4,000  miles  of  inland  navigfation,  and  is  the 

ONLY  LINE  REACHING  THE  FAMOUS  DEVIL'S  LAKE  and  TURTLE  MOUNTAIN  REGION 


Tt  traverses  a  section  of  country  which  oft'ers : 

TO  THE  FARMER,  a  soil  which  in  richness  and  variety  is  unequaled, 

TO  THE  BUSINESS  MAN,  an  aRricultural  community  who  have  been  blessed  with 
a  succession  of  bountiful  harvests. 

TO  THE  SPORTSMAN,  in  its  forests,    on  its  prairies,  in  its  numberless  lakes  or 
streams  an  abundance  of  game,  and  fish  of  every  variety. 

TO  THE  TOURIST,  not  only  the  most  attractive  Summer  Resort  on  the  Continent- 
Lake  Miuuetouka— but  the  matchless  beau  tie::  of  the  famous  Park  Region. 


A.  MANVEL,  W.  S.  ALEXANDER, 

General  Manager.  General  Traffic  Manager 


H.  C.  DAVIS, 

Ass't  Gen>  Pass.  Agent, 


)T 


THEROYAL  ROUTE. 

CHICAGO,   ST.  PAUL,i 


in 


A.1STJD 

CHICAGO    &   NORTHWESTERN 

RAILWAYS! 


PALACE  DINING  CAES 


JiL.lSTJD 


Luxurious  Sleeping  Cars 


oc 

» 

e 
a; 

H 

O 

e 
w 


BETWEEN 


►IS 

s- 

MINNEAPOLIS,  ST.  PAUL  AND  CHICAGO  h 

c 

SOLID  TRAINS  BETWEEN  ST.  PAUL  AND  COUNCIL  BLUFFS,  S 

WITH  SLEEPING  CARS  ^ 

THROUGH     WITHOUT      CHANGE 

BETWEEN  ST.  PAUL  AND  KANSAS  CITY. 


SECUEE  TICKETS  OVER  THE  ROYAL  ROUTE, 

Chicago,  Si  Paul,  Minneapolis  and  Omaiia  Railway, 

AND  ENJOY  ALL  THE  COMPORTS  OF  MODERN  RAILWAY  TRAVEL. 


e 


as 


•at 
O 


J.  H.  HILAND, 

General  Traffic  Manager. 


I    W.  TEASDALE, 
Oeneral  Paasenirer  Agent,  St.  Paul. 


I 


MINf(EAPOLlS  &  ST.  LOUIS  ffY, 


THE  DIRECT  AND  POPULAR  LINE 

TO  CHICAGO 

VIA  THE  FAMOUS 

ALBERT    LEA  ROUTE. 

TWO  THROUGH  TRAINS  DAILY 

Prom  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  to  Chicago,  landing  passengers  in  the  heart  of 

the  city,  and  making  close  connections  in  Grand  Union  Depot 

witli  trains  for  all  points  East. 


THE  ST.  PAUL,  MINNEAPOLIS  &  ST.  LOUIS 

HOI^T    i_.i]sr 

Connecting  at  Union  Depot  at  St.  Louis  with  trains  for  the  South, 
Southeast  and  Southwest. 


THE  DES  MOINES  AIR  LINE 

Two  trair.s  daily  for  Fort  Dodge.  Des  Moines  and  Central  Iowa  points. 

Tljlf  m  Y  I  \M  TO  KANSAS  CITY,  LEAVENWORTH  AND  ATCMISON 
lliii  VMil  lAMi  running  two  trains  daily,  making  close  connections  wiih  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  Union  Pacitic,  Missouri  Pacific,  Kansas  City, 
Ft.  Scott  &  Gulf,  and  Kansas  City,  L.  &  S.  K.  liailways. 


Elegant  Day  Coaches!  Pullman  Palace  Sleepers! 

150  Lbs.  BAGGAGE  CHECKED  FREE! 

FARE   ALWAYS   AS   LOW   AS  THE   LOWEST! 

Tlll>nn  irh  TinVoto  -Always  on  sale  at  all  coupon  ticket  offices  in  the  Northwest 
1111 UUP   Ubiulo  and  at  the  following  ticket  offices  of  this  Company  : 


MINNEAPOLIS. 

G.  W.  KERR,  Ticket  Agent, 

No.  8  WasnlnKton  Ave., 

(0pp.  Nicollet  House.) 
W.P.  IVES,  Ticket  Agent, 

Union  Depot. 

W  H.  TRUESDALE, 

vice  President. 


ST.  PAUU 

E.  A.  WHITAKER,  Ticket  Agent, 

9S  East  Third  Street. 

BROWN  k  KNEBEL,  Ticket  Agents, 

Union  Depot, 

S.  P  BOYD, 

Gen.  Tkt.  &  Pass.  Agent 


j^'r>:ei  irojj-: 


Contemplating:  a  Pleasure  Trip?    Then  Look  at  This! 


ST.  PAUL  MP  DULUTH 

RUNNING   IN   CONNECTION   WITH   ALL 

STUJUERSPIjippttemTUKES 

Affords  the  Cheapest  and  Most  Attractive  Snmiiier. 
Excursion  Ronte  in  North  America. 


During  the  Season  ot  Navieation,  Steamers  Leave 

'    DULUTH  DAILY 

TOUCHING  AT 

ISLE  ROYAL,  NIPIGON,  MICHIPI-COTEN 

BAYFIELD,  MARQUETTE, 

8AULT  ST.  MARIE 

And  all  Canadian  and  American  Lake  Ports 


NO  TKIPS  ON  THE 

AMERICAN  CONTINENT, 

Embracing  so  many  miles  of  such  Beautiful,  Healthy  and  Pleasant  Travel  for  so  little  money- 
passing  throurh  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  bodies  of  Frssh  Water  <••  'he  World, 
with  their  Magnificent,  Wild,  Koraantic  and  Historio*'  Scereries, 

CONNECTING  AT  PRINCIPAL  CITIES 


^^•Any  information  in  reference  to  Tickets,    ales,  etc,  gUdly  furnished  upon  application  (o 

e.  p.  BREED,  E.  F.  DODGE, 

General  Superiotendenr  General  Ticket  Afrent. 

8T.  PAC^,  MDfXESOTA. 


